FreePBX 2.5.0 Beta Program Launched

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We are excited to officially kick of the FreePBX 2.5.0 Beta Program with the introduction of the FreePBX 2.5.0alpha1 tarball available for immediate download. We expect this is really beta quality and after we see a number of downloads and no serious issues we will move it to a beta release.

However, as it is still alpha, it also means that we have not frozen the feature set. That means you may want to hop on this as there is till time to influence the feature set whether they are features that are still open under the 2.5 Milestone or other features that may be really important and you want to try to influence their introduction.

There are a few ways to influence what gets into the release, as well as accelerate it so we can get it out quicker. One of those is bribery, in other words:


Donate

You can also help to implement some of the features or provide feedback in different ways into the tickets that are open for them. Keep in mind, if there is not ticket, or the ticket is not marked as the 2.5 Milestone, then it is not on the radar scope and you need to help it get there.

What’s In the Release

The best way to find out is to download the new release and start to explore it. The Milestone 2.5 link will show you a summary and detailed list of tickets that have been associated with this release, and you can also review the CHANGES document that comes with every new release.

A VERY short list of highlights includes:

  • New BLF support on Asterisk 1.4 using custom devastates (think daynight buttons, follow-me enable/disable features, DND, etc. with LED status)
  • Caller Screening, a form of Privacy Manager requiring callers to announce themselves so you can decide if you want to take the call or not
  • Vastly improved Time Conditions with direct linkage of Day/Night Feature codes to one or more Time Conditions for override ability
  • VmX™ Locater configuration from the FreePBX GUI in addition to the ARI GUI
  • Feature Codes tied to individual recordings, giving you the ability to re-record a recording without ever touching the GUI (Change the IVR announcement on a snow day, from home)
  • All DIDs, including direct DIDs, viewable and editable from the Inbound Routing screen

Some new modules including:

  • Queue Priority Module, allow the ability to give certain callers (or call paths) a higher priority in a queue
  • DUNDi Lookup Module, detect extension conflicts across a branch office DUNDi cluster and do easy lookups

And lots more! There have been 126 bugs closed under the 2.5 Milestone and 107 Feature Codes/Patch tickets closed, all as of this post. So check it out, give us your feedback, and help us drive this to a final release quickly!

Open Telephony Training Seminar Update

As was announced in the last news update, the next OTTS has been moved to October. This will be a great opportunity to get a close up look at the new features and changes in the FreePBX 2.5.0 release which will be out by then and be the mainstream release. There is still the EARLYBIRD discount running saving you $375 off the registration fee so sign up now here.

The summary is:

Where: Digium Headquarters, Huntsville, AL
When: October 7-10th, 2008

For now, we hope you enjoy the new features, capabilities and bug fixes that we have been working so hard to bring you!

Philippe – On behalf of the FreePBX Team

Philippe, upgraded a test system as well as a small production system without a hitch…keep up the great work!

Great stuff guys!

Another contribution on the way.

Philippe, upgraded a test system from 2.4 to 2.5. Super smooth upgrade. 2.5 seems ready for primetime already. I can’t wait to try out the custom devstates!

its gets some exciting new features and its updated version of 2.4.0