As an early Holiday treat, 3CX has released the much-anticipated Alpha build of update 6 for version 18 overnight! Update 6 represents a sizeable update packed with new functionality, bug fixes, and exceptionally impressive new deployment options where specific supported phones now include a built-in session border controller for easy setup with hosted and 3CX StartUP editions that live within the Cloud. We expect this to assist and take some of the relief from the Raspberry Pi global stock challenges that SBC users are currently facing. We of course know that deploying systems with the session border controller with 3CX allows us to encapsulate and encrypt the traffic, making the firewall vastly easier to forward, and can get around problematic hardware with SIP ALG or CG NAT with ease. Please note, Alpha builds are aimed at testing environments and are not intended for usage in live production systems!
SBC-capable phones are now referenced in the admin guides as “router phones” as they enable/facilitate the connection between a hosted instance and a remote site, “routing” the connection between them. This simplified deployment method, combined with the new simplified creation of inbound and outbound rules continues to keep 3CX a modern and intelligent phone system. The new router phones are aimed around the 10-user mark with 3CX, perfect for those on 3CX StartUP for easy centralised deployment (And of course, we specialise in 3CX StartUP SIP trunks at Aatrox as a preferred SIP provider, especially with our new self-serve video guides!)
3CX is consistently leagues ahead in the land of phone provisioning, and this holds true for the revamped Webclient. Users are greeted with a small prompt to refresh the webclient browser window after updating to the latest Alpha to take advantage of the cleaner UI and enriched user access control settings. Previously a user role was either set to a Manager or user, with the key differences between them, being the amount of default functionality tick boxes that were essentially checked against the extension. The introduction of a more role-based policy, rather than predefined checkmarks, grants groups further granularity and control for out-of-the-box deployments. For more on these, check the newly refreshed 3CX admin guide section! In a nutshell, these new roles boil down to the following categories:
User – The most basic role. Can see the presence of other Users.
Receptionist – This role is intended for a receptionist. It can override office hours open, break and close, for the Groups that they are a member of. They can also see group calls, presence and perform operations such as (divert, transfer, pickup, park and intercom).
Group Administrator – A Group Administrator will have access to the “Admin” view. Group Administrators by default do not see reports or recordings and cannot Listen in or Barge in. A Group Administrator can configure Call handling, SIP trunks, WhatsApp, Live chat, and so on.
Manager – This role also has an “Admin” view in the Web Client. Here the Manager can configure user settings such as Call Forwarding. He/she can create Users and elevate roles. They can see reports and recordings. In terms of presence and calls they can do everything the Receptionist can but they can also Listen in or Barge in.
Owner – An Owner can do everything a Group admin AND a Manager can do. It’s meant for owners of companies or at least “owners of a department”. So Owners can also Barge in, Listen or Whisper in addition to administering their group. An Owner can only elevate people to Manager or Group Administrator within his own group.
System Administrator – A System Administrator can see everything for all the groups and all SIP trunks, even if they are not part of the group. System Administrators cannot Barge in or Listen in to calls. They also cannot make anybody else System Administrator or System Owner.
System Owner – A System Owner can do everything a System Administrator can do AND Barge in, Listen in and view recordings and reports. A System Owner is the only one who can elevate users to System Administration or System Owner. (Applies to Dedicated instances only). These roles apply to all groups that the user is a member of!
The System Administrator role applies to the whole system (Default group).
The refreshed Webclient brings forward numerous settings from the standard 3CX Management console, that grants greater insight into system configuration and setup, putting more power into the hands of the users of the system. We are excited to see that there are options coming to the new update for office hours based routing, which assists with ‘hub and spoke’ office setups where hours may be ever so slightly different for each group.
Have you tried the new Alpha update in a test system yet? Let us know your thoughts!
