PBX with Line Presence like Cisco
Posted by Fireguy9641@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 17 comments
Hello
I've got to do something about my Cisco Communications Manager Express 7 system. It's so old that I'm now having problems with the Voicemail to Email and passwords working with SMTP services.
We have 10 phones, and the number 1 feature that people love is Cisco's line presence feature where I can put a line button for each line, and when we get a call, it rings, and if people need to put it on hold, they press the hold button, and them to pick up, just press the red button.
We tried using FreePBX in the past but people hated the call parking features and the extra steps involved.
I've looked at Cisco but it seems we missed the mark and we'd need to pay thousands in licensing fees now.
I'm good with our existing trunk, but I'm striking out with hardware.
MyTechAccount90210@reddit
You're talking about two different functions. Call parking as you said is for moving stations. Phones on freepbx still have a hold button.... But you can only pickup on the station in which you pushed hold. So as long as you're going back to the same phone, hold works fine. You can also customize call parking to auto assign and listen to the space number..... Or you can set up blf keys on your phone where you only have to push transfer and an open blf key assigned to a parking spot. So clarify your need because there's two functions, neither of which are that big of a deal.
Fireguy9641@reddit (OP)
Sorry about that. Call park is the issue we ran into that people didn't like.
We are a volunteer fire company, so if a member answers the phone in the kitchen, an officer in the watch room would need to be be able to pick up the call. That is why we love the Cisco functionality, they can just hit hold, and the person in the officer's room hits the line button.
I tried setting up FreePBX with a button that was "XFer to Hold" but people hated it and we ended up going to the Cisco system but now we are in a rock and hard place with the age of the system and cost to upgrade.
simplydrew@reddit
What phone models are you using? Since this is CME, I imagine it must be 79xx’s. Are they SCCP?
If so , there’s a long developed module for Asterisk/FreePBX called Chan-SCCP that should 1:1 mimic the functionality you’re looking for here. But given the age of those phone types, it’s up to you on the move.
There’s a patch first Asterisk for 88xx Cisco phones that should give you call pickup functionality that would accomplish the same as well.
Fireguy9641@reddit (OP)
7965s and 7975s. Yes SCCP.
The phones work well, and there's plenty of them online. Our members are quite happy with the phones themselves, there's no demand for anything like touch screens or video calling or any kind of modern features like that.
I'll look into Chan-SCCP. that might work for what we want.
simplydrew@reddit
Give Chan-SCCP a spin on a test FreePBX box. It’s easy to get going, no Asterisk patching needed, and is a few simple config files. I think it’ll wind up doing what you want.
Fireguy9641@reddit (OP)
I have to say after two days, I am so lost with Chan-SCCP I don't even know where to begin. I installed FreePBX17 but none of the binaires Chan-SCCP provides match the versions of Astrick and FreePBX installed.
I tried looking at the older versions and none of them match up. It's either the wrong version of Linux or the wrong version of Astrick.
Then when I try to compile it, it asks me to configure it, I'm not a Linux person, I have no idea what I'm doing.
MyTechAccount90210@reddit
What are your trunks? I wonder if you could emulate that through programming if you have a dhadi card for analog or pri.
All that said, life changes ..... Hold on a phone isn't a big enough problem to hem and haw about. I'm literally transitioning retail stores to this style of holding calls and it's not really an issue with anyone. If they're truly bitching about it, they're being queens.
Fireguy9641@reddit (OP)
We have Comcast Buisness, 2 lines, analog connection to our system.
I know that life changes, but unfortunately, there's a lot of politics involved, and when I tried to move the marker, it failed, so I pretty much need to work within the guidelines of keeping the phone system functionality the members like.
Slivvys@reddit
Switch to 3cx, also supports line presence
Tech-Monger@reddit
Agree switch to 3CX, very nicely priced and can be ran in the cloud or on prem. Or a hybrid with SBC's
Full functions, I have installed it in over 10 new small hospitals and half a dozen clinics.
Brilliant-Advisor958@reddit
Do you host your own smtp server?
We have one internally for legacy apps and devices that is permitted to forward to o365.
It only accepts connections from specific hosts and our firewall only allows smtp from that smtp relay.
Fireguy9641@reddit (OP)
We don't. We use O365 and Brevo for mass mailing. We had been using Brevo's SMTP Relay without issue until 2 weeks ago using the master username and password.
I am looking at hosting an SMTP relay on our server as a backup.
clintvs@reddit
Have a look at 3CX
MrBr1an1204@reddit
Perhaps I don't understand, but with most any phone system, when you get a call you can press the hold key when the call comes in, and then pick up the call after that. Currently using Poly Phones with 8x8.
Brilliant-Advisor958@reddit
Call parking let's you put a call on hold and anyone can pick it up if they know/have the specific park button or the line number it's parked on.
Used for places where anyone in that department can handle the call or in out case someone out on the shop floor. It will time out after a bit and go back to reception.
QPC414@reddit
Having each or most outside POTS/Analog lines have a button appearance on phones is traditionally called a Key System, or Key System mode/functionality. Most small/medium (200 extensions or less) phone systems manufactured in the past 30 years can do that, even VOIP ones when configured to do so.
I would get off that CME ASAP!!1 I have one customer with CME 9 and that system keeps having to rebuilt and restored from backup when the power goes out because everything gets corrupted. I expect it to be dead some time this winter.
Capt91@reddit
At that size just keep looking at cloud pbxs until you find the right features, support and price. Maybe Avaya IPO but if you don't have the expertise with it already pretty risky to get into Avaya.
Keep in mind any upgrade or change to a modern pbx is going to require you to be NG911 law compliant so you should factor that in as well.