Network infrastructure software vendor 3CX has challenged the network giants of the IP telephony world by launching an Enterprise edition of its 3CX Phone System for Windows.

"The Enterprise edition includes telephony features such as call queuing and Exchange 2007 integration," said 3CX chief executive Nick Galea. "What's more, 3CX dramatically reduces the cost of telephony by freeing the enterprise PBX of proprietary hardware."

The commercial version of the 3CX Phone System was only launched last month and although the new version is just a point release to 3.1, inclusion of an Enterprise edition means this is a major launch for the vendor.

The Enterprise edition costs significantly less than traditional hardware PBXes, according to Galea. Features like unified messaging - the ability to get voice mail through email - auto attendant, easy web-based phone system management and Windows 2003 certification may also appeal to firms wishing to move to IP telephony.

Galea added that 3CX Enterprise edition would need to run on Windows, and a standard server would support between 500 and 1,000 users. "Depending on system load, you could run it on a virtual machine or on a physical machine," he added. "For example, a small office of between 25 and 50 users could run it on a modest Windows XP VM."

In addition to server hardware, firms using the system will also require a hardware or software SIP Gateway to connect traditional phone lines and IP phones.

Asked about support, one of the main problems associated with smaller IP PBX vendors, Galea said: "One could get direct email support from us at about $200 per year. In addition, our UK resellers offer phone and email support."

Asked whether he thought 3CX could compete with industry leaders like Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft and Nortel, Galea said: "I think 3CX compares very well with each of them. Cisco, Nortel, Avaya, etc. are hardware dependent. These companies want to sell the server, the phones and the software. This is something that customers want to get away from, just like they want to be able to separate the operating system and server hardware choice."

Galea commented that although Microsoft’s package does not require an IP PBX, "its Office Communications Server product has very weak switching and is primarily a conferencing server".

Firms wishing to trial the system can download a free version here, but no support package is offered with this version.