What would you like to see added in FreePBX 15?

+1 For the Bulk Handler idea for queues etc. Also integrate iSymphony settings for extensions into Bulk Handler (linked extensions, password, Full/Lite user, etc)

Big second. It would be very nice if there was a widget that allowed call control (hold, transfer, conference, etc.) in the UCP. Often times when delivering service to older phones or multi-PBX solutions, this would come in very handy.

2 Likes

Things that I would like to be added to freePBX 15

  1. Yes improve backup/restore with versioning checking and conversion between at least the last 2 versions of freePBX backup files (current process causes entire system to crash, unrecoverable)

  2. Add ability to have same line appearance on multiple phones with a real hold (ie: blink on all phones and any phone can pick it up) as a direct replacement for a PBX (multi extension and call park is NOT the same thing). Its very difficult to “convert” a customer to use that in place of an existing traditional PBX with analog lines

  3. Add support for Cambium Networks ATA equipment. They have a fantastic router that supports WAN, 4 LAN, WiFi (2.4 and 5G), with 2 port ATA. As an ISP looking to offer clients a single endpoint device with Internet and phone this is a fantastic device but its not directly supported by FreePBX today (very complicated manual work around). Specifically look at the R201P, not that expensive, LOTS of features

  4. I second the request for more separation between clients especially allowing for each to have their own night mode, dial plans and extensions (allow us to define calling groups i.e. so clients cant dial other clients extension directly) NEC Elite PBX had a feature like this called “tenant” that allowed for all extension related programming to be isolated for that group.

  5. A new graphical interface to manage IVR and system recordings to make it easier to build calling tree (check out how Fonality allows you to build a call routing, IVR, and system recording all from 1 menu with visual flow to see the call processing and recordings, its not perfect but its better than current FreePbx)

  6. Improved call flow monitoring and diagnostics.Allow for better filtering (i.e. all call flow for a particular extension or feature)

  7. Anything that can be done to improve FAX support and credit card machine support on analog lines. FAX doesn’t run at full speed and credit card (modem) does work at all.

  8. Continue to improve the dashboard monitoring. Version 14 was an improvement over 13 but continue to add more flexible graphics monitoring to allow us to specify/customize whats on the graph, gets lists of extensions/connections that have a call in process

  9. improved support for ATA/gateway. Now we can define a template but we should be able to define a physical device and select that device (and a port) from a dropdown list instead of picking the template and entering MAC/Account (possibly allow this directly when adding the extension instead of having to add the extension and then going to endpoint manager and repeating 1/2 the data again)

  10. improved licencing on commercial modules. For customer isolation, for now we need to build a separate PBX environment on a virtual machine (each with its own server ID) and then have to pay full price for all the same modules we already have to segregate different clients and give them their own nightmode and extension pools. Even if each “virtual” machine only has a handful of extensions on it.

  11. Add a billing module, allow us to generate invoices for call usage with a rate table (or fixed fee per minute) and allow for a built in credit (ie: first 4000 minutes free, after that, start billing), allow extensions to be group onto one bill. Include the ability to include a flat monthly fee (ie: $29 a month for the service (and first 4000 minutes) then per minute charges there after.

3 Likes

also, on the subject of isolation for different clients, adding to my request for better support for building IVR/call tree and call flow, it would be nice if we could create a user ID (per client) so they could manage their own call tree and recordings (but not see anyone else’s call tree and recordings), and their own nightmode (and auto night mode schedule)

Something like this would be very handy.

Cancel Changes button!
Don’t know how many times someone has made a change, then decided to not make the change and not remember what was changed.
Any time I logon to the management interface and see the “apply changes” button, I wonder what has changed and if I should even press the button. If I’m making a change, I have no choice at some point to commit changes.
And/Or a way to compare changes (change report?) before commiting changes.
Other than that, great product. Keep up the awesome work!

10 Likes

maybe there should be a way to get an overview of what changes were made? i.e. when you click “apply changes” it lists all of the changes and asks you to confirm?

If the changes have not been committed yet and you have to apply, there has to be a list of what changes need to be updated when you click apply right?

4 Likes

@dvsatech on your #2, this is possible using PJSIP since Asterisk 13 and FreePBX13, or I misunderstand what you mean.

I am fairly new to freePBX so its possible I didn’t understand the availability of the feature as it stands now? In everything I read, it talked about using call park and creating parking lots for calls to be able to answer them at other extensions? What I want to do is replicate an old style PBX (they called it a square system) where 5 lines rang on say 9 phones (normally there would be 5 buttons, one for each line) and anyone could answer it and put it on hold (and if it was say line 3 then line 3 would be blinking) and anyone else could pick it up at any time (while it was on hold), or even “barge in” if programming allowed to bridge the call to multiple extensions (yet each extension had its own extension number). In many cases you would answer the ringing line and then place on hold and use the “page group” button on your phone and announce “Joe, line 2” and he could pick up line 2 if it was on hold or if programmed for privacy, when you were on a line no one else could push that line button until you placed the call on hold.

@dvsatech in extensions -> advanced -> max contacts you can now put more than 1 and allow multiple phones to have the same extension. I use that because I want my extension to be available in more than one desk.

If you have individual analog lines, you can still do like in the good old days. If it’s a generic number that anyone can answer, you should be doing queues.

I think the life cycle is too fast. I’m barely done going to FreePBX 13 that I now have to upgrade to 14 to be able to upgrade to 15 in a few months. No time for that.

New features are great, but most of the time they are disruptive too. May not be a bad idea to fix all the outstanding bugs and implement the small feature requests that do not require a new version before starting to work on 15.

What would be your desired “life cycle”

  • FreePBX 2.11was released 2013-05-14
  • FreePBX 12.0 was released 2014-06-23 (1 year later)
  • FreePBX 13.0 was released 2015-10-15 (1 year 4 months later)
  • FreePBX 14.0 was released 2017-06-30 (1 year 8 months later)
  • FreePBX 15.0 will probably be released in about 4-5 months. That means about 11 months later.
3 Likes

Not too fast for me. Also, I suspect that the ability to restore a backup to a different version will help with this issue, as I would expect it would be much easier to just jump over a few versions to get to current.

1 Like

@tm1000 :

Hi Andrew, I would like something between 2 and 3 years. I have never used FreePBX v12 (it was available when I installed my last two FreePBX 2.11) because it was a little too new for my comfort level : Everyone who uses Microsoft products will tell you never to install a product before Service Pack 1 is out :stuck_out_tongue:

I don’t think I would go to FreePBX14 now (no incentive) since FreePBX15 is already around the corner.

1 year is definitely wayyyy too short. Phones are 10% of what I do, There is always something else going on, and the eternal “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” is strong culture here. To be honest the one feature that made me move to Asterisk 13 / FreePBX 13 is PJSIP and the ability to have an extension on multiple phones. The new User Manager and Microsoft Active Directory are nice to have, but I would not have upgraded just for that, especially not small customers that I previously handled.

There are plenty of feature requests that you can implement without a major version change. This is a fine line to walk, but once a year is too much.

Thanks,
Michel.

If Microsoft would’ve been open source…

Michel,

I can’t talk on behalf of Sangoma, but i can talk of my experience.

If you have often new setups, you probably have also been migrating from various types of PBX’s to FreePBX.
Migrating to FreePBX became MUCH easier with syncing Active Directory users, same applies to all updated modules which made import/export much easier to create hundreds of extensions at once, building hundreds of inbound routes, Endpoint Manager etc etc in just hours instead of days…

Yes, we still have one or two FreePBX server’s running version 2.11, it’s fully functioning but we know that sooner than later these boys will change version numbers. (one machine is now running almost two years, only downtime really was when the client lost internet)

As you mentioned Microsoft: there’s multiple companies i know that still have XP machines, are they working? Yes. But good luck looking for your Music-USB slot in your station wagon…

As things advances, like you have now that Asterisk 15 supports video conferencing etc - this you can’t have on your 2.11 server, which is obviously one of the reasons why there’s new versions of FreePBX.

Honestly, I’m excited for FreePBX 15, and just the fact that there’s a open post from the Sangoma/FreePBX developers to find out what they make better for you in FreePBX 15 is simply amazing.

Again, no one forces you to update, but keep in mind that running a really old version, you’re also running Apache and other outdated services which can be a security risk.

Part of admin life is patching.

2 Likes

Probably everything i say here has been said, but just in case…

  1. multi-tenant support
  2. a wysiwyg design tool for building the configuration
  3. hooks/plugin’s for the key management/monitoring systems
2 Likes

+1 on that one.

michelpy, it should be noted, version 14 includes “updates” in the main menu to allow installing “system” updates above and beyond the “module” updates so future upgrades should become easier. If they follow through and allow importing old config files then it should be very easy to upgrade a backup server, load the config files and test. The upgrade cycle should get shorter if this works as intended.

I tried loading a v13 config on a v14 machine and the system crash, was completely unusable and I couldn’t even get any of the GUI screens to come up. Fortunately it was a brand new load with nothing on it so I just reloaded 14 and will manually add all the configs back in.

In V13, I get nervous every time I perform “module updates”…so many times my GUI would break after loading updates for modules (fortunately call processing continued to work fine and a little elbow grease at the unit command line and google I would eventually get the GUI back on line)

michelpy8h
@dvsatech in extensions → advanced → max contacts you can now put more than 1 and allow multiple phones to have the same extension. I use that because I want my extension to be available in more than one desk.

If you have individual analog lines, you can still do like in the good old days. If it’s a generic number that anyone can answer, you should be doing queues.

I did try using that feature and programmed the same line on multiple phones and yes they all ring and anyone can answer but I didn’t see the ability to put that on hold and pickup from any other extension? Also, in my implementation, unless I was doing something wrong, each phone got its own variant of that extension (i.e.: if it was extension 1000 then the first phone had 1000-1 the next had 1000-2 and another 1000-3?, each was its own “instance” of the same extension), this wasn’t exactly the same as a line appearance on an analog PBX. You also have to set the number of “contacts” and to add another phone you have to go increase the max first. I have to admit though, I did old digital/analog PBX systems for years but only got into VoIP PBX in the last year. Also I find the WiKi hard to navigate, would really like a good book on FreePBX with examples (maybe even LAB’s of sample setups). I haven’t been able to find a FreePBX manual.