Information about Fonality's BETA Program
About the Fonality Beta Program
The Fonality beta program is offered to our customers who wish evaluate or assist us with testing the latest features and updates to our award winning PBXtra software. Beta versions of our software will generally retain the features and capabilities of our production software, however certain functions may be executed in a different manner, and the user experience may change as a result as improvements are implemented. More importantly, our beta software may also have new features and options that are not yet available to our production customers.
The main purpose of our beta program is to regression test our software in ways that our alpha testing simply cannot, and to obtain additional feedback on features and functionality prior to production release. This timely feedback is used to tweak and tune our products, and create a consistent and reliable customer experience.
What do we look for in a Beta Customer?
We look for beta customers of all shapes and sizes. Large call centers to small offices, centralized or de-centralized, and running all versions of PBXtra , with any version of HUD, or even without HUD at all. The primary requirement is that you are willing to provide honest, accurate, and timely feedback to us regarding your experience, and that you are accepting and tolerant of changes (large or small) with little or no notice. You should also enjoy the beta experience, which sometimes includes testing the same feature over, and over, and over, then over again.
What Are the Rules?
The rules are simple, but strictly enforced! Please make sure that you are willing to abide by them all before asking to be enrolled in the beta program.
Members of the PBXtra Beta Program agree to the following:
To provide honest and timely feedback on features, both good and bad.
To work with Fonality Support on understanding how new or modified features work, or do not work.
To work with Fonality to ensure that feature descriptions and documentation are accurate.
To be patient while reported issues are addressed and resolved.
To remain enrolled in the program until the next major release, and next beta cycle, of the software.
If you request to opt-out of the beta program for any reason, you understand that you will not be allowed to re-enter the beta program at a later date. Consistency of the beta pool throughout a cycle is critical.
That you understand that beta software is not production software, is undergoing revision, and therefore issues may arise. These issues may be due to errors or bugs, or they may be due to Fonality deciding to change a particular feature due to beta input. It is expected that all beta software users understand that they are testing software under development, and that they are willing to put up with issues, including the addition or removal of features from any given release, until the beta cycle is complete.
That you understand that as a beta participant, you are not only testing the web admin and user interfaces, but the underlying server and core software as well. Some improvements will not be visible to the beta community, but they require testing none the less.
You agree to use the latest beta core software, and install or de-install specific device drivers from time to time at Fonality's request.
As a beta participant, you agree to allow Fonality Technicians access to your PBXtra server at any time for updates to the software on the server itself. Your VPN tunnles must remain in place throughout the beta cycle.
Finally, you agree to read this article three times.
Can I Use Beta Software to Solve an Issue?
A better question: Should I use beta software to solve an issue?
If the issue needing resolution that brings you to consider beta program participation is something that you feel outweighs the rules above, then you may want to consider enrolling in the program and using beta software. Before you make the leap, please keep this in mind: if you are a member of the IT or Technical Support staff of your company, or consider yourself a 'cutting edge' user, then '''you''' may be able to live by the rules above, however your user community or business users of your PBXtra may not. Take that into account in a big way when deciding to enroll and participate in the beta program if you are really only solving a particular issue, or need to implement a single function. Re-read the rules above and be sure you can say "yes" to each, and that you are comfortable that your associates feel the same way.
So I've Read This Three Times and I Want to Sign Up; What's Next?
Ok, ready to enroll? Simply submit a request via the Fonality Support portal (click the Submit a Ticket link at the bottom!) and request to be added to the Fonality Beta Program. If you add that you have already read this article (three times) and agree to all of the conditions outlined above, that will speed your request along.
The Fonality Beta Team will evaluate your request, and notify you upon acceptance to the program. Remember that we sometimes require a more specific demographic for a particular test cycle, so not all requestors are invited to participate in all cycles. Rest assured that there are beta cycles starting and stopping all the time, so if you are not invited to the current cycle, that does not preclude you from participating in a future cycle if conditions permit.
Note that Beta cycles typically have these durations, for each product, shown:
PBXtra Core = 3 months, GA every 6-12 months.
HUD Client/Server = 2-3 months, coordinated with PBXtra Core when possible. GA Every Cycle.
PBXtra (Web) = 1-3 months, coordinated with PBXtra Core when possible. GA Every Cycle.