IVR no longer in StartUP FREE?

[CRC]

I rolled a new StartUP FREE today for a demo, and was unable to configure an IVR. It told me that the feature is not available in this edition. It clearly shows 'auto attendant' on the 3CX pricing comparison page, so I am confused?!

Please advise. Thank you.

 

[bitn2]

Thats true, for me the same. As the pricing page says there is 1 IVR included...

 

[IrinaP_3CX]

Hello @CRC

In the 3CX FREE, you can create one ring group and a welcome message.

Feel free to join the Hello 3CX Small Business, our new edition discussion about our newest product updates.

 

[CRC]

Hello @CRC

In the 3CX FREE, you can create one ring group and a welcome message.

Feel free to join the Hello 3CX Small Business, our new edition discussion about our newest product updates.

Unfortunately you didn't address the problem. Your product documentation clearly shows IVR is a feature in the free license. It previously was. Did this change? When did it change? Why did it change? Telling me about ring groups doesn't answer my questions about IVRs.

 

[SnakeRiverWebDevelopment]

I think 3CX hasn't updated the page as yet, I am sure when they do to IVR feature will be removed from the free list

 

[IrinaP_3CX]

Unfortunately you didn't address the problem. Your product documentation clearly shows IVR is a feature in the free license. It previously was. Did this change? When did it change? Why did it change? Telling me about ring groups doesn't answer my questions about IVRs.

Please visit our blog for the latest updates: Hello 3CX Small Business, our new edition.
The content on the Customer Portal and 3CX website is in the process of updating.

 

[CRC]

Please visit our blog for the latest updates: Hello 3CX Small Business, our new edition.
The content on the Customer Portal and 3CX website is in the process of updating.

I do see the announcement, and it does clearly show only a greeting and ring group with the IVR in the PRO section, so I can accept that the customer portal and website are out of date.

What I'm having a hard time accepting is without the ability for an IVR I no longer can effectively demo this product for customers. New instances no longer give me 30 days of PRO, and without IVR I can't even demonstrate a simple directory of staff menu. I could see putting a multi level IVR as a PRO feature, but a single IVR is a core component that should be enabled to be able to fully vet the product.

 

[N_G]

There is a single level IVR in 3CX FREE - that means you can have a welcome message and route calls to a ring group based on office hours. With 3CX FREE you have a complete system, including a sip trunk, deskphones, live chat even whatsapp. Yes if you want multi level IVR you need to pay a whopping $150 a year.

 

[CRC]

There is a single level IVR in 3CX FREE - that means you can have a welcome message and have customers choose a department for example sales or support and it will be routed accordingly. With 3CX FREE you have a complete system. Yes if you want multi level IVR you need to pay a whopping $150 a year.

I wish this was true, but the entire IVR section is completely disabled in a FREE instance. I can assign welcome messages to different extensions in different statuses, and I can route to different extensions based on office hours or statuses, but there is no way I can offer a caller a way to choose a department and route to an extension or ring group. That function is unavailable.

 

[CRC]

Just spun up a fresh instance of FREE to verify I'm not crazy, and I'm not.

 

[N_G]

Yes, actually what i meant was that callers get a welcome message and then it goes to sales if you like or support. I edited my response it was not so clear you are right. Users will not get a choice. So configurable IVR requires small business version for 150 per year for whole system for all users. I think its affordable.

 

[prfindlay]

actually £175/year, not $150.

I signed up for the free forever to run my home phones. £175 IS a lot for me (I'm a pensioner). I didn't expect the features that I was told would be free forever to be eroded. I now can't configure my IVR (although it's still there).

Seems you've also added a limit of 3 deskphones.

this feels underhanded to me. I was told I would be getting certain things free forever and now you're removing features. What's next? reduce the number of extensions to 1? 0? technically I would still be getting the free tier of services...

and to refer to the original point being made, CRC can now no longer demo this feature to potential customers without them committing to be a customer first. seems kind of short-sighted to remove it to me.

 

[Evolute IT]

actually £175/year, not $150.

I signed up for the free forever to run my home phones. £175 IS a lot for me (I'm a pensioner). I didn't expect the features that I was told would be free forever to be eroded. I now can't configure my IVR (although it's still there).

Seems you've also added a limit of 3 deskphones.

this feels underhanded to me. I was told I would be getting certain things free forever and now you're removing features. What's next? reduce the number of extensions to 1? 0? technically I would still be getting the free tier of services...

and to refer to the original point being made, CRC can now no longer demo this feature to potential customers without them committing to be a customer first. seems kind of short-sighted to remove it to me.

Let's be honest. If you use Free software, don't blame them for modifying the offer. It's their right. It's Free and that's why they can do this. Most companies do that often.

Look at Zoom and the 40-min limit on free meetings. It was unlimited before!