Well as a long time 3CX User I am now searching for a new PBX System because 3CX ist getting mad with there license fees.
Maybe someone had an idea what system fits the most with my needs.
What I am looking for:
must work with my German Provider (Easybell)
I have 10-20 phones connected
Must work with softphone client on a mobile device (iOS and Android)
on-prem or Cloud install
Auto Provision would be fine (mostly Yealink and Snom phones)
Should be payable (around 15 Euros a month)
I had tested Freepbx but it seems very complicated. ( even with the YT Help from Chris @Crosstalk ) Also I don’t know witch commercial modules I need to buy etc. Ansitel is also a worthlooking system but they lose my sip accounts from time to time.
Feel free to ask more questions to solve this puzzle.
Unfortunately there is no free lunch. If you want something very capable AND very easy you generally have to pay $$ for it as others have done the work to make it that way for you.
On the other hand, while FreePBX is free $$ wise it’s not free from effort. So you pay one way or another. Either with time/effort or money.
If you’re going the FreePBX route and not sure which commercial modules you need, you can post here what your requirements are and people should respond.
At a minimum I’d suggest sangoma’s Sysadmin Pro module. After that it’s as needed to accomplish what you want to do. Probably the Endpoint manager module as well.
Beyond that you’d need to post here what you are trying to accomplish specifically to get good feedback.
First of all thank you for your Reply. I am not looking for a completely free system. I am aware that quality cost money. At time I use the Easybell could PBX. Works ok but it is also expensive. My main concern is to get a softclient to run on a iPhone because my wife is hearing impaired so she must use a phone that is connected to her hearing aid device. So my idea is to host the PBX (maybe Freepbx) in a Datacenter. But is that safe ?
We run all our pbx’s on Vultr. Works just fine. Run the Vultr firewall, the FPBX firewall and change all the ports from the default. We also lock down all web access to known IP’s.
For a softphone we use ClearlyAnywhere from ClearlyIP. $20 a year.0
Welcome Wally! I believe you have found the best community right here when it comes to the best community for the FreePBX community.
I agree with @Ashcor, to have a quality business grade PBX, you have to play to pay. Between @Crosstalk and @ClearlyIP. These are The TRUE experts of FreePBX. The value they offer is fair and investing your PBX needs into them, is ensuring you are putting yourselves in the best hands possible imho.
yes it is very overwhelming but I already figured things out and it is basically working. But before I go in production use I will take some weeks. But I have time…
It’s been a long time since I’ve dabbled in the asterisk anything. Originally for me it was between trixbox and 3cx. As a small business with just 2 users I’ve been on the 3cx wagon for about 12 years now I think. Originally windows based server backend made it easier for me to DIY too but I’m comfortable ish on a command line as far as getting something setup so long as the gui after that is easy to use.
For me it’s been pretty hands off aside from the major upgrade abandoning windows. I think it was v16 when they made their first linux server (and by then I’d gained enough basic skills to perform the migration on my own). Aside from annual maintenance seems about worth it to me considering I don’t need outside IT. But I’m still interested in knowing what’s available.
Looking forward to see what’s gonna come out of this.
One of the things I’ve liked most from 3cx is CTI/softphone and the last time I found something equiv for freepbx they went out of business.
Yes, 3CX simply works but they are to focused to enterprise costumers. First shutting down Standart License, then raised prizes over 35% and now they are shutting down the Pro 4SC License. Never understand that.
But FreePBX is a very huge system. You can do almost anything. But way complicated for my needs. Don’t think that Freepbx and I getting friends. Will test further but I think I am sticking with my Cloud PBX. But time will tell….
Hi Wally,
You’ll be pleased to know you can still do most things without buying commercial modules, none of my clients have ever bought any, nor have I, my client base ranges from a few extensions up to 1500, and we use on site everywhere, we used cisco handsets until a few years ago when they gave us an overnight price hike of 210% (blaming you-know-what), we moved to alcatel handsets and love them.
For 10 users, you could use a raspi for that, and to the nay-sayers, my office ran a pi 3b+ for 6 years and never raised a sweat- until a nasty surge destroyed it and a few other things including the UPS, those MOVs just couldnt protect in time. I find tiny micro thinkcentre’s from lenovo are perfect for on-site PBX’s, even the old intel NUC’s if you can get your hands on one
Everything new appears daunting at first, and although its very powerful, you dont have to tinker with many things to get a basic PBX running, I dont think Chris has done a freepbx 17 series, not sure, I no longer follow him, but I’ve heard he hasnt, maybe he plans too, maybe someone else already has, youtube is your friend
A big concern still is that it is even free as in beer it’s NOT free as in freedom. It will still be closed source so no security audits. The people at the helm are not security focused in general. When it comes to any security component show me the code. One great thing Rob did with the firewall module is made it open source. I’m sure the bean counters would have preferred that was paid functionality. In any case that still requires sysadmin for reasons and that kinda sucks. From my understanding of whispers the MFA module will also still be commercial and require a license it will just be $0. So you still have to give your soul to Sangoma to use it
That series is actually v15! Quite old at this point, but the changes in both v16 and v17 have been minimal and incremental for the most part, so the majority of that tutorial series is still valid.
@wally, FreePBX and Asterisk are used in various other distributions. If you want a simpler version that can also grow as you need it to, check out IncrediblePBX-2025. This is based on Asterisk-22 and FreePBX-17. IncrediblePBX does a lot of the heavy lifting for you and comes with some trunks and extensions pre-installed. It might be more of what you’re looking for. Introducing Incredible PBX 2025 with Asterisk 22 and FreePBX 17 – Nerd Vittles and https://incrediblepbx.com
Maybe if we wait around, TangoPBX will come out with something easy and interesting too.
