3CX vs. Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
3CX
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Cyprus based company 3CX offers an IP PBX phone system.
$1.08
per user/per month
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Call Manager is a unified call control center from Cisco that supports enterprise collaboration functions across the spectrum of IP telephony, video & web conferencing, and messaging. Features include call forwarding, call back, call transfer, ad hoc conferencing, and call park.N/A
Pricing
3CXCisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Editions & Modules
Pro
$1.08
per user/per month
Enterprise
$1.31
per user/per month
Standard
Free
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
3CXCisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPrice displayed is based on 25 users. 3CX pricing is based on the number of simultaneous calls your business requires or in other words, how many calls your system needs to support at once. Unlike other PBX vendors there is no per extension cost.Must contact sales team for pricing
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
3CXCisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Considered Both Products
3CX
Chose 3CX
We didn't want Cisco Call Manager anymore. We used a very old version previously, but nonetheless it didn't have a very good name in the company. PureCloud was too call center focused so in the end, we like 3CX best. A small pilot was configured very fast, and after we went …
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Chose Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Avaya Aure requires lots of system maintenance and requirements. Also, Avaya cm does not have a graphical user interface. Avaya deployment requires lots of VMs and this is not acceptable for a clients 3CX is very cheap but they are very vulnerable to the attacks. Also they …
Features
3CXCisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
7.6
43 Ratings
6% below category average
Hosted PBX00 Ratings9.522 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)00 Ratings5.631 Ratings
User templates00 Ratings6.941 Ratings
Call reports00 Ratings7.040 Ratings
Directory of employee names00 Ratings9.141 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
8.1
46 Ratings
4% below category average
Answering rules00 Ratings9.344 Ratings
Call recording00 Ratings5.528 Ratings
Call park00 Ratings9.340 Ratings
Call screening00 Ratings8.837 Ratings
Message alerts00 Ratings7.640 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
9.0
42 Ratings
12% above category average
Video conferencing00 Ratings9.132 Ratings
Audio conferencing00 Ratings9.142 Ratings
Video screen sharing00 Ratings8.417 Ratings
Instant messaging00 Ratings9.320 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
7.2
26 Ratings
11% below category average
Mobile app for iOS00 Ratings7.026 Ratings
Mobile app for Android00 Ratings7.324 Ratings
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3CXCisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
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User Ratings
3CXCisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Likelihood to Recommend
7.5
(14 ratings)
8.6
(47 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
5.4
(2 ratings)
8.0
(14 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
3CXCisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Likelihood to Recommend
3CX
In many scenarios decision is driven by budget and compared to other solutions at the time of purchase [3CX] was simply the cheapest solution for what it has to offer. If you are looking for integrations, extensibility, and advanced functionalities, this might not be a solution for you. At the time of use (and this may have changed by now), there was a lack of APIs, CLI commands, and similar so nothing could be automated with the system. There are ways of importing data through CSV but automation would solve us so much time and support calls if we were able to connect with other systems.
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Cisco
Cisco Unified Communications Manager is suited for medium to large customers who are in search for a solid call control platform with added security in mind. Cisco Unified Communications Manager also supports receptions, small groups and also a mini contact center type of set up with its Hunt Group, Pick up Group and call queuing facilities and also with set up of music on hold function while calls queuing.
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Pros
3CX
  • Simplicity: Using a single 3CX interface we can manage every phone and extension used throughout our company.
  • Flexibility: There are a wide variety of options to configure each extension and phone. Changing anything after the hardware is deployed is very easy.
  • Portability: Phones with 3CX can be easily moved or repurposed within an office or at remote locations, including users' homes. The mobile app allows users to use their office extension anywhere without exposing their cell number.
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Cisco
  • This solution is extremely stable and has been running in our environment for several years without (unscheduled) downtime.
  • The ability to have voicemails automatically sent as an email message is extremely helpful in helping us to keep in touch while away from the desk.
  • The Call Manager provides us very granular settings to route our calls as we want.
Read full review
Cons
3CX
  • I would like to be able to see direct-dial numbers on the handsets. Currently that is not possible but that would be a nice feature.
  • You need an SBC per location, which can be a point of failure.
  • You also need a server that might get disconnected, which is another point of failure.
Read full review
Cisco
  • Administration web page is little bit hard to understand at the beginning specially if you are not familiar with naming convention and GU Interfaces.
  • Call Detail Record interface is fine but would be desirable to include more options that fit organization needs in terms of reporting purposes.
  • Self Care Portal interface could be more useful to the end user if it includes options to manage some features without administrators involving.
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Likelihood to Renew
3CX
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We have been using this product for 20+ years and will continue too. This is a great product and new features are always coming out.
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Usability
3CX
No answers on this topic
Cisco
The usability part of Cisco Unified Communications Manager is very much simple from a usability point of view. Day-to-day Move Add Change Delete (MACD) can be performed by the administrators very easily with simple training. From the initial deployment point of view, some of the thing can be improved to simplify the process.
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Support Rating
3CX
The 3CX Phone System is only a five because while they provide set-up/how-to/Q and A documents to help your district or company get started, they do not offer support for free. The documents provided, though, are good enough for you to get you up and running. We also found a good source of help through a sip trunk provider, which was a 3CX reseller provider.
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Cisco
CUCM is supported by most third-party vendors for related products, so it makes finding solutions to specific needs easy. Also Cisco TAC is very knowledgeable, and we have never run into a problem they have not been able to resolve. Usually they are resolved without the need to escalate tickers either.
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Implementation Rating
3CX
No answers on this topic
Cisco
This was the first phone system we implemented that could span multiple locations. We were very satisfied once fully implemented
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Alternatives Considered
3CX
The main differences between 8x8, Inc. and 3CX is pricing and ease of use in my opinion. The 3CX system uses annual based pricing plans based on of simultaneous calls your company needs, not the number of extensions/users and offers a free plan. 8x8, Inc. charges per extension with different plans. We currently have 19 extensions so the 3CX system makes more sense for us, however, if your company only has a few extensions you may want to throughly consider both options. In my experience, it was difficult to add new extensions and phones with 8x8 because at least at that time we had 8x8 I could not add anything on the web admin. I had to call a sales rep which took a lot more time. Also, if you didn't purchase a phone and/or headset directly from 8x8 at a usually higher price than Amazon for example then you would have to spend anywhere from 30 minutes to hours on the phone with 8x8 tech support to program the phone to work with the 8x8 system so adding a new extension could turn into a long ordeal. I can easily add new extensions on 3CX directly in the web cpanel. Granted, if you are actually adding a new phone number you would need to purchase that number from a company like ATT first before adding it to 3CX. The difference between a phone number and an extension would be a phone number allows a customer to call in directly using that number. The extension would require the customer to call the main business number then be transferred to the extension. 3CX provides a list of supported phone models on their website
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Cisco
We have been a Cisco based shop and have looked at other cloud voice options such as MS Teams pbx, and others, but ultimately, the features, endpoints, and reliability of Cisco has been the common factor in staying with them as our voice provider. Their integrations, room systems, and hybrid design allows for us to be flexible and keep a high up time vs reliance on 100% cloud.
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Return on Investment
3CX
  • 3CX has a lot to offer for a very low cost as its business model is based on simultaneous calls and not per device. It's very cost effective and very affordable.
  • As the 3CX server does not require a high-performance server to run, with the Public Cloud option, it might allow even further savings.
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Cisco
  • Communication and collaboration - Our offices are able to communicate both internally and externally due to this system.
  • Down time - Struggles with CUCM has caused a lot of down time due to the instability of the system.
  • High Costs - the cost of both the license and the maintenance was much higher than other systems.
Read full review
ScreenShots

3CX Screenshots

Screenshot of Video ConferencingScreenshot of Advanced Contact Center ReportingScreenshot of Management DashboardScreenshot of Live ChatScreenshot of 3CX AppScreenshot of See the Status of Your Colleagues