In this update: (August 2025)
- Upcoming Christchurch Event
- 3CX’s Latest Product News
- Yealink product updates
- Grandstream News
- CommBox product updates
- Fanvil product updates
- Jabra product updates
- Demo equipment
- Case studies – stories sell products!
- Join our LinkedIn UC community to see the news first
Christchurch – we’re coming to you!
A Night of Fun, Games & Connections is coming to Christchurch on Thursday 16th October. Experience the energy of Las Vegas in a playful, light-hearted way at Bluechip’s exclusive event! You will enjoy classic games like roulette, blackjack, and more – all played with fun money, so it’s all about entertainment, not stakes.
Whether you’re a game enthusiast or just curious to try something new, this event is designed for enjoyment, connection, and engaging with our sponsored vendors in a relaxed and vibrant setting over drinks and nibbles.
We’ll have some great hardware from the Unified Communications vendors on display and look forward to chatting with you there! Register here to grab your spot now.
3CX Latest Product News
Update 6 with the new reporting was the most anticipated release of 3CX v20 and it went live on the 27th of June – how are you finding the enhancements? We’d love to know how this is enhancing the reporting for your customers and especially for customers that may have some very specific reporting requirements.
3CX v20 update 7 is almost live – we’re now at Release Candidate 2. Below are the recaps of the update 7 evolution so far:
- Update 7 Alpha Blog – The focus in this update is around making life for the system admin easier. Amazon AWS S3 buckets are now an option for remote storage. 3CX’s own health monitoring allows for easier active monitoring of 3CX services and system metrics. A wider range of destinations for offloading data for analysis with MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server now supported. There is much more information in the blog which is linked so check it out.
- Update 7 Beta Blog – adding to the new announcements from the Alpha, the Beta introduces the Supervisor Role which allows those with these rights to view reports; manage departmental call handling without needing to give them higher rights. There are also more updates and fixes – check out the full blog.
- Update 7 Release Candidate 1 – along with fixes and improvements, support for remote archiving with Amazon AWS S3 was added. See the full blog for further info.
- Update 7 Release Candidate 2 – the final minor fixes have been added.
Upgrading to v20 – v18 is fully EOL in days:
The EOL of v18 will become final very soon – the 31st August 2025 deadline is when the PUSH notifications for mobile apps and SSL certificates end, we’re now in the final month to get customers up to v20 without going offline.
Important reminders before upgrading to version 20 – if you do nothing else, please ensure that you read these two very important documents:
- Upgrade from v18 to v20 Configuration Guide – this guide is kept up-to-date by 3CX and part of the Administration Manual.
- Upgrade checklist & FAQ Blog – this was released in early January 2024 to cover all the important steps you must do before proceeding with an upgrade. Remember you’re moving from Debian 10 through to Debian 12 and there is no roll back from the upgrade. License keys move from being v18 to v20 keys as part of this process.
IMPORTANT – SET YOUR SYSTEM OWNER! We’ve had a few cases of customers locking themselves out during the upgrade process and new charges will be incurred if you need 3CX’s support teams help.
V18 went EOL at the end of 2024 and support is no longer available on this version. While v18 update 9b is still able to communicate with the 3CX Activation Servers that time is limited. V18 PUSH notifications were due to end by the end of April 2025, however 3CX has extended the PUSH notifications for iOS and Android until 31st August 2025.
Yealink Product News
Check out our latest social media video featuring the Yealink Panda. She takes you on a journey through the solutions and stay tuned for part 2 which will focus on the meeting room spaces.
The requirement for meeting rooms to be fitted continues to accelerate and Yealink has a solution for all spaces from small huddle spaces all the way through to large Pro AV spaces.
We’re excited to have some great new promotions to help you equip your own meeting room space, or for you to sell your “first ever” meeting solution from Yealink to a customer! These offers are hot and valid until the end of 2025.
NFR Solutions:
506074 A50-031 All-in-one Collaboration bar with CTP25 Touch Console NFR
507276 MeetingBoard Pro 65 All-in-one Collaboration NFR
507358 MeetingBoard Pro 75 All-in-one Collaboration NFR
507359 MeetingBoard Pro 86 All-in-one Collaboration NFR
First Ever Solutions:
Reach out to us for the very special pricing available to partners when they sell their first ever A50-031 MeetingBar Bundle or MeetingBoard Pro (all sizes – 65”, 75”, and 86”). Contact our uc@bluechipit.co.nz for more details on this hot offer!
Do you want to know more including how to scope a space? Reach our team on uc@bluechipit.co.nz as we can help. If you’re in Auckland we can host you at our office to review the technology and even host you with your customers!
Headset news: Yealink’s NFR promotion came to an end on the 30th June – if you do need to equip your team, please reach out to us on uc@bluechipit.co.nz and we’ll see how we can help. If your team use and love the headsets, it’s much easier to sell and support them for your own clients.
Grandstream news
Wi-Fi 7 is here and a hot topic of conversation with customers as they look at their needs. But the networking new product releases from Grandstream are not just Wi-Fi – this month we have two new managed network switches featuring 8 x 2.5GB Ethernet ports along with 2 x 10GB SFP+ ports. Check out this great introductory video on our LinkedIn – first stock is due in country mid to late October and we can take pre-orders now.
If you’d like to know more about any of the Grandstream range – from SIP phones and facility access, to switches, routers and Access Points we can assist, reach our UC Team on uc@bluechipit.co.nz.
CommBox product updates
CommBox’s Commercial Displays are well known in the ANZ market. CommBox have solutions from Meeting Room Displays to Intelligent with Android on board, through to interactive and onwards to large format and LED. We can assist you to find the right solution for your needs. In a few minutes, CommBox are hosting a webinar around a major firmware release for their Classic S5 Interactive Display. This is the biggest and most exciting update yet for the CommBox Classic S5 and the release has been built from teacher feedback and designed to solve everyday classroom challenges. We’ll share more in our next newsletter on the great new enhancements.
If you’d like to know more about the commercial Intelligent Displays or any of the CommBox family of products, reach out to us on uc@bluechipit.co.nz.
Fanvil product updates
Fanvil has a vast array of business SIP phones that meet many different customer requirements. For our 3CX partners many of the units can also act as a router phone (SBC onboard) option. There are limits of how many phones can connect via the various models, but these give a great option for customers with a Cloud hosted instance of 3CX. Last month we featured the V62 Pro unit with the Bluetooth wireless handset. Below are some of the most popular XU and V series units at present.
If you’d like to know more around any of the Fanvil units, reach us on uc@bluechipit.co.nz – we have demo stock available for you to take for a test drive!
Jabra product updates
Jabra have you covered for all your headset requirements from wired; Bluetooth wireless; and DECT wireless options. They also have the fantastic video conferencing solutions available.
Earlier this year Jabra announced their Panacast 40 for small huddle spaces – first stock is now in NZ. Megan checked it out at the Integrate Expo in Sydney in late August. It’s designed to maximise every small meeting space and with its unique 180° field-of-view ensures everyone is seen and included. Even those close to the screen, in the corner or sitting against the wall will be seen and heard. No distortion or blind spots – simply a 4K panoramic view of every in-room participant and a 4X digital zoom that captures the entire meeting space. This is ideal for a space of 4 people as pictured below! Do you have a requirement we can assist you with? Reach out to us on uc@bluechipit.co.nz.
If you’d like to know more about it or any of the Jabra offerings contact our team on uc@bluechipit.co.nz.
Demo equipment
Here at Bluechip Infotech New Zealand, we hold a demo pool of Yealink, Grandstream, Jabra and Fanvil products which are available to borrow. We have IP phones, DECT phones, headsets, WiFi Access Points, facility access and more available to borrow and test. It’s a great way to be able to test out units and see if they meet the needs of your clients. A great way to evaluate new offerings ahead of purchase. If you’d like to borrow anything, please reach out to Megan Twentyman our BDM – UC in the first instance.
Case studies – stories sell products!
We value the opportunity to work with you to produce case studies on success stories with our UC brands. If you have a good story to share, please reach out to us on uc@bluechipit.co.nz and we can work with you. Case studies help sell the products to another customer. Grandstream have an incentive for GWN case studies but for case studies that we produce we’re happy to shout your team a pizza lunch. Get in touch so we can help you grow through sharing successes.
Join our LinkedIn UC community to see news first
Our “Bluechip UC Community” group has been created so our customers quickly get all the latest news. We post regularly and welcome new members to the group. Keep up to date with upcoming Bluechip Infotech New Zealand events, UC-related updates and any other general UC news. Join the LinkedIn group here.
