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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    3CX

    Score7.9 out of 10
    N/ACyprus based company 3CX offers an IP PBX phone system.

    $1.08

    per user/per month

    Sangoma Asterisk

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AAsterisk is an open source toolkit for building communications applications, now owned and supported by Sangoma (acquired with Digium in 2018). Most Asterisk-based systems and solutions require additional components (e.g. IP-phones, VoIP gateways or telephony interface cards, and other hardware), and expertise.N/A
    Pricing
    3CXSangoma Asterisk
    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
    3CXSangoma Asterisk
    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.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    3CXSangoma Asterisk
    Considered Both Products
    3CX
    Chose 3CX
    In terms of scaling etc, Asterisk is tons better though as I understand, 3CX uses Asterisk behind the scenes as the engine.
    Incentivized
    Chose 3CX
    Both are great - 3CX was chosen for its Windows compatibility, The operation has been very straightforward and was easily integrated and maintained. The ability to migrate later to a stable Unix platform is considered a real plus. We have been very pleased with the ease of use …
    Incentivized
    Chose 3CX
    3CX is far more affordable than any other phone system I've worked with considering all the feature it provides. It is also simpler and easier to use than any other PBX product I've worked with.
    Incentivized
    Sangoma
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    90%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    88%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    10 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    3CXSangoma Asterisk
    Small Businesses
    Sangoma Asterisk
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Sangoma Communications Platform
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Sangoma Asterisk
    Score8.7 out of 10
    3CX
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Sangoma Asterisk
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Cisco VoIP PBX (discontinued)
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    3CXSangoma Asterisk
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.4
    (14 ratings)
    8.0
    (8 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    5.4
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    3CXSangoma Asterisk
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sangoma
    Digium Asterisk is well suited for a city government as a communications solution for internal and external use. Other options like PBX are more expensive and hard to escalate. VoIP makes it easier to use the communications infrastructure instead that already exists rather than having to wire every phone when the solution is a digital or analog phone. In my city, government offices are not in the same place, which makes it harder to communicate everything together.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sangoma
    • Easy communication and configuration with many soft phone and hard phone models
    • A great community that helps the software have more and more functionality
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sangoma
    • Transferring to a Voicemail is particularly hard to do, and calls tend to drop when transferring.
    • I would like a different interface; the current one feels clumsy
    • Over the weekend, it logs you out, and you have to remember your password or reset it to gain access.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    3CX
    No answers on this topic
    Sangoma
    User friendly. Very little training to use it
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sangoma
    I have asked in the not so recent past about having my phone updated with my saved Digium "favorites" list but it doesn't seem that this is possible
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sangoma
    Recently I've been using Vonage Business, and while it is far more expensive and a lot less configurable than Digium, the mobility is essential for my new role. Digium is ideal for a business with both a very technical staff and a user base that is not remote. Digium was selected due to price and ability to create custom applications.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sangoma
    • being zero cost, we saved at least 3 million on what a legacy pbx would have cost
    • the savings and speed means lower cost on our service making us more competitive
    • stability
    Incentivized
    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