OpenAI Whisper transcription withdrawn for Pro users

[Lee Cramman]

Very disappointing to see that this functionality has arbitrarily been withdrawn from Pro users and is now enterprise only.

We were using that... and this feels like a cynical move from a customer perspective.

 

[VoIPTools]

With update 4 3CX has implemented their own "whisper" AI. It will be free until the end of the year. Depending on how many recordings you transcribe, and the size of your 3CX license, the reduction in transcription costs may offset the cost of upgrading to Enterprise?

 

[Lee Cramman]

Probably not, we spend very little on it (a single digit number of $ per month) whereas the price to upgrade to Enterprise is a four figure sum and we don't need any other enterprise features.

The feature has only been in 3CX Pro licenses for 5 minutes... and it's withdrawn.

As a customer, it feels a lot like a cash grab.

 

[VoIPTools]

I do not know that this helps financially, but we also provide transcriptions, summary, sentiment, agent scoring, and much more and you do not need an Enterprise license. Take a look at 3CX Recording Manager and 3CX Voicemail Manager.

 

[Lee Cramman]

Thanks, but those seem like massive overkill to me when I simply want to accurately transcribe voicemails, not to mention it's even more expensive again than Enterprise unless we host it ourselves and take it without support (and even then, similarly expensive).

It's always difficult to ask for new funding for a feature that used to be included... you get asked questions about why you are sticking with a vendor who does this sort of thing.

 

[PaulC_3CX]

Hi Lee,
Transcription is still available on the Professional licence via Google.
You account is currently managed by a 3CX Titanium partner and they can give you a price for upgrading to an Enterprise edition.
This will be a pro rata figure based on your current licence and the Enterrpise edition to expiry date.
This certainly won´t be a four figure sum.
You will also then have the option to test the 3CX AI, making transcription even more affordable.

 

[PaulC_3CX]

Hi Lee,
Transcription is still available on the Professional licence via Google.
You account is currently managed by a 3CX Titanium partner and they can give you a price for upgrading to an Enterprise edition.
This will be a pro rata figure based on your current licence and the Enterrpise edition to expiry date.
This certainly won´t be a four figure sum.
You will also then have the option to test the 3CX AI, making transcription even more affordable.

 

[VoIPTools]

We can all agree that the Google transcription is not as good as OpenAI.

 

[Lee Cramman]

We can all agree that the Google transcription is not as good as OpenAI.

Having tried Google in the past, some would argue it's not as good as no transcription at all... which is why we turned it off some time ago.

As for the price, the website tries to include hosting which is presumably why it came out so expensive. However, even without hosting it's still hundreds of pounds versus a few dollars spend directly with OpenAI. And, presumably, there will be further costs once the 'free' period is up.

The principal of locking away a previously included feature behind a paywall is not likely to endear you further to customers.

 

[XPNFAN]

Hi Lee,
Transcription is still available on the Professional licence via Google.
You account is currently managed by a 3CX Titanium partner and they can give you a price for upgrading to an Enterprise edition.
This will be a pro rata figure based on your current licence and the Enterrpise edition to expiry date.
This certainly won´t be a four figure sum.
You will also then have the option to test the 3CX AI, making transcription even more affordable.

Google's transcription service is more expensive and not as good as Open Ai's Whisper platform. We also used this and suddenly are being told transcriptions have stopped working again. I had to search around the internet to find the answer that it was just removed from Pro users altogether, without any warning. This is bad practice and absolutely abysmal communication. We should have been notified of this change prior to you making the change so we can take action BEFORE it happens rather than after.

 

[Chris Walters]

I don't know about y'all, but I love getting contacted by clients asking why services stopped working.

I'm glad I created an account under OpenAI and migrated my clients to it. I'm sure 3CX was considering the amount of wasted hours partners would experience from this stealth nerf.

 

[N_G]

As we have said time and time again, this feature was always an Enterprise feature and it was made available to try out in update 2 just a few months ago and now we locked it down to enterprise. OK, we wont provide any enterprise features for testing anymore, that much is clear. But this kind of post is not warranted given the absolutely competitive pricing that 3CX has.

 

[XPNFAN]

As we have said time and time again, this feature was always an Enterprise feature and it was made available to try out in update 2 just a few months ago and now we locked it down to enterprise. OK, we wont provide any enterprise features for testing anymore, that much is clear. But this kind of post is not warranted given the absolutely competitive pricing that 3CX has.

Seems odd to test an Enterprise level feature in a pro license. Either way....COMMUNICATION. If your team would have communicated to it's users that the feature was leaving 'beta' stages and going to be an enterprise only feature, it would have gone a long way. Instead, you have people walking into work on Monday to issues because you took a feature away without notifying anyone.

 

[bigdessert]

As we have said time and time again, this feature was always an Enterprise feature and it was made available to try out in update 2 just a few months ago and now we locked it down to enterprise. OK, we wont provide any enterprise features for testing anymore, that much is clear. But this kind of post is not warranted given the absolutely competitive pricing that 3CX has.

While I understand the want to test an enterprise feature on pro users to get the most user feedback, I think it would save a lot of confusion to not test ENT features on PRO users in the future.

 

[N_G]

There is nothing odd about allowing a customers to trial a feature in my view. But OK, no more trials agreed.

In terms of communication we will be more careful with our blog posts in future.

 

[XPNFAN]

There is nothing odd about allowing a set of users to trial a feature in my view. But OK, no more trials agreed.

In terms of communication I would think the fact that quite a few 3CX staff members, including myself, have answered this question like 30 times easily, counts for something.

But OK we will be more careful with our blog posts in future thank you for the positive feedback.

This should have been something in release notes for the newest version. ANY changes to functionality should be noted in release notes, at the top of the notes. Something like

"Please Note: Whisper AI Transcription will be an enterprise license feature in the next update. Pro users currently using this feature will need to upgrade their license or use a different transcription service."

Easy, clear, communication. Expecting that a few responses in your forums to be adequate notice is not acceptable. Not everyone has time to browse around the forums just in case a change may come that is only discussed there and not in release notes. That's just plain silly.

 

[N_G]

OK we have decided to bring back transcription for voice mails in update 5 using OpenAI to put this discussion to bed. A blog post will be made tomorrow....

 

[XCON1]

OK we have decided to bring back transcription for voice mails in update 5 using OpenAI to put this discussion to bed. A blog post will be made tomorrow....

Hi Nick! Please give us a quick update on this topic as many customers with PRO are complaining that transcription is gone for now.

Also the existing OpenWhisper in Enterprise has stopped working, last update is done for sure.
Turning it off, and on again - with a new secret key will not help anyway.


EDIT: https://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/voicemail-transcription/

Thanks!

 

[N_G]

@XCON1 Nice tagline

Yes it will be back in update 5 we might have an alpha before Xmas we are trying. Otherwise it will be early January.

As to OpenAI not working give us more info because it should be working. We are fully committed to working with OpenAI its a great company.

 

[XCON1]

@XCON1 Nice tagline

Yes it will be back in update 5 we might have an alpha before Xmas we are trying. Otherwise it will be early January.

As to OpenAI not working give us more info because it should be working. We are fully committed to working with OpenAI its a great company.

Hi Nick,

Here’s my take on my tagline: When you commit fully to one hand—3CX—and play your cards with skill and precision, setting your own benchmarks in sales and technology, you set yourself up for greatness. Then, years later, you realize that the joker you’ve been holding all along was 3CX—the wildcard that turns every hand into a winning one. That’s when it hits you: every choice you made was the right one, and that realization drives you to chase even greater victories with 3CX.

As for why I didn’t reply yesterday—what could be more exciting than configuring 3CX? Exactly—selling it! Yesterday, I was out with the team, closing deals, and personally sealing an order. Nothing beats the thrill of growing with 3CX.

Regarding the Open Whisper interface. I have recreated the key on the OpenAI platform and inserted it into 3CX, I might have had to restart 3CX because the transcription did not start. User settings, queue settings, department settings of course all set correctly. No transcription (since beginning of Dezember, Update 3 to 4 with Enterprise) at all.

We'll take a look at this, we're currently NOW running 3CX's own AI on Enterprise anyway - I'll take a closer look at this when I get the chance.

But now, like every year, it’s full speed ahead until Christmas—sleigh bells ringing, phones ringing and sell like hell!

btw: good news for customers is that transcription for voice messages is coming back in U5. THANK YOU for that!

Hugs,
David