No catches: how 3CX v16 can slash your costs
With an aggressive new pricing structure, it’s now even easier for businesses to cut their telco costs in half
With v16 of 3CX, the company didn’t just introduce a bunch of new features ( see issue 296, p62) - it also introduced a pricing structure that cut the costs by up to 66%. In fact, many smaller businesses can run a 3CX PBX without spending a penny on licence fees.
New, lower prices
Here’s how 3CX’s charging structure works. Unlike rivals, who may charge you a fixed fee per user or f0r call centre features, it charges based on how many simultaneous calls (SC) you need. Typically, that translates into three to four end users per SC, meaning a 25-seat company should get along fine with an 8SC licence. And that’s free.
In fact, for the first year, the standard licence is completely free no matter how many simultaneous calls you need. It’s only after 12 months (by which point you should know exactly how many SCs you require) that you need to pay, and with version 16 3CX has introduced a number of new licence sizes to make this easier: you can now choose from 4SC, 8SC, 16SC, 24SC, 32SC, 48SC, 64SC, 96SC, 128SC, 192SC, 256SC, 512SC and 1,024SC.
Once you’ve settled on the number of SCs you need, you can choose from 3CX’s simple three-tier structure. We’ve summarised it in the table opposite so you can see what’s included at a glance, but head to 3cx.com/phone-system/ edition-comparison for full details.
The key thing to understand is that the Standard licence includes all the “core” PBX features. As you can see from the table, that includes unlimited extensions, voicemail and free use of the 3CX iOS and Android apps, but follow that link and you’ll see many more options: real-time system status, compatibility with VMs and your choice of SIP trunk ( 3cx.com/partners/sip-trunks/uk). 3CX realises that businesses won’t know which features they need until they try them, which is why it allows you to try the Pro plan for 40 days without charge. There’s no sneaky fee at the end of that term: your plan is returned to Standard for the rest of your first, totally free year.
Direct savings
A glance at the table shows that you aren’t simply buying a replacement phone system: this is a unified comms system of the type that used to cost enterprises hundreds of thousands of pounds. As such, the real savings come when you implement it in a way that supports your business, solves problems for your employees and cuts real costs. Some of those are direct, obvious savings. For example, if your business includes teleworkers,
travelling salespeople or branch offices, it may be costing you money simply for employees to make internal calls. With 3CX, anyone armed with a smartphone and network connection can call anyone else in the business for free.
Then two other features come into play. First, presence information. You’ll be familiar with the basics: a green dot indicates someone is available, a red dot says no. People often forget to set these when they are heading to a meeting, but because 3CX v16 fully integrates with Office 365, for example, you can call with confidence.
The second feature? Your employees can use the best form of communication to hand, with video calls, instant messaging and good old-fashioned phone calls all available. And all at no extra charge.
For another example of how 3CX users cut costs, consider how many fixed telephony lines you currently have installed. As 3CX works on the basis of simultaneous calls rather than end users, there’s no need to pay for extra capacity that you never use. It’s one of the reasons why 3CX can so boldly claim that it can cut your costs in half: if you’re switching from a conventional PBX system, your overheads can be massively reduced.
Clever savings
Of course, some calls have to leave the network to reach users on carriers such as BT, which connect the calls to ordinary phones or mobile phones. Calls with these destinations cost money, so 3CX employs “leastcost routing”: a set of mathematical algorithms that automatically select the cheapest route for all outgoing calls.
This works because 3CX chooses which path on the data network the call should take, and then at what point the call should join the PSTN. At this point, it selects the cheapest carrier, so that the user pays the lowest possible cost.
How can it be sure you’re paying the lowest prices? The system continuously receives call charge information from multiple trunks and updates its database using the latest call charge information. This means it can calculate the cost of a given call at a given time with a specific destination.
Take control of your costs
3CX gives you control over how you install its system. Perhaps you’d like to install it on-premise. No problem: you don’t even need expensive hardware, as v16 even runs on a Raspberry Pi (see 3cx.com/docs/installing-pbxraspberry-pi for step-by-step instructions). And it’s just as happy to run on a Windows or Linux-based device.
Alternatively, you may prefer to install 3CX on Google Cloud, Amazon Lightsail or Microsoft Azure. Using 3CX’s PBX Express setup tool ( 3cx.com/phone-system/trycloud-pbx), you can have the system running in minutes – with the added benefit that it’s incredibly easy to scale to match your business growth.
The point is this: how you install 3CX is up to you. Perhaps you’d prefer to work with a local 3CX partner, who will then create a solution based on your business needs. Perhaps you have a favoured SIP trunk provider that you would like to work with. It’s your choice.