EPM module - Seriously its $150 now? Do I see that right?

You are awesome Rob. Thanks for the pull request.

No sure what that random number generation is used for, but I think it is to create the download progress bar. I just changed the number to one less “zero” because of the error being “max(276447323) is smaller than min(1000000000)”

I sincerely have no idea where that 276447323 comes from, but removing one zero from 1000000000 sure fixes it as 100000000 is smaller than 276447323.

I also have no idea where those min() and max() functions come from, but probably because I might not understand the logic behind mt_rand().

So then let us know what’s broken.

I did that (link below) days ago in another post where it was suggested I give up on the module. Which honestly does not seem like bad advice at all. In fact I would do it in a heart beat if not for the new higher price of the commercial EPM module. Kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place a little bit.

1 Like

For me, the increase will just be passed along to my customers. So it is not that big of a deal. It is a great add-on and hope to see it progress!

1 Like

My original argument still seems valid ¯_(ツ)_/¯

OSS EPM Reminds me of:

Wow! We use Yealink t48G’s almost exclusively. We also use some polycom and grandstream. Polycom junk? t48G’s are on wifi and we never pay to have an ethernet drop again. With a structured cabling system (which you may not have) drops cost between $300-$600 depending on distance. WIFI=no more cabling money. Best thing ever if you have a good (cisco) wifi system designed for voip from the start.

Does Linux remind you of the little red hen as well?

Dunno you tell me

But why is Linux any different than the OSS EPM?

Numbers mainly. If there were an apparent infinite number of contributors then truly everything that “needs” to be done would be done. Maintaining a module like this is a full time job for 2 people. So 20 hours a week for 4 people, 10 hours a week for 8 people. 5 hours a week for 16 people. There you go find 16 people to give an hour a day and it all becomes trivial. What you instead have is hundreds (maybe a thousand+) users all demanding “free” development but in those users you won’t find 16 people to contribute 1 hour a day to keeping it alive. It makes more sense to pool your money in to a commercial product that will cost you less than 260 hours a year assuming 16 people are developing it. back to my original math of minimum wage at $10 that is $2600 to help maintain a module every year. The $150 cost makes more business sense. The total cost at $10 is $41,600/yr for 1 module of this type at minimum wage. back to my original point in the other topic. Who does this for minimum wage. Glassdoor says the average PHP developer in the United states makes $73,076/yr which rounds down to $34/hr. which makes the cost $141,440/yr. If you spread this work across 80 people it would be as trivial as Linux

1 Like

For our purposes, $75 or $150 is functionally the same for EPM. The most important thing is that it has to work with few exceptions/issues.

The only quibble I can see is that with the stagnation of OSS EPM there really isn’t a way to install FreePBX and setup phones using a GUI now that is actually free; you can hand-code config files or buy EPM.

None of those are issues as far as I can tell after the merges.

Looks like it works after the last update. Still in Spanish however. But hitting update works now.

My $.02 worth:

Donated a system to a Church today - 15 phones and a PBX (An old Dell Server) with a Sangoma 4-FXO and 2FXS card.

Phones were Cisco 7940G - End Point Manager does not correctly create files for them - I had to do it all by hand!

$150.00 for EPM is a steal - this is a Labor Saving Module plain and simple.

Keep up the good work.

No Stockholm Syndrome here either - I also came from the Proprietary side - there is NOTHING on the FreePBX site that even approaches what the proprietary vendors charge for everything.

2 Likes

I don’t see the issue with Yealink’s…T48G and W56 wireless FTW. Grandstream GXP2130 is a great value phone for smaller setups.

I’ve got a least half a dozen installs in the next month…a little heads up on the increase would have been very helpful. I applaud you for a 4 year price freeze, and I applaud you guys for all you do, but you have to admit an increase this big with next to no notice is a little shocking. If there was a “transition” code I for one would utilize it immediately.

I’m not clear on how someone can be selling business phone systems and get hung-up (pun not intended but not bad, either) over $75.

4 Likes

I just want to mention two quick points:

  1. You don’t have to buy EPM. You can manually set-up and configure your phones by using their web interface, or by uploading the configuration files to the /tftpboot folder and settings up your router to supply your PBX’s IP address in DHCP Option 66. I’ve NEVER used EPM.

  2. If you use Sangoma phones, EPM works without a license.

2 Likes

This. I have over 100 endpoints on a deployment. It is a massive timesaver.