[German]Brief information for IT supporters who use 3CX as a telephone system. The provider has probably significantly reduced the functionalities of 3CX version 18 in the NFR license as of 15 November 2024. Anyone wishing to use the full functionality must switch to version 20 or purchase a Pro version. However, 3CX V20 is still said to be quite buggy, as one reader pointed out.
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Background information on 3CX
3CX is a software development company and developer of the eponymous 3CX telephone system software. It is a complete business communication system that includes phone calls, video conferencing, live chat, Facebook and the integration of incoming WhatsApp messages. The company was founded in 2005 and, according to Wikipedia, has around 200 employees (as of 2018).
On the one hand, the 3CX telephone system software appears to be in wider use. On the other hand, 3CX 2023 has attracted attention due to two security vulnerabilities (see links at the end of the article). On the other hand, the manner of dealing with customers, especially the managing director, seems to be "somewhat unconventional". I have mentioned this time and again in various blog posts (see links at the end of the article).
Downgrading the 3CX V18 with NFR license
A blog reader contacted me by email because he ran into an unpleasant surprise. The provider 3CX issues so-called NFR licenses for partners. NFR stands for "not for resale", i.e. these licenses may not be sold to end customers. 3CX states that the purpose of the NFR licenses is to support partners in extensively testing, demonstrating and trying out the latest version of 3CX internally.
Now 3CX says that partners should only use the latest version of the software for their own testing. For customers, 3CX version 18 is being used in the field, while the new version 20 is being prepared for deployment.
The reader wrote that version 20 is still very buggy. He therefore uses the older version 18 with an NFR license. Suddenly he realized that the 3CX telephone software "seemed to be malfunctioning". After a few attempts, he realized that features such as call waiting, voice channels and tapi functionality were simply no longer available.
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This was pretty stupid, as affected 3CX partners who use this NFR license could no longer be reached by phone if they work with queues and use the older version 18.
After it became clear that the above-mentioned functions were suddenly no longer available, an attempt was made to open a ticket with 3XC. However, this is not possible with an NFR license, as there is no ticket support for this. Ok, that is somehow understandable.
The blog reader then called 3CX sales and inquired "about the downgrade of the NFR license". 3CX sales was not surprised, as their phone was not silent on November 15, 2024 for exactly that reason. So it seems to have hit a number of partners/resellers using the 3CX version 18 with NFR license.
The 3CX sales confirmed that the downgrading of functionality for NFR licenses for older versions is intentional. The sales department said that customers had been informed about this months beforehand, which the reader disputes.
3CX has published the support article Important Update: How to Get Your Lost SC Calls Back on November 15, 2024, which subsequently sheds light on the case. There they explains, that already at the end of June 2024 an article claims that 4SC Free and NFR licensed users need to upgrade until August 1 to V20.
Users who do not update their free key will then only be able to make 2 simultaneous calls from this date. Those who do not wish to update to V20 can alternatively update their license to a commercial key of the PRO edition via the 3CX portal.
The reason given for this is that no further security updates for Debian 10 will be released after July 2024. Administrators should therefore ensure that the 3CX systems are operated behind a firewall.
It seems that the downgrade was delayed until November 15, 2024. Anyone still running the 3CX system on V18 with an NFR license is now limited to only 2 simultaneous calls (2SC). The NFR licenses no longer include access to PRO or ENT functions. To restore the full functionality of the 3CX system with NFR license, an upgrade to V20 is required. Was anyone else affected by this change? Were you informed in advance?
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