Funny…I have been a freePBX user for many years…I started with Trixbox.
My personal opinion is that freePBX has never been better. It is 100% stable, updates do not destroy things, which was a frequent problem several years ago. Finally, there are several features available, which have been requested for a long time.
If someone wants to set up a freePBX system without tinkering around too much, he can use the new Sangoma P3xx series phones…without spending a single Dollar for a commercial module.
I think the current freePBX team does a great job!
Of course, when you look at the current value of the STC share, you understand that Sangoma needs to reduce spending. On the other hand, Asterisk/freePBX is the basis of PBXact…so what?
Regarding the slow support from Sangoma…Heee it’s supposed to be free software. If this really were an active open source community, there would be more forum users helping newbies with configuration problems. There are just a few…the other guys just complain…
in fact there are better options than using the PBX at all. Cloud fax options provide fax-to-email, email-to-fax, web interfaces, and APIs for a few cents per page at most.
While @jfinstrom is a level-headed and reliable resource for the FreePBX project, I would think he would agree there is some natural bias in his observations solely based on his involvement in the project as a Schmooze, Sangoma, and Clearly IP employee. This is not a bad thing and brings a unique perspective to the conversation. Certainly destroying (useability wise) the wikis, which in my opinion, was the biggest differentiator in favor of FreePBX (you could always find documentation to help you do almost anything), was a very questionable thing to do.
Could the project stop at any time? Sure, but that’s true of any software (closed or open source, with plenty of examples throughout the years). Is FreePBX the commercial business, Sangoma’s, top priority? Nope, and thats always been the case. Getting tickets open, and getting bugs fixed and resolved before Sangoma happened at about the same speed and frequency as it does now, in my opinion.
The longer a software exists, the more inherently complicated and difficult it becomes to expand upon. Does lack of new features mean FreePBX is dead? Not in my opinion. It is a very mature and stable piece of user-friendly software, that has nearly unmatched flexibility. Especially closed off from the internet, you could run the current implementation for years to come.
Things will change, software will change. Somethings you used to get for “Free” will become paid for. Somethings that used to be paid for will become free. Things you depend on will be depreciated and may no longer function. Rather than worry about something that is inevitable, use is as a foundation to tweak your outlook and approach.
Use FreePBX/Asterisk as long as it meets all your needs but dedicate some time each X period to research and stay up to date on what is happening in the broader telecom space. Continuously test other applications periodically and make sure you keep a good accounting on the total cost of ownership of FreePBX and these new approaches. If you do it right, you will always be ready for what is next, not beholding any time to anyone’s roadmap or perspective, other than your own. You will know what to do because whatever that action is, it is just the next step in your broader plan to accomplish Y for your school system.
I know about this, but my question is why does this cause you worry especially here with FreePBX? Sangoma declared they would be moving to another OS distribution based on Debian for the next distro.
Hear hear 
It’s not a complaint, it’s addressing the same worry as @jfinstrom. Like I said I love FreePBX, that being said, I am concerned. As well, maybe my interpretation is incorrect, but I believe the announcement was that they are searching for a replacement OS, it wasn’t really clear to me if they found one. Do you have the link with the announcement that it is for Sure Debian? That was not my interpretation, but I would love that to be true. Is that for OSS and the commercial modules? I know it will take time for the commercial modules, to be ported but if that really is an announced plan, that link would set me at ease.
Great. Thats promising.