In this update:

  • 3CX StartUP – a new frontier
  • 3CX Partner Portal updated
  • 3CX website updated
  • Yealink promotions
  • Upcoming webinars and technical training
  • Submit a great 3CX case study. Get pizzas for your team!
  • 3CX blogs – essential knowledge
  • 3CX partnership
  • Need demo equipment?
  • Firmware for IP phones
  • Join our LinkedIn VoIP community
3CX StartUP – a new frontier

At the beginning of May, 3CX announced a brand-new product – 3CX StartUP. This is currently an Alpha release so not yet available for commercial sale. It is bringing the option for multi-tenancy back to the 3CX product family – last seen around 2014. At present, 3CX StartUP is available for partners and customers to test out and offer feedback to 3CX as they refine the solution. There are 3 editions – Free or Pro 10/Pro 20 (users of 10 or 20 depending on option chosen):

3CX StartUP

Check out the announcement blog here. Remember the Self-Managed Standard, Professional and Enterprise licenses are available as normal. There is no upgrade/crossgrade path between the StartUP and dedicated instances.

3CX Partner Portal updated

In line with the new announcements of 3CX Hosted for NZ in April and 3CX StartUP in May, the Partner Portal has also undergone a facelift. There was a period of time where the Portal was offline but everyone should now have access. The Downloads option was missing but is now back. The v18 ISO’s are available for download within your Portal once again. If at any time the Portal is offline, you can access the installers from within the latest update blog (not ideal but a work around).

If you’re having trouble navigating around the refreshed Partner Portal, please reach out to megan@sofsol.co.nz who will be happy to assist and provide your feedback to 3CX as well

3CX website updated

The 3CX website continues to evolve and be regularly updated. Be sure to check it often in case you miss anything. You will find that the “Pricing” tab which also contains the comparison matrix has been updated. You can choose to review “Hosted” or “Self-Managed” options. With “Hosted”, if you’re looking at the Pro or Dedicated it also includes the annual hosting fee in the calculations – all pricing in USD and at retail. This is the direct link and worth reviewing. As new announcements are made by 3CX we’ll bring these to you.

Yealink promotions

If you haven’t yet taken advantage of these fantastic offers from Yealink, it’s not too late. This quarter’s promotions include:

  • SIP-T43U + WH62 Dual Bundle – save on these popular SKUs by buying together!
  • SIP-T46U + WH62 Dual Bundle – save on these popular SKUs by buying together!
  • UH34 and UH36 USB Headset bundles – buy 5 and receive 6 (See flyer. Cannot mix models).
  • NFR promo on the UVC40 and UVC34 video bars – a great way to equip your office!
  • A30 and A20 MS Teams meeting bars with CTP18 touch panel – special pricing plus a free VCH51 sharing box.
  • Yealink Junior Certified Microsoft Solution Engineer (CMSE Junior) certification. Complete the training and pass the test. Then post to LinkedIn tagging Yealink and Soft Solutions. We’ll put you in the draw for a prize! Get bragging rights to being one of the first in NZ to complete – will it be you?

 

For full details please visit this link or reach out to our sales@sofsol.co.nz team. We will be adding additional promotions as well – stay tuned!

Upcoming webinars and technical training

Join Megan Twentyman, Brand Manager, on Tuesday 31st May at 11:30am for a bite size webinar to look at 3CX’s new StartUP product and the Partner Portal’s most recent changes. We’ll cover off everything we know so far on StartUP which is in Alpha, along with navigating the new look Partner Portal. The session will wrap with a Q&A session. Please register here and we look forward to your attendance.

We’ll be hosting a webinar in conjunction with Yealink on Thursday 23rd June at 1:30pm. Spurs Zhang from Yealink will be on the session – Spurs has a specific role looking at Yealink solutions and how they interact with 3CX. This webinar will cover how to Empower 3CX solutions with Yealink headsets. We’ll cover off the range of headsets from DECT, Bluetooth, and wired USB options that Yealink have available. We’ll also be looking at how these units integrate with 3CX and what that sales opportunity is with our new hybrid working environment. We’ll wrap the session with some promotions and a Q&A session.

Our 3CX Technical Certification sessions are proving very popular this year and we’ve had some superb pass rates – 100% so far. We’ll be releasing our Q3 dates very soon. Unfortunately, Jordan has moved on to a new position and we have a replacement person starting in early June. She’ll come up-to-speed quickly to be able to deliver effective training in Q3, so keep an eye out for those dates. If you or any of your team need to complete training, please reach out to megan@sofsol.co.nz. They’ll be added to the wait-list to be contacted first when new dates are set.

 

Submit a great 3CX case study. Get pizzas for your team!

Would you like a lunch shout on Soft Solutions? We want local NZ stories of 3CX in action. We’ll get a good story out, featuring your skillful team. You can also use it for your own marketing. No story is too big or small – it’s about your customer’s success. We have a simple questionnaire you can work through with your customer. 3CX’s marketing team will then consider it. It’s a great reason to touch base with your customer and ensure their 3CX is working as it should be. You can also check if they need a larger license or extra hardware. Propose a case study for consideration and we’ll arrange a treat for your team. Reach out to our VoIP Brand Manager Megan Twentyman. We’ll make the process painless and treat your team!

 

3CX blogs – essential knowledge

The 3CX team continue to deliver new content, information, and updates for v18. We post links to these first, on our LinkedIn VoIP Community Group. If you’re not a member you can join here. Here’s a summary from the past month:

  • IMPORTANT – 3CX Live Chat WordPress plugin users – with the launch of 3CX StartUP’s Alpha there has been some changes to the plugin. If you’re using auto-updates on your 3CX system, please disable until update 4 goes live. See the full details here.
  • Don’t be “that” guy blog series – these blogs look at the security of your 3CX system and the best practises to ensure your customers are protected. In volume 1 it drills down on why you should definitely keep complex credentials – weakness will allow entry and that’s the last thing your customers need. In volume 2 the focus is on call fraud and what a hacker is trying to achieve. There are some clear guidelines on what you should configure to protect your customers. Volume 3 was released in May and looks at the top 4 PBX security tips and it’s important to check you’re following this best practise. There are more volumes to come so stay tuned.
  • Top tips for video conference optimisations – have you noted that 3CX Video Conference in v18 relocates a lot of its data warehousing to your 3CX system? Take a read of this blog to find out why and how to optimise it for your best needs.
  • Customer service aims to deliver a 5 star performance – read this new blog from 3CX to see how 3CX’s Unified Communication solution enables you to make this your reality. The way customers communicate with you is evolving so you need to evolve with it and luckily 3CX helps with this process.
  • 3CX is built for remote working – 3CX was ready when a global pandemic changed our normal. This blog explores how 3CX was ready and how to use it effectively in our new normal of hybrid work. There are some great tips within the blog to ensure you’re using the system to your best advantage – read more here.
  • The Android and iOS apps have new releases – the apps went live at the beginning of May. The Android app delivers a more refined experience with an improved user interface. Read the blog here. For the iOS app, the focus was on speeding up everyday interactions and that has been delivered – check out the blog here.

 

3CX partnership

If you’re not a 3CX partner, now is a great time to explore how effective the 3CX IP PBX unified communication platform is. We’re sure it will fit several of your clients’ requirements – with options for Cloud hosted / on-prem and Linux / Windows installations, it’s highly flexible. 3CX have recently updated their website but a great overview is straight on their landing page at 3cx.com. To chat around becoming a partner and what 3CX’s expectations are, please reach out to our VoIP Brand Manager Megan Twentyman. Or if you’re ready to sign up – use this specific link. Soft Solutions will help speed up your application.

 

Need demo equipment?

Just a reminder that we operate quite an extensive range of Grandstream and Yealink demo equipment. Borrow a device to put it through its paces, or for a client event to showcase. We also have access to EPOS-Sennheiser and Jabra headsets. If you have a requirement, please reach out to megan@sofsol.co.nz and she’ll be happy to assist.

 

Firmware for IP phones

Remember it is vital to keep checking for updated firmware, for your VoIP hardware. Grandstream and Yealink release new firmware as it is developed. The firmware is available free of charge from their respective websites. It does take some time for 3CX to verify new firmware so be sure to check the latest supported firmware that 3CX advises you to use. This is found on the 3CX website here. If you are ever trouble-shooting any issue with 3CX, the first thing they will check is whether your hardware has the supported firmware version. Now is a great time to ensure everything is up-to-date and working optimally.

 

Join our LinkedIn VoIP community

Our “Soft Solutions NZ VoIP Community” group has been created so our customers get all the latest news quickly. We post regularly and welcome new members to the group. Keep up to date with upcoming Soft Solutions events, VoIP updates and any other general VoIP news. Join the LinkedIn group here.

Thank you for reading.

 

The VoIP Team at Soft Solutions

Phone: 09 306 0450, Freephone: 0800 733 233, E-mail: voip@sofsol.co.nz.

3CX StartUP