3CX vs Cisco VoIP PBX

Likelihood to Recommend

The 3CX system is a well-thought out phone system with many features and options. The plan pricing is very affordable and flexible depending on your business needs. However, the key to having a solid, well-performing system with 3CX is the quality of your Internet connection. You may want to discuss your Internet connection type and speeds with a 3CX reseller before deciding on a 3CX system.

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Arts and Crafts Company, 11-50 employees

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Smaller organizations, offices in remote locations, and locations were internet service is intermittent or costly would benefit from using Cisco VoIP PBX. The ability to combine the internet and phone service results in improved and consistent connectivity. And the overall expense to outfit a small to medium size office is extremely cost-effective.

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Verified User

Director in Research & Development

Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Pros

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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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Restaurants Company, 501-1000 employees

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Improved internet connectivity which means improved phone service as well.
Cost efficient, especially for tighter budgets.
User-friendly and little to no training required.

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Verified User

Director in Research & Development

Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Cons

It can include outgoing fax functionality
Voice quality appears to suffer greatly with weak Internet signal
Setting up conference calls could be made simpler
Can include texting capability

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Verified User

Engineer in Engineering

Civil Engineering Company, 11-50 employees

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There are no outstanding issues with this system to-date.
Aesthetically speaking, the actual devise could use a sleeker and less "boxy" look.

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Verified User

Director in Research & Development

Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Usability

3CX 8.0

Based on 1 answer

It's been doing really good job for us. Are there better PBX systems out there? For sure there are, with more features and better support. But those are way more expensive and harder to implement and maintain. This system is almost no brainier, next -> next -> next -> finish and you have installed it. With a few more configs to hook it up to your SIP or PRI lines, you are up and running! Everything is GUI based so it's easy to navigate. It have everything you need to run serious call centre so I would recommend it for anyone unless you are Fortune 500 company with billions of budget for IT, then spend the big money and go with Cisco PBX.

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Automotive Company, 201-500 employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Support Rating

3CX 5.7

Based on 5 answers

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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Laura Steinbrink

HS Teacher/District Tech Integration Specialist

Plato R-V School DistrictEducation Management, 51-200 employees

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Cisco VoIP PBX 8.0

Based on 1 answer

Cisco offers online instruction on the use of the VoIP but it has to be sought out. Likely, the do offer additional support but this is managed by our IT department so it is difficult to determine just how accessible Cisco has been regarding the implementation and ongoing support for this product.

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Verified User

Director in Research & Development

Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Alternatives Considered

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 full production, there were no big issues.

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Verified User

Professional in Information Technology

Fund-Raising Company, 1001-5000 employees

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All of the Cisco VoIP products have been intuitive, appropriate for the size of the organization, effective, and easily accessible.

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Verified User

Director in Research & Development

Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Return on Investment

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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Artur Bittencourt

Information Technology Manager

Corporation of the Township of EsquimaltGovernment Administration, 51-200 employees

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Employees are please with both the internet and phone service.
Supervisor relationships with leadership at the larger organization remain connected.
Cost is minimal!

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Verified User

Director in Research & Development

Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

Yes

Free/Freemium Version

Yes

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Yes

Entry-level set up fee?

Optional

3CX Editions & Modules

Edition

Standard	Free
Pro	1.08²
Enterprise	1.31²

per user/per month

Additional Pricing Details

Price 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.

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Cisco VoIP PBX Editions & Modules

—

Additional Pricing Details

—

3CX vs Cisco VoIP PBX

3CX

Cisco VoIP PBX

Pros

Cons

Usability

Support Rating

Alternatives Considered

Return on Investment

Screenshots

Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

Free/Freemium Version

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Entry-level set up fee?

3CX Editions & Modules

Edition

Additional Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

Free/Freemium Version

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Entry-level set up fee?

Cisco VoIP PBX Editions & Modules

Additional Pricing Details

Add comparison