Online StoreInterview with Nick Galea – 3CX CEO
Nick Galea is the CEO of 3CX, a leading PBX platform that is available for Windows-based systems. Today we got a chance to talk to Nick about the company and their products, as well as seeing where Nick sees the industry going.
888VS: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, for our readers who aren’t familiar with your company or product, can you give us a brief background on where 3CX came from and how the product has progressed over the past couple of years.
NG: I started 3CX realizing their was a big opportunity for a native Windows based PBX. A software that a network administrator can easily manage and that runs on an operating system they know and can control.
3CX has gone from strength to strength, we now have a large installed base and a global partner network. There is a clear trend towards windows based PBX – completely understandable since the vast majority of companies runs Windows networks.
888VS: Since 3CX is a native Windows application, that should appeal to the thousands of IT consultants that only deal with Windows platforms. Do you find that Windows these days is reliable and stable enough for a company to trust their phone system to?
NG: Windows is reliable enough and has been for a long time. The worlds largest companies and most critical systems depend on Microsoft Windows.
888VS: Since 3CX doesn’t eat up a lot of resources, are companies typically installing it onto an existing server they have or are they dedicating servers for their phone systems?
NG: Its possible to install 3CX on an existing server, on a dedicated server, or even in a virtual machine. Many customers still use a dedicated server, but with modern server machines we are now seeing a trend towards more and more PBXs being installed on existing servers with other applications or else virtualizing them. Of course it depends on the number of calls and extensions the PBX has to support.
888VS: Earlier this year 3CX version 7 came out. What were some of the major new features in this release?
NG: One of the most important features was the 3CX Assistant. This is a windows utility which allows users to see presence of other users, incoming calls, as well as queue status. It also integrates with Outlook or Salesforce. That way calls can easily be setup without dialing the number. Calls are automatically logged and inbound calls are resolved to the exact customer contact. Version 7 also brought a completely revamped management interface.
888VS: With version 7 still fairly fresh, we are already hearing tidbits about the upcoming version 8. What can you tell us about version 8 and when can we expect to see more details and release dates?
NG: The release dates and exact feature sets have not been finalized yet but there will definitely be another release this year.
888VS: While 3CX currently has built-in support for a good number of devices, are there plans to include more devices from other manufacturers?
NG: Yes, we are constantly adding more support for more devices. On the phone side, we wish to tighten our partnership with Polycom. On the gateway side we will be looking to add 1 or 2 more vendors over the next few months.
888VS: With the economy being down, is it harder to sell against open source solutions? Why should someone look at a commercial package over an open source product?
NG: Its much easier and cheaper. The total cost of ownership of an open source solution is high. Yes the download is free, but then you often need a consultant to get it configured the way you need. On going you need expensive technical support. So in the end, its going to cost you much more then an inexpensive commercial package such as 3CX.
888VS: How would you tell a potential 3CX reseller to position the 3CX product against other products in the same class?
NG: There are not many products in the Windows segment. 3CX delivers unparalleled value with a low price tag and a rich feature set.
It is important to stress is that customers and resellers should go for a platform they can install AND support, and not another black box solution like a Linux based appliance. In effect, they already have a black solution in the form of a proprietary PBX, why go for another one?
888VS: You just did a 3CX reseller training in Chicago, what fairly different is that resellers are not charged to attend, why are your reseller classes free when everyone else charges for theirs?
NG: We realize that our partners are key to our success in the market and we appreciate their time and commitment to our company and product.
Given that – how could we charge?
888VS: Are there any plans to expand the training to more than one day in order to cover more of the product and troubleshooting?
NG: We have started an online training – which is based on a series of videos and includes official certification. Partners can do this training in the comfort of their office – the training has more content then the one day training and will be expanded on on ongoing basis. The training can be started from here: http://training.3cx.com
888VS: Where do you see the market heading over the next 6 months to a year and beyond, and what can we expect to see from 3CX during that time?
NG: We see the market clearly heading towards Windows based solutions – market share of software based PBX for Windows is growing exponentially. We are continuing to expand our feature set and offer better value and thus we are confident we will remain the market leader in this segment.
3CX is a VoipStore Featured Solution and their products can be found on the 888VoipStore 3CX Product Page.
For more information, please visit http://3CX.com
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