3CX Phone System
Introduction The '''3CX''' '''Phone System''' is the software-based private branch exchange (PBX) phone system developed and marketed by the company, 3CX. The 3CX Phone System is based on the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) standard and enables extensions to make calls via the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services on premises, in the cloud, or via a cloud service owned and operated by the 3CX company. The 3CX Phone System is available for Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi  and supports standard SIP soft/hard phones, VoIP services, faxing, voice and web meetings, as well as traditional PSTN phone lines.Nick Galea is the CEO and Founder of 3CX. He manages the company alongside key executives: Michael Borg as CTO, Natassia Allery as Global Sales & Support Director, and Ruth Elizabeth Abbott as Operations Director.
History The product was developed by 3CX, an international VoIP IP PBX software development technology company as an open-standards, software-based PBX. First published as a free IP PBX product in 2006, the product was intended to provide a VoIP product for use in a Microsoft Windows environment.The first commercial edition of the product was launched in 2007.Reviews of the product have noted its easy configuration, management, and hardware compatibility. Smith on VoIP commented in a blog post about 3CX that it was very easy to use. In 2009, it was featured on the internet TV show Hak5.On 7 June 2017, 3CX released version 15.5 with a feature set from WebRTC video conferencing, presence, chat, voicemail and a new Web Client. In the years that followed, Live Chat, SMS and Facebook integrations were added, as well as the Microsoft Teams in the latest V18.In March 2023, 3CX announced that their desktop client had been taken over by hackers and spread malware after a supply chain attack. The company has confirmed on their website and their community forum. Also, cybersecurity technology companies CrowdStrike and SentinelOne wrote about this hack on their websites, with CrowdStrike mentioning there is suspected nation-state involvement. In response to this, 3CX appointed Mandiant, a renowned American cyber security firm and subsidiary of Google. With their help, 3CX was able to review this incident in full. In July 2023, in an effort to cater specifically to the needs of small businesses, 3CX announced the new edition "3CX Small Business". This offering draws upon the company's extensive experience with a global customer base of over 350,000.3CX Small Business is designed to eliminate common challenges faced by small enterprises in adopting VoIP solutions. It features a user-friendly setup requiring no specialized IT skills, along with a comprehensive suite of functionalities accessible via as web client, mobile apps and desk phones.
Features 3CX Phone System consists of a number of software-based components. The PBX, accessed and managed via a Web Client, PWA, Desktop App, Management & Admin consoles, softphone for Windows, and smartphone clients for iOS and Android. The phone system can be used with either SIP phones or the clients, or a combination of the two. The PBX provides unified communications functionality including call recordings, multi-level IVR, call center features, voicemail to email, fax to email, integrated video & call conferencing, free live chat, SMS & MMS, inbound WhatsApp messaging, additional integrations with Facebook and a number of CRM platforms.
Release History   Version  Build Number  Release datev18 - Update 818.0.8.939September 2023v18 - Update 718.0.7.441April 2023v18 - Update 618.0.6.908February 2023v18 - Update 5  18.0.5.415  September 2022v18 - Update 4  18.0.4.965  July 2022v18 - Update 3  18.0.3.450  February 2022v18 - Update 2  18.0.2.307  December 2021v18 - Update 1  18.0.1.234  October 2021v18  18.0.0.1880  August 2021v16 - Update 8  16.0.8.9  February 2021v16 - Update 7  16.0.7.1078  December 2020v16 - Update 6  16.0.6.641  August 2020v16 - Update 5  16.0.5.611  April 2020v16 - Update 4  16.0.4.493  December 2019v16 - Update 3  16.0.3.676  October 2019v16 - Update 2  16.0.2.910  5 July 2019v16 - Update 1  16.0.1.273  16 May 2019v16 16.0.0.1581 27 March 2019v15.5 - Update 6  15.5.15502.6  30 August 2018v15.5 - Update 5  15.5.13105.5  1 June 2018 v15.5 - Update 4  15.5.10244.4  1 March 2018 v15.5 - Update 3  15.5.8801.3  1 January 2018 v15.5 - Update 2  15.5.6354.2  1 November 2017 v15.5 - Update 1  15.5.3849.1  1 August 2017 v15.5  15.5.1694.0  1 July 2017 v15 SP5  15.0.62928.5  1 March 2017 v15 SP4  60903  1 December 2016 v15 SP3  59950  1 October 2016 v15 SP2  59381  1 October 2016 v15 SP1  56772  1 July 2016 v15  56008  1 July 2016 v14 SP3  49169  1 February 2016 v14 SP2  47020  1 December 2015 v14 SP1  45826  1 October 2015 v14  44241  1 September 2015 v12.5  12.5.37957.880  21 October 2014 v12 SP6  36097.67  6 June 2014 v12 SP5  35528.64  5 May 2014 v12 SP4  34902.6  4 March 2014 v12 SP3  33517.465  3 November 2013 v12 SP2  32816.397  2 October 2013 v12 SP1  32495.362  1 September 2013 v11 SP4    1 February 2013 v11 SP3    1 December 2012 v11 SP2    1 November 2012 v11 SP1    1 September 2012 v11    1 July 2012 v10 SP6  10.24018  1 February 2012 v10 SP5  10.22686  1 December 2011 v10 SP4  10.22052  1 November 2011 v10 SP3  10.21197  1 September 2011 v10 SP2  10.20401  1 July 2011 v10 SP1  10.19547  1 May 2011 v10  10.19117  1 March 2011 v09 SP4  9.14901  10 November 2010 v09 SP3  9.14507  16 October 2010 v09 SP1  9.13763  1 July 2010 v08 - Update 4  8.0.10824  29 January 2010 v08  8.0.9414  2 October 2009 v07.1  07.01.6589  17 April 2009 v07  7.0.4249  4 December 2008 v06.1  6.1.1793  12 September 2008 v06  6.0.612  23 June 2008Table created according to the "3CX Phone System Build History".
See also * Voice modem* Comparison of VoIP software* List of SIP software* IP PBX
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