Critical v20 Chat issues for Latest 3cx Versions

[ThreeCxChatNotHappy]

Hey all,
Wanted to share some critical feedback regarding the latest version of 3cx going from v18 to v20 (self hosting) as it has significantly impacted our operations.
Would love to know if any of you have solutions, or at least influence with some of the people who are deciding what is going on with self hosted chat solutions.

Our medical team, including doctors, nurses, and administrative staff, heavily rely on the chat functionality within the 3cx desktop app for essential communications.
The removal of the chat feature in the new 3cx desktop app is a huge disappointment for us.
Unfortunately, the alternative 3cx apps available do not meet our needs for chat functionality in their current forms (or probably a great number of small businesses).

Here are the specific issues we are encountering:

1. No Pop-Up Notifications for new chats:
   Neither the 3cx Windows App nor the 3cx PWA App (on both Chrome and Microsoft Edge) provide any form of pop-up notifications for new messages between work environment users unless the apps are actively open.
   3cx Desktop App did this perfectly, but the chat feature has been killed off.
   In addition to this, even when the apps are actively open, there is no sound effect to notify of incoming messages from fellow workers either (except the windows app).
   Our Specialist Doctors, General practitioners, Admin and nursing teams often have numerous windows open simultaneously, and it is unrealistic to expect them to always remember to keep the Windows App or 3cx PWA open to receive critical messages (especially if they only get 3-15 of these a day).
   These messages often contain urgent information, such as:
   • "Dr. Mark Cardiology is on park 1 for you."
   • "Jim is waiting for an iron infusion in nurse room 2."
   • "Your next patient, Mark, has a cold and prefers a phone call instead of an in-person appointment."
2. Impact on Workflow: The absence of the chat feature in the desktop app significantly disrupts our workflow.
   Our team cannot reliably use 3cx for chat purposes if they cannot receive immediate notifications, which is crucial for timely communication in a medical setting.
3. Inadequate Alternatives: Using personal phones with the 3cx app is not a viable solution due to two main reasons:
   • Doctors and other staff often keep their phones in their bags, making immediate access impractical.
   • The 3cx PUSH feature has inconsistent delays (a well known issue for many self hosted solutions), ranging from 2 to 20 minutes, which is unacceptable for urgent communications.
     This is irrelevant anyway, even if we can fix it, as the team shouldn't be expected to have their mobile out to be able to use this chat feature.
     Also the app is needed on the work machine, since screen grabs are used constantly for messaging.

The removal of the chat functionality in the desktop app is a deal-breaker for us and substantially reduces the viability of 3cx as a business communication tool.
We urge 3cx to reconsider this change and reinstate the chat feature in the desktop app or provide an effective alternative that addresses these concerns.
We have been urging other small businesses to turn to 3cx for years as we have (now running around 5 medical businesses ourselves).
Paying a higher annual fee is fine, but tanking a flagship messaging product for us that makes us a marker leader in our medical businesses has been awful.

Thanks all of you for your ideas on the above.
I hope 3cx will return a workable option that supports our communication needs effectively in the small business (and larger business) self hosted community.
Thanks all,
Markus.
(NB we are self hosting)

 

[Evolute IT]

Chat will come back to the softphone. Just be patient.

 

[mirjam.nz]

Is there an ETA on Chat integration for the windows softphone ?

 

[DSima]

Hey all,
Wanted to share some critical feedback regarding the latest version of 3cx going from v18 to v20 (self hosting) as it has significantly impacted our operations.
Would love to know if any of you have solutions, or at least influence with some of the people who are deciding what is going on with self hosted chat solutions.

Our medical team, including doctors, nurses, and administrative staff, heavily rely on the chat functionality within the 3cx desktop app for essential communications.
The removal of the chat feature in the new 3cx desktop app is a huge disappointment for us.
Unfortunately, the alternative 3cx apps available do not meet our needs for chat functionality in their current forms (or probably a great number of small businesses).

Here are the specific issues we are encountering:

1. No Pop-Up Notifications for new chats:
   Neither the 3cx Windows App nor the 3cx PWA App (on both Chrome and Microsoft Edge) provide any form of pop-up notifications for new messages between work environment users unless the apps are actively open.
   3cx Desktop App did this perfectly, but the chat feature has been killed off.
   In addition to this, even when the apps are actively open, there is no sound effect to notify of incoming messages from fellow workers either (except the windows app).
   Our Specialist Doctors, General practitioners, Admin and nursing teams often have numerous windows open simultaneously, and it is unrealistic to expect them to always remember to keep the Windows App or 3cx PWA open to receive critical messages (especially if they only get 3-15 of these a day).
   These messages often contain urgent information, such as:
   • "Dr. Mark Cardiology is on park 1 for you."
   • "Jim is waiting for an iron infusion in nurse room 2."
   • "Your next patient, Mark, has a cold and prefers a phone call instead of an in-person appointment."
2. Impact on Workflow: The absence of the chat feature in the desktop app significantly disrupts our workflow.
   Our team cannot reliably use 3cx for chat purposes if they cannot receive immediate notifications, which is crucial for timely communication in a medical setting.
3. Inadequate Alternatives: Using personal phones with the 3cx app is not a viable solution due to two main reasons:
   • Doctors and other staff often keep their phones in their bags, making immediate access impractical.
   • The 3cx PUSH feature has inconsistent delays (a well known issue for many self hosted solutions), ranging from 2 to 20 minutes, which is unacceptable for urgent communications.
     This is irrelevant anyway, even if we can fix it, as the team shouldn't be expected to have their mobile out to be able to use this chat feature.
     Also the app is needed on the work machine, since screen grabs are used constantly for messaging.

The removal of the chat functionality in the desktop app is a deal-breaker for us and substantially reduces the viability of 3cx as a business communication tool.
We urge 3cx to reconsider this change and reinstate the chat feature in the desktop app or provide an effective alternative that addresses these concerns.
We have been urging other small businesses to turn to 3cx for years as we have (now running around 5 medical businesses ourselves).
Paying a higher annual fee is fine, but tanking a flagship messaging product for us that makes us a marker leader in our medical businesses has been awful.

Thanks all of you for your ideas on the above.
I hope 3cx will return a workable option that supports our communication needs effectively in the small business (and larger business) self hosted community.
Thanks all,
Markus.
(NB we are self hosting)

I agree 100% with ThreeCxChatNotHappy.

 

[TheodorosG_3CX]

This functionality is coming soon as it has been announced here.

 

[phteck]

I agree 100% we use chat on our desktop always prior to the upgrade, now we can only use it via the webclient. please return chat back to 3cx dektop or softphone as you now call it.

 

[TheodorosG_3CX]

@phteck Please check the new Beta version as it has been announced in the latest blog here.