3CX Phone System

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
Table created according to the "3CX Phone System Build History".