Setting up FreePBX... aaand I'm lost!

[Moskus]

I want/need to add some kind of intercom to our home. My wife and I are getting tired of yelling messages to each other and the kids, and I was given the tip that PBX could be a solution (was it you, Pete?).

I've set up a new virtual machine, installed a FreePBX distro (64 bit) from their site. And now I'm stuck.


I seriously don't know what do do now. I'm completely lost.
FreePBX seems to be running, and there are no errors. I can't connect a softphone to it, and I want to do that before I buy some hardware IP phones.

I've tried searching for "for dummies" sites but they are either not existing any more or they are too old.



Any pointers?

[Ultrajones]

I am *very* interested in this discussion. Couldn't figure out how to subscribe to this thread without making a post.

[donstephens]

You probably already know but....

[Pete]

Yeah here tested initially "deluxe" tried and true Asterisk on a variety of "O2 Jogglers".

That said they were not really O2 Jogglers but rather Openpeak telco touch tablet devices with built in microphones. The microphone traces are there on the O2 Jogglers.

I tested then using Ubuntu 12.XX. I then also went looking for "most popular" open source small footprint IP PBX DIY googling mostly.

I lined up some 4 "Jogglers" in front of me and tested putting the PBX on one of them and the client on the other three. Worked fine for me. Geez and today you can incorporate video. The Grandstream based IP HD cams that I play with all have mechanisms of enabling SIP on them which is a neato thing. So far its only been the Grandstream OS'd IP HD cams that I found to have those pieces (well of SIP).

Easy to play and test it yourself. You can install one on your favorite DD-WRT / OpenWRT router (big and small these days). I can put it on my little TP-Link modded microrouter these days. There are tiny clients today for any OS. I am still trying to incorporate the DECT phone technology built in to the Jogglers. Noticed that much of the information relating to DECT phone sniffing / modding / et al appears to have been "deleted" from the internet over the last couple of years.

[beerygaz]

My background is in IP PBX technologies and I run a SIP based Cisco PBX at home. I'd be happy to try and help out. As soon as I get a chance I'll stand up a VM and get Free PBX installed and see if I can shed some light.

I've always thought it would be good to get HS speech recognition working via a SIP phone! Call HS from any extension and speak to it (her?)


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[Moskus]

My background is in IP PBX technologies and I run a SIP based Cisco PBX at home. I'd be happy to try and help out. As soon as I get a chance I'll stand up a VM and get Free PBX installed and see if I can shed some light.

That would be FANTASTIC!

I've always thought it would be good to get HS speech recognition working via a SIP phone! Call HS from any extension and speak to it (her?)

That would be great! But I'll settle for Caller ID when I get it running.

[Moskus]

I lined up some 4 "Jogglers" in front of me and tested putting the PBX on one of them and the client on the other three. Worked fine for me.

That's all fine, but I'm trying to figure out HOW.

[billt]

Having struggled with Asterisk and FreePBX in the past, I gave up. FreePBX tries to be a simple interface to Asterisk, but when I tried it you still ended up trying to edit incomprehensible config files.

I now use 3CX, which I have managed to get working satisfactorily without too many headaches. It's much more comprehensibly to the non-Linux guru than asterisk and its derivatives. Disadvantage is that the free version is limited to 2 simultaneous calls, and the paid for versions are expensive.

You could try a pre-packaged Asterisk based PBX like the Grandstream ones. They should be much simpler to configure, and they're not too expensive.

If you just want an intercom, have you thought about a DECT system? They generally have intercom facilities, albeit limited to 6 handsets in domestic setups.

[Moskus]

Having struggled with Asterisk and FreePBX in the past, I gave up. FreePBX tries to be a simple interface to Asterisk, but when I tried it you still ended up trying to edit incomprehensible config files.

I now use 3CX, which I have managed to get working satisfactorily without too many headaches. It's much more comprehensibly to the non-Linux guru than asterisk and its derivatives. Disadvantage is that the free version is limited to 2 simultaneous calls, and the paid for versions are expensive.

Hmmm... that might be something. At the moment I don't have use for more than 2 simultaneous calls, but know knows. Could I connect any SIP phone to it?

What I like about FreePBX is that it (and Asterisk) are wildely used, almost *the* standard, and I'd also like to know how they work. But I need to start somewhere!

You could try a pre-packaged Asterisk based PBX like the Grandstream ones. They should be much simpler to configure, and they're not too expensive.

Again, cost is a factor. The package might be "cheaper", but as far as I understand, my options of hardware phones are fewer too... or am I wrong?

If you just want an intercom, have you thought about a DECT system? They generally have intercom facilities, albeit limited to 6 handsets in domestic setups.

Because I like posibilities.
... and that's why I ended up with HomeSeer 7-8 years ago.

Right NOW the plan is to use it for intercom, but I'm sure I want to be calling out as well using the old analog line when it's up and running.

[Pete]

That's all fine, but I'm trying to figure out HOW.

Easy peasy to install and configure Magnus.

Google a Linux "tiny free opensource PBX" and install it. You cannot break anything doing this.

But I need to start somewhere!

Yup; install it and give it a whirl....

Relating to Wintel and Linux and Apple and Android; google is your friend. These days the soft clients are tiny and just sit in the task bar very innocuously.

Here come from the world of Cisco and historically only used their products for anything related to anything network wise. You can purchase Cisco refurb stuff at a reasonable cost.

Choices are endless and really you cannot break anything; play away.

[Moskus]

My first hits on "tiny free opensource PBX" are:
1. PlugPBX.org ("PlugPBX was started to provide the world with an easy way of getting FreePBX and Asterisk working on the SheevaPlug")
2. FreePBX.org
3. Asterisk.org

... and the list really just goes on like that.


I like "cannot break anything" part, you are right about that!
... and with VMware snapshots it's easy to try, fail and try again.

[Pete]

Install Ubuntu 14.04 on one VM.

Follow the step by step provided here.

Installing FreePBX on Ubuntu 14.04 Server

http://wiki.freepbx.org/display/HTGS...rver+14.04+LTS

[Moskus]

Ah, I think we are cross talking. I do have FreePBX running, they have a distro on their own (much simplier). That's not the problem.

The problem is actually getting two softphones to talk to each other via FreePBX.




I took the plunge, created a new VM with Windows and installed 3CX. Now, that's something! Easy to manage, and I was up and running within 10 minutes. But to my horror I discovered that intercom is an "commercial" feature.

At the moment, I don't think an intercom is worth $500, and that's even before I've purchased any hardware.

[beerygaz]

How far have you got Moskus?

Installed the server. Created 2 extensions? Registered the 2 extensions via SIP to the server?

[Pete]

The problem is actually getting two softphones to talk to each other via FreePBX

Magnus,

Baby steps; configure you FreePBX for whatever you want first. Stick to FreePBX for now.

Don't wander (wonder) yet to a commercial product when you can do this for free and it really is an easy plug n play thing.

Read Gavin's post above.

POST your configuration here for your PBX (whether a text file or some GUI thing)

Don't bother playing with the softphones until you have configured your PBX; otherwise you are just spinning your wheels.

BTW the OpenPeak 2's you have (that were way ahead of their time) have built in DECT phone telephony which works such that you can use the OF1 as an intercom or just utilize a paired up DECT phone with it. They were sold by Verizon, Avaya, Cisco, Telio to name a few vendors as internet kiosks with built in cloud telephony. I can pair up the phones I have just fine using the base OS on the Openpeak devices. The hardware is on the motherboard. Also included is a Sim card slot for 3G/4G internet connectivity. Think about watching live TV, streaming audio, running HSTouch and using the device as a telephony hub or intercom.



Here is a basic DIY PBX "do what" overview / video