Page 5 - 3CX OctNov 2015

November/December 2015
3CX Drilldown 5

GREEN
continued from page 1

allowing states and even counties a wide range of the modern Telecommunications Act. To
understand how the convenience of “one throat or use a VoIP provided route to connect a call.
of options to regulate and tax. This ediice me, the fact that the world’s largest and most to choke” vendor structuring must be weighed In this way, 3CX, a maker of a software based
would hold for sixty-two years, inally being ubiquitous software company is becoming
against possible later cost impact of having to PBX is offering a very interesting idea, that
replaced by a new telecom act in 1996. Those a cloud company, and that with Skype, is at
buy services and products approved for that allows users to enjoy many of the advantages
of us who have made their careers in this ield the same time proposing to be theoretically
vendor’s space. And we need to consider if
of a number of different ways to do UC without
have lived in the house that the 1996 act built. a complete replacement of the PBX model, we are in a moment of technology transition
some of the heavier costs and structural
But in as much as the new act formalized the creates fascinating paradox. The process
or consolidation. Are we migrating from one consequences of those paths.
trend towards a big open market, and as much that gave birth to one of the most competative superstructure to another, or are we reining By being a software based product, the
as new technologies simply built whole new technology markets is confronted with a “killer what we have, or in less exalted terms, are
customer gets to choose the physical server
competitive markets, in, under, over or even app” that could place many users back into the we about to move into a whole new house of of their choice. A software based PBX offers
right through the old monopoly structure, there more closed silo that the whole revolution was
technology or are we at the point of redoing the
many of the same advantages as the cloud, but
is a perceptible tendency that remains: the without the recurring cloud fees and charges.
gravitational pull of monopoly.
3CX really makes an effort to avoid vendor
Free markets are typically applauded for lock in across the board, allowing for more
allowing people to make their own choices choice in end points and signiicantly offering
In a truly free market, each company comes and for their immense inventive powers. But delivery to user’s smart phones, increasing the
under enormous price pressure, which not only free markets have, at least many argue, an
main phone of choice for many users. Their
anti competitive character as well. Firms are switch delivers seamless in and out of ofice
crimps earnings but makes it hard to attract new incentivized to create monopolies, if they can. services, so that the whole irm is able to hang
In a truly free market, each company comes off of the PBX, not only enabling on campus
investment for new products
under enormous price pressure, which not only mobility, and travel options, but simplicity
crimps earnings but makes it hard to attract for distributed workforces. This also reduces
new investment for new products. To create complexity by, for example, allowing people
some predictability, irms will push customers to go to one number contact plans. 3CX offers
into agreements, or will build products that full CRM integration, allowing for call center
effectively take their customers out of the and contact center operations. It will work on
market and into a sort of mini-monopoly: the a Mac or a PC, and it delivers very practical supposed to remove. Are we building new walls kitchen?
printer that won’t really function properly needs such as fax to PDF by email delivery, from the rubble of the walls we have so recently To me this is why what 3CX achieved this year
without the OEM’s ink, the smart phone that voice mail that you can deliver to other people torn down?
is worth mentioning. As their website state’s:
can only run on one network and of course, the or teams as sound iles, listen to voicemail I hope no one will interpret this as an attack “3CX’s IP PBX has been developed speciically
two-year contract. Readers of this publication without calling in. Users can also avoid other on Microsoft or Skype. Both are doing exactly for Microsoft Windows and is based on the
should understand how close to home these vendor costs because the switch offers built
what they should do on behalf of both their SIP standard, making it easier to manage and
practices are. 81% of all OEM proits in UC
in conferencing options. 3CX uses WebRTC to respective customers and investors. Nor should allowing you to use any SIP phone (software or
and UCaaS are derived from fewer than the enhance its conferencing options, meaning that it be seen as a criticism of making a choice to hardware).”
17% of all customers. The large and medium the cost structure of their conferencing is low: migrate to Skype. This publication has argued And here we come to a point that should not
size enterprise is the ball game and like good 3CX is using WebRTC, which means they are not for thirty years that our readers know their own be missed. Their PBX leverages Windows, but
stadium owners, no one wants you to bring in having to pay a fee that needs to be passed on.
businesses and lives better than anyone else. does not oblige the user to the larger Microsoft
your own food and beer into the park.
Yet at the same time 3CX is not an open source Making Skype a part of your IT plan makes communication envelope. It offers the option
I write all of this as a relection on the option. Open source is a great choice for many good sense in many circumstances. We are using Skype without obliging the user to be
meaning of two huge events or passages as readers, but again we need to remain aware of only noting here that making choices needs
“all in” on Skype. The user retains freedom of
we enter 2016: the rise of Skype for Business the trade-offs. I hope my open source fans will to be done with eyes wide open. We need
technology choice. So for example, you can
and the twenty-year anniversary of the passage
not be insulted at the idea that open source is to understand recurring costs. We need to
use Skype but you could also use SIP trunks
like lying on an ultra discount carrier of a kind
now popular in both America and Europe. You
can now ly from Dublin to Warsaw, or Chicago
e potential of this technology is literally the board. e earliest and most obvious extremely useful application of WebRTC to Las Vegas, for possibly less than the cab fare
a revolution in itself, making communication adoption of WebRTC is for customer support technology is in video conferencing. 3CX, (or Uber charge) to get to the airport, but you
through the web browser as simple as 1,2,3. purposes, something many major companies adopted WebRTC very early on to develop might also face mounting fees for carry-ons, or
Using WebRTC users can establish a voice
such as Amazon and 3CX have implemented 3CX WebMeeting. a WebRTC based, video customized experiences like select seating.
or video call by clicking on a button in the e ectively. Let’s take Amazon’s Mayday as an conferencing solutiwon. 3CX has developed These carriers are safe and they do the job, but
browser that directly connects them to example; Mayday is literally a single-click, a highly e cient, cost e ective video if those fees take the fair to where it might have
whoever is on the other end. is could be live support solution designed speci cally for conferencing tool that works right out of the been on a full service carrier, we need to look
anything from another person all the way Amazon’s Kindle HD tablet. Mayday makes user’s web browser due to the use of WebRTC beyond price to other needs.
through to a business’s customer support line. use of the advanced WebRTC technology by technology.
Here 3CX has plotted the middle course,
Now, although the technology is incredibly connecting users with support sta via live As time goes by, more companies by offering full vendor support, but at very
advanced and opens up huge possibilities video feed as well as giving support a full
worldwide are rapidly integrating WebRTC affordable costs and by avoiding high recurring
WebRTC hasn’t been adopted as fast as it view of the user’s tablet and the into their businesses. e adoption of the charges. For these and other reasons 3CX has
should. WebRTC was introduced in
ability to manipulate the open source standard might have taken
been able to claim major inancial, food and
2012 by Google through the
tablet. Amazon CEO
its time however, over the last year, this beverage, industrial and hospitality companies
World Wide Web Consortium,
Je Bezos said amazingly advanced and e ective technology among its clientele.
and only now, in 2015
it’s ‘actually
has earned the much needed attention it Signiicantly, 3CX retains for the user many
has it gained the level of
very similar deserves. e uses for WebRTC are literally PSTN options. Every forty-ive minutes someone
momentum it deserves.
to having endless crossing multiple industries. If
somewhere in the world writes about the
Since its launch Google,
someone 2015 is the year WebRTC was hurled into
imminent end to PSTN, but like a human
Microso and Apple have
standing
the limelight then 2016 will be the year it journey to Mars, though technically possible,
been at war with each
next to you’. cements its presence as the go-to solution for its trickier and more complex than it sounds
other regarding the support
Another
real time communications. ■
and we may be a couple of years from its actual
of WebRTC meaning that
and eventual and certain occurrence. In the
initially it was only supported
meantime, no one in business can pretend that
by Chrome and Firefox. In fact,
PSTN access is an absolute necessity. 3CX
even in the supported browsers the video delivers this without inhibiting the path to that
codec to be used underwent huge debate thus eventual post PSTN world.
making the video functionality irrelevant for a As 2016 dawns, we will be able to look back
considerable amount of time. Only at the end at an amazing twenty years of change, but we
of 2014 did Google and Microso nally stop should note the things which remain constant.
their ‘under-the-radar’ bickering that has been The struggle of all players in our market to
the very reason WebRTC was at a stand-still retain an even and predictable revenue stream
up until recently. Today Chrome, Microso creates many outcomes. There’s nothing wrong
Edge, Opera and Firefox all support WebRTC with signing on for recurring fees in cloud, or
with video; in fact, at the moment the only going deep with Microsoft and making Skype a
browser that does not support WebRTC is part of a broader direction. But options such as
Safari.
3CX are worth careful study. Living in a moment
So, now, 3 years a er its launch, WebRTC of transition makes long term bets a challenge.
is gaining the recognition and popularity it 3CX replied to that challenge by offering the
deserves as it is rapidly being adopted across
best of many options, and by choosing to live
lightly on their customers’ balance sheets. ■