I have a hotel that is running an analog PBX with two phone lines in. The have around 50 internal lines. None of the internal lines are allowed to call out, but it should be possible to route an incoming call to any phone.
The idea is to set up a FreePBX system and change the rooms a few at the time to spread the cost over a longer time. I think it should be ok to have two phones at the front desk - one analog and one IP.
If we move the two lines over to FreePBX, is there a way to connect one or two lines from FreePBX over to the analog PBX? That way, when there is an incoming call to a guest, they will first transfer it to the analog PBX, then there it will be transferred to the room.
I know this means extra work for the staff for a while. The truth is, the number of incoming calls to guests is very low. About 99% of the calls are just to the front desk.
The two lines that now are connected to the phone lines from the analog PBX - is there a way to connect them to FreePBX? That would mean there would be no need to reconfigure anything in the analog PBX…
A device such as https://www.amazon.com/Cisco-SPA112-Port-Phone-Adapter/dp/B00684PN54/ can connect the two systems. It appears as two analog lines to the legacy PBX and as two extensions to FreePBX. Incoming calls would ring to the IP phone. If for a guest on the old system, the attendant would press a BLF key on the IP phone to transfer the call to the legacy system, answer it there and transfer to the guest room. If the legacy system has a DISA function (and you’re willing to configure it), it is possible to automate the process so the transfer can be done in one step from the IP phone.
If you will be keeping the existing analog lines, you can interface them to FreePBX with an FXO gateway or (if on-site) an FXO card; see https://www.sangoma.com/products/analog-telephony-cards/ . If porting to VoIP, no special hardware is needed.
However, we can probably give better advice if you tell us a little about the conversion. What country is the hotel in? Old system make/model? Why is it being upgraded? If it’s only to replace expensive analog lines with VoIP service, a suitable adapter would be simpler and less expensive than a new PBX.
Assuming that you will be keeping the existing guest room analog phones, it should not be necessary to do a gradual cutover. With high-port-count gateways such as http://www.grandstream.com/products/gateways-and-atas/analog-voip-gateways/product/gxw4200-series , the cost of converting 50 rooms is a fraction of one night’s revenue. If the phones will be replaced, please provide details.
The country is Brazil. And there are many reasons to move to FreePBX.
Get more control over the PBX - right now we need to pay someone to travel here no matter how small the task is.
More functions - the existing one is old.
Better sound quality - analog lines in Brazil are horrible.
Eventually converting to digital tv as well, so phone, tv and internet can all use one cable.
++++
Even a small cost that would easily been earned back in a western country is a major problem here. The goal is to go all IP. But that involves a new physical network with cables, switches etc. Plus phones. Not a minor cost.
So doing it in steps makes a lot of sense.
And as the most important is from the outside to the front desk, we just need an easy way to get started.
For reference if you are unaware. This applies to ALL analog Asterisk(DAHDI) devices
FXO = needs line power, would normally connect to the telco, could connect to a standard extension.
FXS = Has power, would typically connect to an analog phone.
On FXO the line should have supervision (500ms no power) to signal a hangup.