Likelihood to Recommend 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.
Read full review Collab OneContact is an all around platform that can be used in any situation. It can be used in situation where there isn't a PBX. I've seen some solutions where the platform is integrated, using SIP with a CUCM.
Read full review 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. Read full review Call Flow, ACD and IVR. Dynamic platform with the possibility to integrate with the client existing solution. Was built to stand alone, with no need for a supporting PBX, or a advanced reporting module. Read full review Cons 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 The need to have a Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014 Standard in order to save the media interactions. The email module needs a little more work. Read full review Support Rating 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.
Read full review Alternatives Considered 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
Read full review CUCCX is a great platform but it can't be considered when working with other manufacturers, even if they support SIP. For this reason, when you're building a network that isn't just installed by one provider, I would suggest an approach different from CUCCX (considering VoIP and CC platforms, not routing or switching). OneContact allows the integration between platforms, allowing short number dialing between different contexts, recording other advanced telephony solution. Collab's Customer interaction Hub is a great solution for clients that need a CRM, but don't need much complexity, this mini-CRM is a great asset against the competition and facilitates the deployment of an omni-channel Contact Center.
Read full review 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. Read full review It has a low initial CAPEX It has low maintenance The manufacterer support can be a considerable cost. Read full review ScreenShots