I'm new to this forum and would like to start off by introducing myself and asking for some guidance. My name is Fima and I work for a small biotech company in the Los Angeles area.
We've been using a Cudatel IP PBX and about 80 Polycom IP335/650 phones for five years. Over this time I've become a proficient Cudatel admin. Now that the platform is no longer supported by Barracuda, I am considering alternatives to move to. I've looked at multiple alternatives: FreePBX, FreeSwitch, 3CX, RingCentral, both hosted and on-premises. I did a 5-year total cost of ownership (TCO) comparison. My numbers show that a self-managed platform would run about 1/2 the cost of a cloud-hosted PBX and 1/4 of the cost of a cloud service such as Ring Central, and that’s at 80 extensions. This translates to many thousands of dollars of savings for the company.
In searching for a new platform we could deploy on premises, I favored FreeSwitch since it is what Cudatel was based on and I wanted a GUI based front end, so that it would be easier to manage. I decided to start with FusionPBX which looked interesting. I installed FusionPBX on a VMware ESXi VM and started by configuring a few extensions. I was hoping that the going would be smoother, but there seems to be a bit of a learning curve here. And that is what brings me to this forum.
In order to save time and get to a solution quicker, I was hoping to find an expert in FusionPBX to work with to:
1) configure my FusionPBX to match my current Cudatel configuration
2) learn how to set up and configure the system
3) come up with alternative solutions for items that can’t be done on this platform
Here is a rough list of our current configuration needs that are currently being used on the Cudatel:
- Configure outbound dial plans
10 & 11 digits, 9 plus 10 & 11 digits, international
- Configure inbound DIDs and extensions where they terminate
Currently about 40 DIDs
- Configure SIP trunking
Currently working with Flowroute
- Configure Cudatel IP335, IP550, IP650 IP phones
Multiple extensions on different buttons
Shared extensions
Extension monitoring
- Configure time-of-day and day-of-week and failover incoming call routing
Different routings for different numbers
M-F 8-5 route calls to receptionist, after hours route calls to call-center
If call is not answered in so many rings, route the call to a voicemail or cell phone
- Configure IVR
Set up a different IVR tree for certain incoming numbers (main, support)
Load recorded WAV or MP3 files
- Configure Voicemail
Activate each user’s voicemail and set password
Set up voicemail recording to be forwarded as MP3 to user’s email
- Configure Inbound Fax to email
- Configure music on hold
- Set up call group for support team
Multiple phones ring at same time until first person picks up call
- Set up ability to park and pick up calls
- Set up conference bridges
Ability to set up multiple bridges each with internal ext, DID, and passcode
- Configure certain extension to forward to cell phone
All times or no answer or busy or time of day
- Reports
Usage statistics, CDRs
Any leads to accomplish what I outlined would be much appreciated. My apologies for a really long and detailed first post and if I have inadvertently broken some forum protocol, please let me know so that I can correct it. Thanks.
We've been using a Cudatel IP PBX and about 80 Polycom IP335/650 phones for five years. Over this time I've become a proficient Cudatel admin. Now that the platform is no longer supported by Barracuda, I am considering alternatives to move to. I've looked at multiple alternatives: FreePBX, FreeSwitch, 3CX, RingCentral, both hosted and on-premises. I did a 5-year total cost of ownership (TCO) comparison. My numbers show that a self-managed platform would run about 1/2 the cost of a cloud-hosted PBX and 1/4 of the cost of a cloud service such as Ring Central, and that’s at 80 extensions. This translates to many thousands of dollars of savings for the company.
In searching for a new platform we could deploy on premises, I favored FreeSwitch since it is what Cudatel was based on and I wanted a GUI based front end, so that it would be easier to manage. I decided to start with FusionPBX which looked interesting. I installed FusionPBX on a VMware ESXi VM and started by configuring a few extensions. I was hoping that the going would be smoother, but there seems to be a bit of a learning curve here. And that is what brings me to this forum.
In order to save time and get to a solution quicker, I was hoping to find an expert in FusionPBX to work with to:
1) configure my FusionPBX to match my current Cudatel configuration
2) learn how to set up and configure the system
3) come up with alternative solutions for items that can’t be done on this platform
Here is a rough list of our current configuration needs that are currently being used on the Cudatel:
- Configure outbound dial plans
10 & 11 digits, 9 plus 10 & 11 digits, international
- Configure inbound DIDs and extensions where they terminate
Currently about 40 DIDs
- Configure SIP trunking
Currently working with Flowroute
- Configure Cudatel IP335, IP550, IP650 IP phones
Multiple extensions on different buttons
Shared extensions
Extension monitoring
- Configure time-of-day and day-of-week and failover incoming call routing
Different routings for different numbers
M-F 8-5 route calls to receptionist, after hours route calls to call-center
If call is not answered in so many rings, route the call to a voicemail or cell phone
- Configure IVR
Set up a different IVR tree for certain incoming numbers (main, support)
Load recorded WAV or MP3 files
- Configure Voicemail
Activate each user’s voicemail and set password
Set up voicemail recording to be forwarded as MP3 to user’s email
- Configure Inbound Fax to email
- Configure music on hold
- Set up call group for support team
Multiple phones ring at same time until first person picks up call
- Set up ability to park and pick up calls
- Set up conference bridges
Ability to set up multiple bridges each with internal ext, DID, and passcode
- Configure certain extension to forward to cell phone
All times or no answer or busy or time of day
- Reports
Usage statistics, CDRs
Any leads to accomplish what I outlined would be much appreciated. My apologies for a really long and detailed first post and if I have inadvertently broken some forum protocol, please let me know so that I can correct it. Thanks.
