So, I’m new here but I have many years experience in setting up PBX’s; just not Linux/Asterisk based. This system is just not giving me the queue’s I’m expecting and posing lots of questions I can’t answer or relate to.
For example, to setup a SIP trunk\channel, I would expect to need a server address or IP address and a username & password, along with maybe a CLI to use as outbound - just for the basic setup. Here, I get chan_sip, chaun_pjsip, dahdi, iax2, enum, dundi or custom. I don’t think I fit any of the others having looked them up but even the custom one does not fit the template for what I’m expecting. I do understand that there is going to be some unfamiliarity with the tool but equally I was expecting there to be some common IP PBX elements that I could relate to.
Seems I need to go on a long training course even just to get this test box to carry out basic functions. Am I missing something or is this how it is with FreePBX?
Chan_sip or PJSIP are the asterisk specific “SIP” channel drivers and would be where to start. You should take a look at wiki.freepbx.org and if you create an account at portal.sangoma.com you can enroll in the free FreePBX Essentials to view online video tutorials and even a certification test within the Sangoma University section.
You of course can give SIPStation a Free Trial directly from within FreePBX as well, there is no simpler way to get SIP connectivity to your system.
I’m coming from the point of view that I have my SIP’s sorted out and would be reluctant to change as it would mean number porting and so on. Hopefully this won’t be necessary.
I have tried to make my way through the wiki but there is so much to read and so little ground to be made.
Thank you for your suggestion to use chan_sip or chan_pjsip. My instinct however says that I should be looking for something to match my SIP provider which is a standard SIP, not an Asterisk SIP. Is my thinking flawed.
Other than that, my priorities are:
Where is the phone provisioning & how does that work?
Where can I monitor which extensions have registered?
How do I route inbound calls?
How do I set “per group” DDI for outbound calls?
There are specific wiki sections for this but the search function is broken which doesn’t help and it seems like for every step I take, someone is trying to sell me something. It’s difficult to work out the knowledge from the sales crap and work out what I actually need. I don’t want to buy loads of modules for a simple PBX anyway but at the moment I’m just trying to get a working trial up and running.
I’m beginning to think that the effort required far outweighs what I can see so far in the finished model, especially compared to other systems where you can just fire them up and away you go. It’s either that or I’m on the completely wrong path and missing the obvious and straight forward solution.
Thanks,
Simple
PS - how do I even get notifications to work? Never come across a forum before where you don’t get notifications.
Yes it is.
There is no “Asterisk SIP” being different from the SIP that your provider talks.
The flow of SIP messages on a call setup is the same with pjsip and chansip.
So pick one of the two, pjsip is more modern and the sip stack in Asterisk that is supported and maintained, vs chansip which is no longer being worked on and improved by the Asterisk makers. However some people prefer to stick with chansip as they perceive it to be more bug free.
If you don’t want to configure each phone manually, you can use the commercial endpoint manager.[quote=“simple, post:3, topic:45317”]
Where can I monitor which extensions have registered?
[/quote]
To get started with making calls, reading through the extensions module as well as the trunk module and inbound and outbound routes module on the wiki should be enough as a starter.
So it looks like I really need some commercial modules, at least Endpoint Manager and extension routing? Is that the case? Any others that should be considered? I don’t need CRM integration or reporting modules, we just need to do IVR, call queues in some cases and voicemail to Email.
Once I know what the cost is, I can evaluate it and see whether it’s worth continuing with this trial.
The best thing you can do to quickly learn the system is go to YouTube and watch Chris from CrossTalk Solutions FreePBX 101 video’s. They will get you motivated in the right direction.
At minimum you need: SysAdmin Pro, Endpoint Manager and Extension Routing. I believe you can get the base “pack” called System Builder for like $225 or something like that. Otherwise you can just buy their PBXact solutions which are what we use and they are fully licensed systems on all modules except HA and Call Center.
FreePBX really is simple once you get to learn it.
To have a running and fully functional phone system you don’t need to buy any commercial modules.
Install the distro, connect a few phones or soft clients and see if you like it.
You might find you will want to eventually buy a few commercial modules depending on what your requirements are. I would say Sysadmin pro ($25) is a big help and if you have more than a few phones endpoint manager is a great tool as well. Others are very useful too, but none are an absolut must for your system to work.
Just start and down the road you can decide if you want to pay for some extra features over time.
Thank you, I will have a look at those videos and your info on which Commercial Modules helps to confirm my suspicions and identifies the most likely ones to need. I don’t think the PBXact system is what we’re looking for, certainly not at the moment. Maybe when we get into some of our bigger clients we might want an on-site deployment.
I do understand that you can run the system without any modules but the practicalities of not being able to provision phones is a real deal breaker for us. It’s different if it’s your own system and you’re running it on your own site but for us, we have no access to the phones we deploy other than via provisioning.
I appreciate your confirmation that Sys Admin Pro is worth a shot too.
