One of my many job assignments is to figure out how to support a FreePBX system that was installed by a consultant. I reasonably understand how to use the windows GUI interface to modify existing extensions but I don’t understand how to add new phone extension configuration files at the Asterisk level.
I believe I have to login to the the PBX linux box with Asterisk and setup some configuration files. The Poly Soundpoint IP 550/560 phones we use have an additional computer CAT-5 port which I believe if I had the right setup I could connect to Asterisk/Linux telephony box? Somebody point me to the basics here of
how deal with the Linux connection asterisk config stuff please!
You set up extensions from the extensions tab in FreePBX. You’ll also have to set up the parameters in the instrument itself. The 2nd Cat 5 port is to allow the connection of a computer.
Here’s a good tutorial. It’s aimed at the Pbx in a Flash distro, but there’s a lot of good information on FreePBX.
My system looks to be just FreePBX on Asterisk no “FreePBX in a Flash” variant which appears to help a bit more with Linux Administrator stuff. Eugene I struggled to print the ringdales guide it appears there is a problem without signing into facebox first? So many pages I need to sit with it and mark and flip real paper.
Anyway good hints and clues too bad there is no admin guide for the FreePBX downloadable from here exactly? It would be great to actually have a detailed install procedure for how to setup and install via linux asterisk and then freepbx. So I am trying to understand how I get into asterisk and add phone extensions in the sense that you need to have configuration files which you can’t make via FreePBX? I understand there are things you need to go to the Linux CLI for so it would be nice to see a document which shows how one should do that.
So many phone models support SIP the creation of an endpoint manager is a very large task. Hopefully some day we will have one. It’s a large project.
For now the folks at Aastra distribute a free set of XML applications that integrate with FreePBX and automatically provision the phones.
You should consult the administrative guide for your phones for provisioning options. Most phones can be programmed from the phone itself or a web GUI running on the phone. For smaller deployments this is sufficient. Larger deployments and integrators use bulk provisioning that either utilizes the tftp/ftp or web server on the server running Asterisk/FreePBX to server configuration files to the phones.