Hey all hope this is the right place for this and sorry if not,
I work for a 70+ hotel and we run a very out dated mitel pbx that I feel is on its last leg I have been trying to figure out how I can use something like freepbx to replace the current system utilizing the analog phones for the guest rooms but I’d love to be able to bring areas like the front desk to a IP phone any help is greatly appreciated with current setup we have for to lines coming in from the cable company that are fed into the building over coax and hit cable modems that change them to analog lines and then tie into the mitel pbx from there well the rest of the hotel can use them by dialing 9 for outside line.
Again any help is appreciated I’d also like to try to keep as much work in house as possible
To connect a large number of analog phones, you will need gateways such as
For example, three 24-port gateways can connect up to 72 room phones.
Popular brands include Grandstream, AudioCodes, Cisco and Dinstar.
They are not cheap; expect to spend $1500 or more to connect all your rooms.
Used gear is available at much lower cost, but may require more technical skill, as well as labor to update firmware and configure them properly.
For front desk or other staff, most brands of IP phone can be connected directly to FreePBX through a PoE switch. Sangoma, Yealink, Poly and Grandstream are popular. You can also use softphones and mobile SIP apps.
To connect to the PSTN, one possibility is a device such as
which would connect to the existing analog ports of your cable modems.
However, your cable company almost certainly offers SIP trunking, which offers more reliable and better quality connectivity. Check with them for pricing. With luck, the monthly cost will be no higher and the one-time cost to convert will be no more than the gateway.
A third option is getting a SIP trunk from an independent VoIP provider; there are many to choose from. Cost is very low, though reliability often suffers. If you take this route, consider keeping one analog line as a backup, so an emergency call can go out even if your provider or internet is down.
If your hotel is in the US, note that by changing your phone system (VoIP or not), new regulations concerning emergency calling apply. For example, see
If you don’t have in-house expertise to ensure compliance, you may be able to get help from your trunking provider, see
Thanks for the insight but how would licensing for free PBX come into play I’m not sure what freepbx means by user because I know the base level is 10 users so is each room phone considered a user?
Which licensed package(s) are you looking at? I am not aware of any applicable to a hotel situation that would depend on the number of guest rooms. If you get (for example) Sangoma Connect for your staff, the license fee is based on the number of mobile devices you deploy.