9 ms·

Small business VoIP phone system setup tutorial

57 points by amingilani 7y ago

jaboutboul 7y ago
Gotta love Rossman. A very atypical video series for him, yet still so enlightening.
- amingilani 7y ago
  I agree. I feel as though VoIP and phone system setup for small business isn't as popular as it should be. I for one am very interested in running a private SIP server for my home use on something like a Raspberry Pi.
Blackstone4 7y ago
Alternatively to connect the company, you could have a shared contact list synced up with Exchange or Gmail with everyone's numbers and use WhatsApp voice calling or if you are feeling generous give everyone an iPhone and use FaceTime Audio....boom that way you reduce setup time by immense amounts...
- orev 7y ago
  Some companies (the smart ones) don’t want to turn over all their internal data to giant companies who’s primary business model is to collect and sell data. Also, the solution you propose would be a nightmare to manage.
  - Blackstone4 7y ago
    Does Microsoft collect and sell data for their Exchange product? It's just one option for a small business. If there's less than 10 of you, it would be an easy option with minimal fuss as along as you can have a couple of tech-savy admins. Agreed that when you get large it be harder to manage. To be honest, I felt like you read my comment and intrepreted it in the most critical way you could. For different situations there are different appropriate solutions. I was just mentioning a narrow use case. Horses for courses.
tapvt 7y ago
I’ve just built out a fairly complex PBX solution for a client using asterisk and Cisco SPA5xx series phones. I have to admit that, coming from a non-telephony dev background, there was a bit of a learning curve. Looking forward to watching this when time allows.
- amingilani 7y ago
  What did you use to bridge the knowledge gap? I've been trying to figure out Asterisk since I was a teenager, but never found a great resource. They used to call themselves Apache for telephone around that time, but since then, I've become a full-stack dev and I still don't understand Asterisk. I suppose It's probably because I haven't been giving it enough time, myself.
  - orev 7y ago
    There is a LOT of terminology specific to phone stuff, and I find that to be half the battle. Just because phones currently kind of look like IT doesn’t mean they actually follow IT conventions. You’re taking a 100 year old technology and layering it on top of IT, so many of the assumptions IT people have don’t always apply.
  - xorcist 7y ago
    I did a bit of consulting around Asterisk when it was younger and one of the strengths was how easy it was to get started. There's a bit of terminology to it, and the dialplan language is arcane to put it mildly, but it's all very straightfoward. The comparison with Apache is apt, with equivalents to CGI and everything. Bascially the best way to get started is to just install it and use asterisk.conf from the sample directory to get started (not the other files). You'll probably be running SIP to both your phones and your uplink so create a new sip.conf. Read the corresponding wiki page at voip-info.org for syntax, and look at the sample file for reference (it's way too complicated to use as-is). Then write a dialplan in extensions.conf. That's the description of how calls should be processed (something like "when a local phone dials 3xx, call a local phone by that name", "when a local phone dials a longer string, place an outgoing call"). Again, check the wiki and sample files for examples. Don't be put off by the language, which uses line numbers for code. That's enough to get started. The O'Reilly book is really, really good should you wish to invest in it. There are one-click installers and web interfaces available too, I haven't used those but they're probably better should you wish to have something more product-like. There's not as much small scale consulting work in the PBX space as it used to be since mobile phones took over. Most work is around call centers but it can still be challenging and fun.
N0RMAN 7y ago
Have a look at 3cx! Free for basic usage, great mobile apps and very easy deployments.
cimm 7y ago
As am Twilio as the backend with Linphone as softphone client to get started. Easy enough to set up and seems to work fine. Only problem is the lack of push notifications on iOS, inbound phone calls only work when Linphone is the foreground app. Android even has a build in SIP client.
- HugoHobling 7y ago
  If you want to pay $0.99 a month, Bria support push notification for SIP accounts on iOS.
- _JamesA_ 7y ago
  Acrobits Softphone[1] and Groundwire[2] support iOS push notifications. I have found they work much better than Bria[3]. [1]: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acrobits-softphone/id314192799 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acrobits-softphone/id314192799 [2]: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acrobits-groundwire/id378503081 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acrobits-groundwire/id37850308... [3]: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bria-mobile-voip-softphone/id1236194368 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bria-mobile-voip-softphone/id1...
  - cimm 7y ago
    Thanks. Linephone does support push notifications, problem is I don't have a way to tell Twilio to send push notifications since it's not "their" mobile client. Any idea if you can send push notification to an iOS app that isn't yours? As in: Twilio receives a call, how does it (or my server) send a push notification to to, say, Groundwire?
    - _JamesA_ 7y ago
      Acrobits registers the SIP account(s) through their server when push notifications are enabled.
      - cimm 7y ago
        I tried Acrobits Softphone today and it works! Thanks for the help!
seomint 7y ago
Crosstalk Solutions also have an excellent YouTube series on how to install and configure FreePBX v14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTtql5lMeKk&list=PL1fn6oC5ndU8tezrQ1pnPSEpa_m0w8LOW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTtql5lMeKk&list=PL1fn6oC5nd...
mentos 7y ago
What existing startups have made this a one-click solution? Are there any?
- travbrack 7y ago
  You could argue that any cloud PBX does this. Ringcentral, 8x8 etc. You just download their softphone preconfigured and login, or use the web one.
  - secabeen 7y ago
    The problem is, all of these services upsell you on "unlimited" calls for $20/mo, when all you really make is $10/mo in calls. The profit that runs their business is right there.
    - toomuchtodo 7y ago
      Isn’t your time worth more than $10/hr?
      - secabeen 7y ago
        I don't understand what you're asking. Of course it is. If you just want cheap telephone service in your home, or even a somewhat featureful VOIP PBX for your 1-2 employee small business, then the cloud solutions are best. If your goal is to learn VOIP, or you have a larger business, you're now looking at $200+/month for 10+ users. That starts being real money. Even if it's just a personal setup, and it takes you say 4 hours to setup a per-minute voice setup, $10 less per month is $120/year, and a setup like this could easily last 3 years, now you're looking at $360 savings for 4 hours work. Not too bad at an hourly rate, and that's valuing the learning and fun of setting up such a system at $0.
- jvanveen 7y ago
  I've been working on a webbased (WebRTC) softphone with Asterisk PBX support. Just opensourced it(WIP): https://github.com/garage11/ca11 https://github.com/garage11/ca11
josecapurro 7y ago
Blink is an excellent softphone, too! http://icanblink.com/ http://icanblink.com/
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
ericcholis 7y ago
I'm currently evaluating this space for a mixed-use 100 employee company. We're an e-commerce company who deals with B2C customer service, B2C/B2B inside sales, and C2B where we purchase from the customer. We currently have a cloud-based PBX system that is okay-ish. No onsite hardware outside of Polycom phones. But, it's not very flexible. Our sales and service teams could benefit greatly from having access to customer data before picking up the call. Easier api-based access to call logs and recordings would be amazing as well. Tighter integration with other messaging channels would be great as well. Where I'm lost is making the leap from our traditional phone system to something better. Twilio Flex looks great, but I'm not sure if it's overkill. I admittedly haven't taken the time to understand the entire stack (SIP, softswitches, IP-PBX, etc..). Perhaps I'm missing something, but it feels like there's a gap in the market between the a la carte Twilio services and a traditional PBX.

57 points by amingilani 7y ago

jaboutboul 7y ago

Gotta love Rossman. A very atypical video series for him, yet still so enlightening.

amingilani 7y ago
I agree. I feel as though VoIP and phone system setup for small business isn't as popular as it should be. I for one am very interested in running a private SIP server for my home use on something like a Raspberry Pi.

Blackstone4 7y ago

Alternatively to connect the company, you could have a shared contact list synced up with Exchange or Gmail with everyone's numbers and use WhatsApp voice calling or if you are feeling generous give everyone an iPhone and use FaceTime Audio....boom that way you reduce setup time by immense amounts...

orev 7y ago
Some companies (the smart ones) don’t want to turn over all their internal data to giant companies who’s primary business model is to collect and sell data. Also, the solution you propose would be a nightmare to manage.
- Blackstone4 7y ago
  Does Microsoft collect and sell data for their Exchange product? It's just one option for a small business. If there's less than 10 of you, it would be an easy option with minimal fuss as along as you can have a couple of tech-savy admins. Agreed that when you get large it be harder to manage. To be honest, I felt like you read my comment and intrepreted it in the most critical way you could. For different situations there are different appropriate solutions. I was just mentioning a narrow use case. Horses for courses.

tapvt 7y ago

I’ve just built out a fairly complex PBX solution for a client using asterisk and Cisco SPA5xx series phones. I have to admit that, coming from a non-telephony dev background, there was a bit of a learning curve. Looking forward to watching this when time allows.

amingilani 7y ago
What did you use to bridge the knowledge gap? I've been trying to figure out Asterisk since I was a teenager, but never found a great resource. They used to call themselves Apache for telephone around that time, but since then, I've become a full-stack dev and I still don't understand Asterisk. I suppose It's probably because I haven't been giving it enough time, myself.
- orev 7y ago
  There is a LOT of terminology specific to phone stuff, and I find that to be half the battle. Just because phones currently kind of look like IT doesn’t mean they actually follow IT conventions. You’re taking a 100 year old technology and layering it on top of IT, so many of the assumptions IT people have don’t always apply.
- xorcist 7y ago
  I did a bit of consulting around Asterisk when it was younger and one of the strengths was how easy it was to get started. There's a bit of terminology to it, and the dialplan language is arcane to put it mildly, but it's all very straightfoward. The comparison with Apache is apt, with equivalents to CGI and everything. Bascially the best way to get started is to just install it and use asterisk.conf from the sample directory to get started (not the other files). You'll probably be running SIP to both your phones and your uplink so create a new sip.conf. Read the corresponding wiki page at voip-info.org for syntax, and look at the sample file for reference (it's way too complicated to use as-is). Then write a dialplan in extensions.conf. That's the description of how calls should be processed (something like "when a local phone dials 3xx, call a local phone by that name", "when a local phone dials a longer string, place an outgoing call"). Again, check the wiki and sample files for examples. Don't be put off by the language, which uses line numbers for code. That's enough to get started. The O'Reilly book is really, really good should you wish to invest in it. There are one-click installers and web interfaces available too, I haven't used those but they're probably better should you wish to have something more product-like. There's not as much small scale consulting work in the PBX space as it used to be since mobile phones took over. Most work is around call centers but it can still be challenging and fun.

N0RMAN 7y ago

Have a look at 3cx! Free for basic usage, great mobile apps and very easy deployments.

cimm 7y ago

As am Twilio as the backend with Linphone as softphone client to get started. Easy enough to set up and seems to work fine. Only problem is the lack of push notifications on iOS, inbound phone calls only work when Linphone is the foreground app. Android even has a build in SIP client.

HugoHobling 7y ago
If you want to pay $0.99 a month, Bria support push notification for SIP accounts on iOS.
_JamesA_ 7y ago
Acrobits Softphone[1] and Groundwire[2] support iOS push notifications. I have found they work much better than Bria[3]. [1]: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acrobits-softphone/id314192799 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acrobits-softphone/id314192799 [2]: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acrobits-groundwire/id378503081 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acrobits-groundwire/id37850308... [3]: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bria-mobile-voip-softphone/id1236194368 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bria-mobile-voip-softphone/id1...
- cimm 7y ago
  Thanks. Linephone does support push notifications, problem is I don't have a way to tell Twilio to send push notifications since it's not "their" mobile client. Any idea if you can send push notification to an iOS app that isn't yours? As in: Twilio receives a call, how does it (or my server) send a push notification to to, say, Groundwire?
  - _JamesA_ 7y ago
    Acrobits registers the SIP account(s) through their server when push notifications are enabled.
    - cimm 7y ago
      I tried Acrobits Softphone today and it works! Thanks for the help!

seomint 7y ago

Crosstalk Solutions also have an excellent YouTube series on how to install and configure FreePBX v14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTtql5lMeKk&list=PL1fn6oC5ndU8tezrQ1pnPSEpa_m0w8LOW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTtql5lMeKk&list=PL1fn6oC5nd...

mentos 7y ago

What existing startups have made this a one-click solution? Are there any?

travbrack 7y ago
You could argue that any cloud PBX does this. Ringcentral, 8x8 etc. You just download their softphone preconfigured and login, or use the web one.
- secabeen 7y ago
  The problem is, all of these services upsell you on "unlimited" calls for $20/mo, when all you really make is $10/mo in calls. The profit that runs their business is right there.
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    Isn’t your time worth more than $10/hr?
    - secabeen 7y ago
      I don't understand what you're asking. Of course it is. If you just want cheap telephone service in your home, or even a somewhat featureful VOIP PBX for your 1-2 employee small business, then the cloud solutions are best. If your goal is to learn VOIP, or you have a larger business, you're now looking at $200+/month for 10+ users. That starts being real money. Even if it's just a personal setup, and it takes you say 4 hours to setup a per-minute voice setup, $10 less per month is $120/year, and a setup like this could easily last 3 years, now you're looking at $360 savings for 4 hours work. Not too bad at an hourly rate, and that's valuing the learning and fun of setting up such a system at $0.
jvanveen 7y ago
I've been working on a webbased (WebRTC) softphone with Asterisk PBX support. Just opensourced it(WIP): https://github.com/garage11/ca11 https://github.com/garage11/ca11

josecapurro 7y ago

Blink is an excellent softphone, too! http://icanblink.com/ http://icanblink.com/

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

ericcholis 7y ago

I'm currently evaluating this space for a mixed-use 100 employee company. We're an e-commerce company who deals with B2C customer service, B2C/B2B inside sales, and C2B where we purchase from the customer. We currently have a cloud-based PBX system that is okay-ish. No onsite hardware outside of Polycom phones. But, it's not very flexible. Our sales and service teams could benefit greatly from having access to customer data before picking up the call. Easier api-based access to call logs and recordings would be amazing as well. Tighter integration with other messaging channels would be great as well. Where I'm lost is making the leap from our traditional phone system to something better. Twilio Flex looks great, but I'm not sure if it's overkill. I admittedly haven't taken the time to understand the entire stack (SIP, softswitches, IP-PBX, etc..). Perhaps I'm missing something, but it feels like there's a gap in the market between the a la carte Twilio services and a traditional PBX.