3CX Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone system reviewed

Tuesday, 27 January 2009

In the IT industry it is often hard to say with any confidence which technologies are here to stay and which are just a passing fad.  However, it's becoming fairly clear that the rise of Voice over IP (VoIP) technology is really about to become mainstream technology for businesses of all sizes. 

Obviously, we've had VoIP in the domestic scene for some time now with the likes of Skype and MSN.  But in the business world VoIP has been the realm of larger enterprises and a few large and respected (if a little pricey) providers such as Cisco.

However, what we really need is a solution for the masses. Small and medium sized businesses are looking for ease of use, flexibility, standardisation and reduced costs. This is where SIP fits in. The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is really just a signalling protocol that can be used for making and ending voice communications or indeed a number of other types including video calls or conferencing. (Take a look at RFC 3261 or a fuller explanation on Wikipedia for more information.)

What SIP brings us is the rapidly increasing number of vendors and manufacturers that are making SIP compliant hardware and software. The advantages of this are easy to see:

• Increased Choice - choose a telephone system and then choose the phones that you like or meet your specific requirements.
• No Lock-in - no proprietary hardware, no proprietary protocols, mix and match as much as you like.
• Flexible servicing - choose from a number of options for servicing and maintenance or perhaps just do it yourself.
• Reduced Cost - Not only are SIP systems and hardware cheaper than there proprietary counterparts but the ultimate saving comes from using the Internet to route calls cheaply.
• Least Cost Routing - With prices ranging from just 0.1p per minute to geographical numbers in the UK and only marginally more to countries all over the world, there are huge savings to be made.

So with all this in mind we have been testing a number of systems from Open Source to Freeware and full commercial products. To date we've have been quiet impressed with the Linksys (now Cisco Small Business Range) Voice system and in particular the SPA9000 and associated phones. Its a fairly solid performer from a big brand at a really good price (more information). However the star of the show for us is 3CX.

• The system runs on an existing Windows server (we don't have anything against Linux) making the most of existing technology.
• It can run in a virtual instance if required (actually we think thats the best way)
• The footprint is really small.
• The interface is very intuitive
• It works with a wide range of phones and SIP providers
• There are a range of licensing options for 3CX ranging from "free" upwards but we'd recommend a paid for version to get access to support and some of more advanced features.

If you'd like to know more about VoIP systems for you business or want more information on 3CX in particular feel free to get in touch.

By Graeme Davis
IT Foundations

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