Software-based VoIP systems have gained a ringing endorsement from end users wanting a fresh and innovative approach to communications, according to Nick Galea, 3CX founder and CEO.
When Galea set out his start-up plan for 3CX he got it right first time. There has been no need for strategic revisions. From the outset he has led 3CX to remarkable growth and his clarity of vision makes lending an ear to his future predictions a matter of duty. "I thought long and hard about our strategy when founding the company and it is working out as planned," he said.
"The on-site PBX market will soon be 100 per cent software based, eliminating not only proprietary PBX but also appliance-based PBXs. Larger customers want their IT department to be able to manage the PBX and they want to leverage existing Windows infrastructure as well as their Hyper V or Vmware virtualisation infrastructure."
3CX's growth statistics reflect high demand for its products and ambition to innovate. The company is growing by 40 per cent each year and currently employs 70-plus staff worldwide. It also boasts 30,000 customers and more than 10,000 partners globally. "We are seeking to double our partner channel in the next two years and become one of the top three PBX vendors worldwide," Galea stated. "We have a clear and aggressive marketing strategy for this and we believe that the product architecture and channel strategy we have chosen will take us there."
3CX is a 100 per cent channel company, supporting partners with free training, free technical support and easy pricing and purchasing procedures. This, says Galea, helps resellers deploy 3CX more easily and more profitably, opening the door to partners in the IT channel who find onboarding the 3CX solution a straightforward process. "IT partners are much more confident in selling PBX solutions than they were a few years ago," commented Galea. "Then, an IT partner would sell just a few PBX deployments and they would be smaller. Now, we see our partners do more and more deployments as well as larger ones."
This increase in deployments of 3CX is in no small part attributable to Galea's efforts to make the solution easier to deploy and manage, meaning that selling 3CX is more profitable for resellers. "3CX Phone System version 12 is a major step forward in this area," he commented. "We are also launching 3CX Cloud Server, which is a solution that allows resellers to host 3CX virtually for customers."
3CX is rapidly climbing the ladder and has overtaken several larger players, and is ranked by MZA as one of the fastest growing PBX companies. The market analyst firm describes 3CX as a significant emerging player in the global market for PBX extensions and call control licenses. Figures indicate that, against the backdrop of a seven per cent year-on-year global market decline in Q3 last year, 3CX's volume of call control licenses grew by 52 per cent. The cost savings, ease of maintenance and the full functionality of the 3CX Phone System has wide appeal in the marketplace, according to MZA. And Galea says much of this growth is also due to the firm's ethos. "The culture we nurture at 3CX at a technology level is that of being an innovator," Galea stated.
"3CX innovates communications and we are a key player in many areas such as mobility, productivity and ease of deployment. The 3CX team are hand picked individuals who realise the importance of our resellers and the constant demand to innovate within the industry. The culture within 3CX is one that focuses on our partners and on their customers' needs, hence the focus we put on developing an easy to use, affordable, feature packed UC solution. In a nutshell, the 3CX team focuses on the customer, whether a partner or an end user, and makes sure that their needs are met."
He says that the PBX market has innovated far too slowly. "The PBX feature set is limited and has been stagnant for too long," added Galea. "Companies then failed to see the need to upgrade to newer more feature rich PBX solutions and this has stifled business for resellers and even hindered companies in being more productive while delivering better customer service. We, PBX vendors and our partner channels, need the telecoms industry to start innovating again and deliver more value to our customers."
Galea entered the telecoms software business in the early '90s with a similar can-do attitude, founding GFI which initially developed fax-on-demand and voicemail software. "The experience gained from software development and marketing, as well as interfacing with telecoms hardware was crucial for my current role," noted Galea. "Building GFI to a 250 person company before selling it in 2005 is my biggest career milestone to date. However, I am confident that 3CX will eclipse this achievement in the near future."
With his eyes fixed on the target market of 25 to 1,000 extensions, Galea's gaze also focuses on trends towards mobility and the future role of WebRTC. "End users want to be able to use their office extension from anywhere," he stated. "Companies need to provide this and they need it to be easy to do and reliable. This is where the software-based PBX plays its trump card and enables partners to get companies to replace their outdated PBX.
"In terms of WebRTC, it will play a big role in web conferencing as well as regular telephone calls. 3CX has commenced development in these areas and will be launching WebRTC support in the coming months, including a web conferencing add-on based on WebRTC. Clientless WebRTC is the different angle that is needed to make it more widespread. Innovations such as these are happening as we approach a phase of major consolidation in the market. Some major players will either go bankrupt, get acquired or exit the business. And this consolidation will see a major shift, with smaller players like ourselves moving rapidly up the food chain."•