Wesley Explains: Reporting in 3CX V20 Update 6

This update brings major improvements to 3CX’s reporting features. Previously, you could view basic call data in 3CX, but let’s be honest; it was quite limited and not always clear.

That’s changed. Reporting has become much more powerful and intuitive. There are now four new standard reports available:

• Inbound calls
  A clear overview of all incoming calls: when they came in, from which number, how long they lasted, and whether or not they were answered.

• Outbound calls (with costs)
  Similar to the inbound overview, but for outgoing calls — and it includes cost information right away.

• User activity
  How many calls did a colleague or team answer? How many were missed? Super useful if you’re aiming to improve customer service.

• Call distribution
  See exactly when you’re busiest — by hour, day, week, or month.

And that’s not all. The way call data (CDRs) is stored has been completely rebuilt behind the scenes. And that opens the door to something even more interesting…

You may have heard the name before, but let me explain it in simple terms.

Grafana is a tool that turns raw data into beautiful, interactive dashboards. Think of graphs, tables and widgets that show what’s really going on in your business, especially when it comes to phone traffic.

With this new update, you can now connect 3CX to Grafana using an external database, such as Google BigQuery or PostgreSQL. This gives you far more control and insight into your call data.

You might be thinking: “Cool, Wesley but what’s in it for me?”
Let me give you a few examples:

• Better insight into peak times
  Want to know when your customers call the most? Or which days are slow? Grafana shows it clearly and visually, with just a few clicks.

• Track employee performance
  Is wait time increasing on Mondays? Then you know when to assign extra staff.

• Reduce missed calls
  By spotting trends early, you can proactively improve availability and deliver better service.

• Monitor call costs
  Outbound call expenses can be tracked per user or department. Great for spotting waste or unnecessary calls.

Not necessarily. The improved 3CX standard reports are ready to use right away. If you want to dive into Grafana, it does require a bit more setup. Like connecting to an external database and building your dashboard.

But don’t worry, we’re here to help. Whether you want to explore it yourself or prefer to let us handle the setup, we’ll make sure it works and fits your needs.

Ever dial a number, then spot a typo or need to tweak the last digit? Before, you had to retype the entire number or copy-paste it from somewhere else. Not ideal.

Now, it’s easy: just right-click a contact or recent number and choose “Edit before call.” You can adjust the number directly in the call screen and dial with one click. Perfect for frequent callers — and a big time-saver for anyone tired of fiddling with copy-paste shortcuts.

Small change, big improvement.

There are also some great new features for system administrators in this update. Here’s a quick summary:

• Impersonate function for System Owners
  System Owners can now temporarily log in as another user (excluding other System Owners) for testing or troubleshooting. All actions are logged, keeping things safe and transparent.

• Security enhancements
  Outdated security protocols have been removed, with new warnings for weak passwords or insecure connections, faster blocking of suspicious IPs, and improved protection for external integrations.

• Smart CSV export for reports
  Exporting call data to CSV? It’s now neatly formatted so you can even feed it straight into tools like ChatGPT and ask: “Make me a summary.” Ideal for quick reports without Excel headaches.

This update is a big step forward in how you can gain insight into your telephony. And with Grafana, you can turn that insight into real, actionable intelligence.

Want to read the full release notes? Click here for the official blog from 3CX.

Interested in getting started or curious what’s possible for your organization? Let us know — we’d be happy to think along with you.