3CX 12 License issue/question

[inteq]

Hello

Since I have upgraded to version 12, from version 11, I have many license problems.
We have purchased version 11 Professional and now we have version 12 Standard with 16 calls.
Nevertheless, many times, out of the blue, I will get "License limit is reached, active calls: " and 3CX will work in free mode, limited to 2 calls.
If I issue a 3cx service restart, everything will be back to normal.
I get no warning that the program works in free mode. Checking my license screen shows my correct license.

I have not purchased any support package from 3CX because we never had any problems, beside this one.
Calling 3CX I was advised to purchase support for them to be able to fix this.

As far as I could understand from my conversation with a 3CX employee, this can happen if my 3CX server looses it's internet connectivity.
This happens in the real world and I see no reason for 3CX to disable my license if that occurs!
And even if this is the only way for them to stop "hackers" or license stealing, I would expect my license to be restored as soon as the internet connection is back online.(not that my server actually looses internet connection)

Question is:

Why do I need to pay almost 500 EURO for support when the problem is on 3CX's end?
I am not the one verifying licenses and disabling them. 3CX is.
If anything happens to 3CX as a company and their websites are down, my license will be useless in this situation. Yours too.

What do you think?

 

[lneblett]

While I can't speak for 3CX directly, there are a couple of items that might help shed some light -

1. I don't think there ever was a so called V11 Professional version. There was V11 and then you could add the "Call Center" features. This (V11 with call center) is now what is commonly referred to as the "professional version". They changed the name with the introduction of V12.

2. You did not mention the number of initial licenses, so am uncertain if the reference to 16 is meant to indicate a difference or not.

3. I do not believe that 3CX validates license status due to the loss and subsequent restore of the internet. They do validate the license if there is a detection of MAC and/or IP change and even then they usually do not trigger the deactivate on the first change (in most cases). Presumably, this could be an area where you may need to look as your configuration could be using more than one MAC (VMware for instance) and how you might have failover (if any) employed. I have systems that over the course of time have lost internet many, many times and I have yet to reset the license once. I also have clients who have changed machines and/or internet providers and the need to validate for them has occasionally occurred.

4. When 3CX does detect some abnormally, they remove the license such that the system will revert to the free mode thereby forcing the re-installation of the key followed by a reactivation which will normally restore things to normal.

While this does not address your chief complaint about the need to renew and all, it may give you some ideas about why it is occurring and what might be able to do to minimize the occurrences.

 

[inteq]

Hello Ineblett

1:
> Your order at 3CX was processed successfully, and below you will find the
> license key(s) of the product(s) you ordered:
>
>
> Product: 3CX Phone System - Professional Edition 16SC - Up to 16
> simultaneous calls + 1yr Upg. Ins. (3CXPSPRO)
> Quantity: 1

Most certainly it was Professional.

2:
The initial number for simultaneous calls was the same, 16.

3:
I did not program the 3CX System so I do not know. I just say what I was told by 3CX.

4:
The license is not removed, but the limitations are for the Free edition = 2 Calls maximum until service restart.

 

[lneblett]

With regard to the license you purchased, if V11 the nomenclature used in the procurement was Professional, so yes, you are correct in that sense. However, as I stated earlier, they changed the product naming with V12.

in V11 and before each standard package had a name. For the 4 call system it was "mini", for the 8 call system it was "small business", for the 16 call system it was "professional", and for the 32 call and above it was "enterprise". Perhaps I misunderstood and interpreted your statement to have meaning with the call center features.

Essentially, when they released V12 they labeled all versions to be standard or professional. The professional version being the one that had the call center features. Following is the description of one of my licenses - 3CX Phone System - Enterprise Edition 32SC (Call Center Features). As you can see, the call center features are called out, but when I upgraded to version 12 it became - 3CX Phone System Professional V12 (Call Center Features) 32 SC (this also taken from one of my other clients with the same package, just upgraded).

As taken from the website:
Boost your company’s sales by providing superior customer service, increase staff productivity and reduce call costs with 3CX Phone System Pro! 3CX Phone System Pro adds advanced call center features.

I took your message to indicate that you lost the call center features when doing the upgrade. My apologies.

With regard to #3, I only offered some suggestion and first hand experience of what might be some causes.

You may want to engage your reseller for a solution as he does have access to support.