Businesses of all types and sizes are now familiar with the importance of an effective communication system. It helps organizations stay connected with their customers, team members and partners and ensure that All Communications remain efficient and organized. The number of providers has also increased with the demand for advanced communication systems.
3CX is one of the most reliable and cost-effective communication solutions for businesses transitioning from traditional phone systems to advanced telephony. The open platform offers on-premises, cloud-based voice and video calling solutions and other advanced features.
If you are considering 3CX as your business communication system, it is essential that you understand how it works and its pros and cons. This article will describe everything you need to know about 3CX.
What Is the 3CX Phone System?
The 3CX Phone System is a platform which provides a range of features to maximize efficiency, streamline business processes and provide a high level of performance. From customizable voicemail solutions to intelligent call routing features, this platform is designed to help businesses make communication seamless and practical. Besides these features, the 3CX phone system offers numerous benefits, including cost-effectiveness, scalability and integration with third-party platforms.
Top Features Of 3CX Phone System

3CX has impressive features, including voice and video calling, SMS, call analytics, team collaboration tools, etc. Here, we are providing a quick overview of the top features of 3CX:
i. Call Switchboard
All paid 3CX plans include the Call Switchboard feature, providing an intuitive dashboard for efficient, one-click call management.
The Switchboard offers real-time agent status visibility and supports drag-and-drop call transfers (warm or blind). Users can easily upgrade voice calls to audio conferences or video calls. Additional features include sending chat or text messages, call recording, voicemail management, parking, and placing callers on hold.
Customizable views cater to different roles, such as agents, receptionists, administrators, and managers. Through 3CX wallboards, managers gain advanced functionalities like call monitoring, call barge, call whisper, and live call queue oversight.
ii. Voice Calling Features
3CX provides a comprehensive suite of voice calling and call management features to enhance business communication and customer service efficiency. Key capabilities include:
iii. Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
All paid 3CX plans offer auto attendants and multi-level IVR systems. Administrators can upload pre-recorded call menus to streamline inbound call routing without needing a live agent. Each IVR menu supports up to 10 sub-menus, directing callers to appropriate call queues, extensions, agents, or ring groups.
Call Routing and Business Hour Rules
Paid 3CX plans include customizable Business-hour call routing. Calls follow predefined paths during office hours, while after-hours calls are forwarded to external numbers or voicemail boxes. The Small Business plan supports various call routing strategies, such as simultaneous call blasting, round-robin,
list-based, random, most idle, fewest answered, and lowest talk time routing. Custom routing configurations are also available. Skills-based routing is exclusive to the Professional and Enterprise plans.
i. Ring Groups and Call Queues
Admins can create ring groups by grouping agents with similar skills, schedules, or other shared criteria, ensuring increased call answer rates. If no agents are available, callers are placed in customizable call queues. Enterprise plan users gain access to advanced call queue management features such as post-call wrap-up time, queue capacity limits, email notifications, and priority queuing.
ii. Call Flow Designer
The Call Flow Designer enables customization of advanced IVR and call distribution in Professional and Enterprise plans. Users can set up phone-based customer payment systems, configure outbound dialling rules, enable power dialling, control the timing between outbound calls, and create customer surveys.
ii. Voicemail
All 3CX plans support voicemail with personalized greetings, voicemail-to-email functionality, real-time push notifications, and one-click callbacks. Voicemail transcription is limited to Professional and Enterprise users.
iii. Call Recording
All paid plans include manual (on-demand) call recording, while the Enterprise plan supports pause-resume functionality. Both local and cloud-based recording storage are searchable. Call recording transcription requires a paid OpenAI integration configured by the user.
iv. Customer Callback
Admins can enable customer callbacks to reduce hold times. It allows customers to schedule a callback from an available agent, improving customer satisfaction and call management efficiency.
v. Video Conferencing
All 3CX plans include unlimited HD video conferencing for desktop and mobile devices, complete with powerful in-meeting collaboration tools. Participant limits vary by plan:
- Free & Small Business Plans: Up to 25 participants
- Professional Plan: Up to 100 participants
Enterprise Plan: Up to 250 participants
Seamless Browser-Based Experience
3CX video conferencing is browser-based, ensuring privacy by not storing personal data. Participants don’t need to download an app or create an account to join. Meetings can be scheduled or launched on-demand, with hosts sharing invitations through links, chat, email, WhatsApp, or QR codes. Video conferences can be live-streamed to YouTube or screencast to Chromecast-enabled devices.
Flexible Meeting Features
- Unlimited Meeting Duration: Host meetings without time restrictions.
- Screen Support: Up to 16 active video screens and 50 simultaneous audio-only participants.
- Personalized Meeting Links: Add custom meeting links to websites, email signatures, and social media profiles for instant video calls.
Advanced Meeting Customization
- Pre-meeting tests for audio and video setup
- Background blur and layout customization
- Echo cancellation and participant control settings
In-Meeting Collaboration Tools
3CX video conferencing enhances teamwork with interactive features such as:
- Team Chat & Q&A: Keep conversations organized and interactive.
- Screen Sharing & Remote Control: Share screens and take control when needed.
- File & PDF Sharing with Annotations: Share and annotate documents in real-time.
- Virtual Hand-Raising & Polls: Facilitate engagement and collect feedback.
- Whiteboards with Drawing Tools & Templates: Collaborate visually with intuitive drawing tools.
These capabilities make 3CX video conferencing a robust solution for businesses of all sizes, promoting seamless collaboration and enhanced productivity.
Business Messaging
3CX Business Messaging Overview
3CX offers robust business messaging capabilities, enabling seamless communication across various channels, including live website chat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS, and instant team chat messaging.
Unified Messaging Inbox
All incoming messages, regardless of channel, are consolidated into a single inbox, eliminating communication silos. Clear icons indicate the messaging source for easy identification.
Customer Engagement & Support
- Live Chat with Website Visitors: Agents can engage directly with website visitors to recommend products, provide customer support, and boost conversions.
- Smart Chat Queues: Admins can create chat queues that route customers to the most suitable agent based on availability and expertise.
Automated Responses: Custom triggers enable pre-set message templates for instant responses.
Agent Collaboration & Productivity
- Chat Management: Agents can transfer live chats, share files and images with customers, and mark chats resolved.
- Contact Creation: New customer contacts can be created directly from chat messages.
- Interaction History: Agents can view past chat interactions to offer personalized support.
Team Chat Functionality
Agents can access individual and group team chats, supporting file sharing and real-time communication. However, advanced chat features such as message threading, direct replies, and user mentions are not currently supported.
With these features, 3CX simplifies business messaging, promoting efficient customer service and streamlined internal collaboration.
Reporting And Analytics
All 3CX plans include basic call logs and chat reports, but advanced historical and live analytics features are available only with paid plans.
Managers can track key chat metrics such as queue volumes, abandonment rates, channel popularity (including website chat, SMS, Facebook, and WhatsApp), and the number of chats handled by individual agents over a custom date range. Google Analytics integration is also supported for deeper insights into chat and website interactions.
Live call centre monitoring is accessible through the 3CX wallboard. It provides real-time metrics such as call queue statistics, average wait and talk times, call abandonment rates, agent statuses, daily call volumes, and customer callback numbers—displayed comprehensively.
Third-Party Integrations
All 3CX plans include integrations with YouTube and WhatsApp. The Small Business plan further enhances connectivity by adding Facebook Messenger integration. Enterprise users gain exclusive access to Microsoft Teams integration, while the Professional plan supports a range of additional integrations, including:
CRM Integrations: it easily integrates with Salesforce, Zoho, Pipedrive, HubSpot Jetpack CRM, Kommo, Nutshell, Bitrix24, and 1CRM.
Helpdesk Integrations: Freshdesk, Zendesk, Freshworks
Additional Integrations: Microsoft 365, Microsoft Dynamics, ConnectWise, and SQL Database
Hardware Compatibility
Even the Free version of 3CX supports at least three desk phones and headsets, making it a practical choice for businesses that want to keep using their current hardware. The platform works with various desk phone models from leading brands like Yealink, Avaya, Cisco, Poly, Fanvil, and more.
Bring Your SIP Trunk
In-house call centres can use 3CX’s broad hardware compatibility, while remote and hybrid teams benefit from its flexible BYO SIP Trunk policy. Preferred SIP trunk providers such as CallCentric and Voxtelesys require no manual configuration. Additionally, supported providers like Amazon Chime, CenturyLink, and FlowRoute can be integrated with some manual setup.
Feature-Rich Free Plan
3CX is one of the few business phone system providers offering a free plan with no expiration. This plan includes essential unified communications features that competitors often reserve for premium tiers, such as video conferencing, call park, ring groups, live website chat, and WhatsApp integration.
Customer Support
One of 3CX’s main drawbacks is its customer support structure. Free plan users only have access to a limited online knowledge base, while paid users, including those on the Enterprise plan, must pay $75 per support session to receive direct help from 3CX. Businesses requiring extensive setup assistance and ongoing support should consider purchasing 3CX through a partner provider or exploring alternative phone system solutions. or sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Limited Third-Party Integrations
While all 3CX plans support YouTube integration for meeting live streams, other third-party integrations are reserved for the Pro and Enterprise plans. 3CX offers a relatively narrow range of integrations compared to competing platforms, which can result in frequent app switching and potential data management challenges.
Complicated Setup Process
Some of 3CX’s more advanced features, such as the call flow designer and hotel PBX system, require extensive manual setup. Since direct customer support is limited, businesses should be prepared for a longer onboarding process. While tech-savvy teams may find this manageable, companies without dedicated IT support might prefer a more user-friendly platform.
Final Words - 3CX Phone System
The 3CX phone system offers a robust communication platform designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. Its extensive feature set, including voice and video calling, call management tools, business messaging, and third-party integrations, makes it a versatile and scalable solution. With options for both on-premises and cloud deployments, 3CX can adapt to various business models remotely, operating from a central office or through a hybrid structure.
However, businesses should be aware of certain limitations, such as its customer support model, which may involve additional costs, and a potentially complex setup process for advanced features. Companies with IT resources or those purchasing through a certified partner can better navigate these challenges.
FAQs: 3CX Phone System — Pricing
3CX is a software-based private branch exchange (PBX) that allows businesses to manage phone calls, video conferencing, live chat, and messaging using VoIP technology. It’s suitable for businesses of all sizes and can be hosted on-premise or in the cloud.
3CX offers a flexible pricing model based on the number of simultaneous calls, not users. Pricing tiers include.
Free Plan: Includes up to 10 users, 1 simultaneous call, and limited features.
SMB Plan: Starts around $145/year for 4 simultaneous calls.
Pro & Enterprise Plans: Start from $295/year and increase based on the number of simultaneous calls and features needed.
Top features include:
Voice & Video Calls
WebRTC Video Conferencing
Live Chat & Facebook Integration
Mobile & Desktop Apps
CRM Integration (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.)
Call Queues, Recording, and IVR
Call Reporting & Analytics
Support for SIP Trunks & IP Phones
3CX supports both cloud-based and on-premise deployments, giving businesses the flexibility to choose according to their IT strategy and infrastructure.
Pros:
Cost-effective compared to traditional PBX systems
Easy to set up and manage via web interface
Scalable for growing businesses
Broad feature set, even in the free version
Supports remote work and mobile users
Compatible with most SIP devices and providers.
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