FOOD FOR THOUGHT Upgrade advice

[troycarpenter]

I have downloaded the ISO and have received my free license, but after some research, I'm not sure upgrading is a good move for me no matter how tempting it is to try the new v5.

I currently run PBXinaFlash on my Rpi. It seems to be working fine without intervention for the past year, but has now crashed twice in as many days. Things I use that seem to be above and beyond the free license include but are not limited to: more than 1 SIP trunk, parking lot, and intercom. In addition, I have older SIP phones like Aastra phones (480 and that era), Soyo, and some German made phone. Almost all recommended by Nerd Vittles at some point.

I looked at signing up for the re-seller program, but the minimal requirement there was to sell a minimum of one license every 6 months, and I don't believe I will be quitting my current job to sell PBX systems.

So I think in asking the question I've also answered it. I don't believe it is worth it to upgrade in spite of all the extra bells and whistles. Unfortunately, it looks like a lot of those bells and whistles actually require a higher license than the free version.

Has anyone else experienced a loss of functionality from their older PBXinaFlash system to the new version? Was it worth it?

 

[YiannisH]

Hello @troycarpenter

I think the only one who can answer this question is you. See what functions you need and what is offered and see if that works for you. You can also install it on a different machine and have a look your self, if you have the time to spare to play with the new version. At least that is what i would do

 

[Paul Rowell]

I'm in the process of trying to decide what to do in this new WAZO vs 3CX vs FreePBX world.

My (admittedly short) experience with 3CX is that it is much easier to get up and running than WAZO. BUT and it is a big BUT I'm convinced that 3CX will never be a replacement for a lot of us IncrediblePBX/PIAF users because we have been spoilt by getting everything for FREE. I just can't see 3CX giving us their software for free for ever without upsetting a lot of their resellers/endusers. I think their traditional Free (now called PBX?) was cleverly designed to allow users to get excited by their product only to find that there was a must have feature that you then had to pay for.

I'm trying not to knock 3CX they are a business and they need to make a profit, I'm just struggling to see how they will match what PIAF used to offer this community.

 

[dallas]

I'm inclined to agree with Paul Rowell.
Unlimited extensions, 8 concurrent calls and only 1 sip trunk... really?
The single SIP Trunk / Gateway and no G729 codec are showstoppers for my home setup.

 

[Paul Rowell]

The more I think about this, the more I end up with the conclusion that FreePBX makes better sense.

 

[kenn10]

Did you guys miss the fact that registered PIAF forum members get a one year free license that allows all the SIP trunks you want plus 8 simultaneous calls? This is not the "free" license that you can download that limits you to one SIP trunk. I already received and installed mine and am learning 3CX. So far its pretty good but it will take work to convert. After a year, we don't know whether we'll have to pay $395 for the license or if there will be another free deal so I'm using this year to learn it and Wazo so I'll be able to use and implement either one.

 

[Paul Rowell]

No I for one didn't miss it, but it is the uncertainty about what happens at the end of the year and for me the fact that I have several installations that would each need more than the free/One trunk licence.

 

[dallas]

Did you guys miss the fact that registered PIAF forum members get a one year free license that allows all the SIP trunks you want plus 8 simultaneous calls? This is not the "free" license that you can download that limits you to one SIP trunk. I already received and installed mine and am learning 3CX. So far its pretty good but it will take work to convert. After a year, we don't know whether we'll have to pay $395 for the license or if there will be another free deal so I'm using this year to learn it and Wazo so I'll be able to use and implement either one.

I thought that was the free license.

 

[Paul Rowell]

I thought that was the free license.

There is what 3cx call their PBX Edition that is unlimited extensions 8 simultaneous calls and 1 sip trunk and not slot of features - take a look at the feature comparison chart on their web site. Then there is something that has been negotiated for this community which is a full standard license for one year, I'm not sure how many SC's this is for as the standard license starts at 4 SC's. If you were registered on this community then you will have received an email with a link to get this license.

Hope this helps...

 

[dallas]

Thanks for the help Paul. I missunderstood the intent of the email.
Running the installer now. It looks like I have to open port 5001 to configure it. I'll keep you posted.

 

[wardmundy]

We've written extensively about this on Nerd Vittles so I won't repeat all of it here. But the VoIP World has changed dramatically since PBX in a Flash was first introduced. We're trying to provide multiple options because one size certainly doesn't fit all. Incredible PBX will always be free and open source. Together with Wazo, we will plow ahead and you can expect new, simpler user interfaces this year. 3CX is a terrific commercial platform backed by an incredibly talented staff of developers. For existing PIAF users, a virtually unlimited version has been provided that gives you a year to kick the tires. It may continue to be free after that. @Nick Galea has indicated all along that he intends to provide a robust, free solution for home and SOHO users. I take him at his word that there will continue to be free alternatives after the year expires. With multiple Cloud solutions now available in the $3.50-$5/month range, there's really no reason not to try multiple platforms. If you're still thinking that the FreePBX Distro is either free or open source, you need to look more carefully.

 

[Stan-O]

Did you guys miss the fact that registered PIAF forum members get a one year free license that allows all the SIP trunks you want plus 8 simultaneous calls? This is not the "free" license that you can download that limits you to one SIP trunk.

I have received an e-mail from PBIAF Team with the license key, but if I follow the "Details" link in the e-mail and read the announcement/other forum posts they all mention "a sip trunk" or "1 sip trunk". How can I confirm if the license I've received is limited to 1 trunk or not?
This is not the question for @kenn10 necessarily, I'm just quoting the part I'm confused about.

 

[kenn10]

I have received an e-mail from PBIAF Team with the license key, but if I follow the "Details" link in the e-mail and read the announcement/other forum posts they all mention "a sip trunk" or "1 sip trunk". How can I confirm if the license I've received is limited to 1 trunk or not
This is not the question for @kenn10 necessarily, I'm just quoting the part I'm confused about.

All I can say is that the license they sent me lets me have 8 simultaneous calls and I have Vitelity In/Out and Flowroute trunks. I have tested making 6 inbound and 2 outbound calls at the same time over both trunk groups. I'd say try it.

There are some things I really like about 3CX in so much as things "just work" without a lot of customization. The negative is that you can't do much customization and it lacks a lot of the features you get with a FreePBX based system. The 3CX Android client rocks and also just works. Voicemail to email just works.

You need to play with it, at least, to get a feel for it before you toss it away. Sadly, I still like my PIAF3 the very best of the bunch. I just wish I could make Sendmail work with it for either Google or Comcast for voicemail to email. It hasn't worked since my last install on either of my production systems.

 

[Stan-O]

All I can say is that the license they sent me lets me have 8 simultaneous calls and I have Vitelity In/Out and Flowroute trunks. I have tested making 6 inbound and 2 outbound calls at the same time over both trunk groups. I'd say try it.

There are some things I really like about 3CX in so much as things "just work" without a lot of customization. The negative is that you can't do much customization and it lacks a lot of the features you get with a FreePBX based system. The 3CX Android client rocks and also just works.

You need to play with it, at least, to get a feel for it before you toss it away. Sadly, I still like my PIAF3 the very best of the bunch.

Thank you for your reply! I don't doubt it's a great product and ever since they discontinued their SIP client for iOS and made it only work with 3cx systems there's an advantage of using 3cx as a server if you have iOS devices which need to be connected, but I cannot afford $500 a year for my (family-use only) PBX and I'm absolutely not willing to spend the time installing and configuring it if there's no guarantee I could use it for free past 12 months trial period.

While 1 sip trunk might be a smart limit for the product trial, it just doesn't cut it for my use. And everywhere else I've read it says 1 sip trunk only even with PIAF license. Are you sure you don't have a reseller's license?

 

[pbxinaflash]

Hi @Stan-O ,

Are you referring to the email which was sent in January and offered a Free Commercial License Key to the PIAF users, or are you referring to the license key that you get when you submit this form? If the latter, then yes, it is the PBX (Free) Edition and is limited to 1 sip trunk.

The offer which has now ended, included a Free 3CX Standard Edition license for 1 year to PIAF users featuring 8 sim calls and unlimited sip trunks.

 

[Stan-O]

Hi @Stan-O ,

Are you referring to the email which was sent in January and offered a Free Commercial License Key to the PIAF users, or are you referring to the license key that you get when you submit this form? If the latter, then yes, it is the PBX (Free) Edition and is limited to 1 sip trunk.

The offer which has now ended, included a Free 3CX Standard Edition license for 1 year to PIAF users featuring 8 sim calls and unlimited sip trunks.

So how can I check which license do I have? I've received it from PIAF Team a while ago, can't quite recall what I did to get it.

 

[pbxinaflash]

Well you can just try adding more than 1 sip trunk. If you don't get this:



It means that you don't have the Free Edition.

Or go to Settings - > License. Is there a date next to License Expires ? Is Number of Simultaneous Meeting Participants more than 5?

 

[wardmundy]

If you have the always free version of 3CX and that's your price threshold forevermore, perhaps you should take a look at this article. It might provide the missing pieces for you...

Best of Both Worlds: Marrying Asterisk to 3CX’s Free PBX with a $35 Raspberry Pi

 

[stanjohn]

If you have the always free version of 3CX and that's your price threshold forevermore, perhaps you should take a look at this article. It might provide the missing pieces for you...

Good ideas and I like the idea with the same interface in both locations cloud and local, that is asterisk based. Haven't read the TOS for 3CX but I guess a 3CX cloud server for each trunk would work but my 18 trunks would be a little complex with 18 cloud servers. Besides the issue of two different interfaces, the time to keep this working makes it less reliable. The past year I've rebuilt several systems and seem to be using one of my backups to make and receive calls and have to adjust to limited functions.

Just desire a rock solid system with all the bells and whistles and free

 

[Stan-O]

If you have the always free version of 3CX and that's your price threshold forevermore, perhaps you should take a look at this article. It might provide the missing pieces for you...

Beautiful photo of False Creek/Science World and I was hoping the article would address the issue of ID-ing the license but it did not.
Logging to the 3cx customer web-site with the login/pass from e-mail yielded information on the license I was looking for tho. Should have checked there before posting.