TIPS new to pbx and incrediblepbx.

[jon9314]

hello,
I am very new to all of this but I love learning. let me start out by saying I set this up as a home phone system, not as a business. I followed the excellent tutorial for installing and setting up my GV numbers(i have 3) over at http://nerdvittles.com. I am able to make and receive calls. the only things that I was wanting to do but I can't figure out is make the caller id appear as if all calls are coming from the 1st GV trunk no matter which one the call is coming from(maybe it's not possible). the other is I want any calls to automatically roll over to either GV on trunk 2 or 3 to keep the "main number open to receive calls(is that even possible?).
thanks in advance for any and all help on this.

 

[mainenotarynet]

Sorry , but there is no option for 'Line Hunting' where if Main number is busy, then line 2, if busy line 3. As once a call is answered in PBX, the Line one isn't busy anymore.

The reason I don't use my FOUR GV trunks is you cannot 'spoof' (tell GV what to use for CID, it forces your GV Number), I don't WANT those numbers out there , I run 5 organizations out of my PBX plus 2 home numbers and a Fax machine (18 numbers(?) ) and I use voip.ms at less that $1.00/month ber number and less than $0.001/minute it's not free, but is cheap enough. They have a home use option of I think $3.99/month and no per minute charges but I use mine for businesses too so I play fair (and for my uses it's cheaper anyways. With Voip.ms you can have 1 number and as many 'channels (concurrent calls) as you need with the $1.00/month option and 'Spoof' Your Caller ID any way you want.

I'm sure there are other providers that do the same, but this is what I use (For Years now) and works quite well. PBXes don't really need line hunting as a Trunk can handle many calls at once (depending on provider and your setup).

Hope this give some food for thought, and welcome to PBX in a Flash/IncrediblePBX/IncrediFax. We are here to help, just remember the more details you give US the more we can help YOU.

 

[jon9314]

Thank you so much for replying and providing valuable information. With the google voice number, how many channels are available? And are the channels just for multiple people to call in or can someone call out when I’m on the phone? That question would go for the voip.ms service also, I saw unlimited channels but I wasn’t sure if it was for both incoming and outgoing calls.

 

[wardmundy]

Most vendors don't much care about the number of channels in or out so long as you're paying by the minute. For so-called "unlimited" trunks, the answer is typically 2. Vitelity provides 4 incoming in the Nerd Vittles special. Google Voice seems to work fine with 2 or 3. You can mix and match incoming and outgoing with Google Voice as desired.

 

[jon9314]

thank you both for taking time to clarify information for me. from what I gather one GV number should be plenty for my home use(i didn't realize one number could have multiple calls). that being said I think I would like to utilize one of my GV numbers as a dedicated fax number. I have been reading a lot of posts but I am getting confused about what exactly I need to do to get it set up and working. I have the incrediblepbx 13.13 whole enchilada with incredible fax script ran

 

[mainenotarynet]

Do you have a "Real" fax machine? If you do then getan Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) [Grandstream HT701 or HT702 will work]

Create a new extension just for the fax machine (you will need a little more in the Outbound Route to get this to work and a set your 2nd GV Number inbound Route to this new extension.

Set the ATA up to be the extension you just created and plug you fax into it. Now when someone calls GVSIP2 number, the fax picks up and squeals at them.

If you need my help google my username for my site which has a phone number and I can walk you through it.

*Caveat -- I use Voip.MS regular number (have had it for years) and have never tried on a GV Number, the principle is the same, SInce I have a "Real" Fax, I haven't found a need to use IncredibleFax BUT I do have it installed. My box doesn't see incredibleFax as a fax service within FreePBX GUI, so even if I wanted a '2nd' number for eFaxing, I couldn't set a destination.

Mr Ward, Maybe you can help me/us with my last statement to get FreePBX GUI to 'see' IncrediFax.

 

[wardmundy]

There should be a fax extension called Fax under Custom Destinations. Simply add the GVSIP2 trunk. Then add an inbound route for it in FreePBX and point it to the Fax custom destination. No ATA required. Works flawlessly with pure Google Voice.

 

[jon9314]

There should be a fax extension called Fax under Custom Destinations. Simply add the GVSIP2 trunk. Then add an inbound route for it in FreePBX and point it to the Fax custom destination. No ATA required. Works flawlessly with pure Google Voice.

Does this look right? I tried sending a test fax and it didn’t come through. I’m sure I’m overlooking something small.

 

[jon9314]

Does this look right? I tried sending a test fax and it didn’t come through. I’m sure I’m overlooking something small.

Ok, I was able to send a test fax and if I call that number incediblefax answers the line, but when I send myself a test fax the faxing service says it went through but I can’t find any trace of it. What am I missing?

 

[wardmundy]

Start with the basics. Can you send yourself an email at all??

echo "test" | mail -s testmessage [email protected]

 

[mainenotarynet]

Even more basic...check your spam folder on Gmail. sSometimes sendmail does not send as a 'true' email avantfax@mypbxathome instead of [email protected] or even sending it out as avantfax <root@hostname> -- these will be thrown into spam.

Mr Ward, didnt you have the tutorial to set sendmail up correctly (SMS for controlling TM4?) find that, set it up (maybe not for smsmtexting but the sendmail stuff) and that may get you going.

 

[jon9314]

I typed the command that you listed and within 20 seconds I had the test message in my spam folder there were other emails from the server there but nothing about any fax or fax service