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marksat
join:2013-02-13
Miami, FL

marksat

Member

Free hosted/virtual/cloud based PBX services

Hi, I'm using pbxes.org as a hosted pbx. Service has been a-okay, but I'd like a backup plan.

What other free hosted pbx solutions are out there? I've been googling, but haven't found anything even similar to pbxes.org.
marksat

marksat

Member

Seems I found a list on here. I'll extract out the "free" ones.

»/forum ··· 15568032

Gershom 1624
@optonline.net

Gershom 1624

Anon

said by marksat:

Seems I found a list on here. I'll extract out the "free" ones.

You have made two mistakes.

1) That's mainly just a list of VoIP providers, not of free PBX services.

2) The list is from several years ago and is almost totally obsolete.
voipjunk
join:2004-08-07
Spring Hill, FL

voipjunk to marksat

Member

to marksat
Try Sonetel
marksat
join:2013-02-13
Miami, FL

marksat to Gershom 1624

Member

to Gershom 1624
Yes, you are right, it is useless. Okay, can you add any value to this thread?
conwaytwt
Premium Member
join:2004-04-09
Conway, AR

conwaytwt to marksat

Premium Member

to marksat
How about setting up an old PC or a $35 Raspberry Pi computer as a PBX? Then it's under your control and no extra expense to unlock all the features. Lots of info at »nerdvittles.com/
marksat
join:2013-02-13
Miami, FL

marksat to voipjunk

Member

to voipjunk
said by voipjunk:

Try Sonetel

Thanks for the thought, and it is truly inexpensive. I was actually looking for a free solution though.

Gershom 1624
@optonline.net

Gershom 1624 to marksat

Anon

to marksat
said by marksat:

Okay, can you add any value to this thread?

I agree with the comments made by [conwaytwt] and by [voipjunk].

However, I always found Sonetel very tedious.

Some limited free services may be available from Anveo.

But overall, free services are much harder to come by these days.

Your [pbxes.org] is a rare quantity.

Previously you could have used Voxalot (free or paid) but they are gone....

Phonebooth Free offers a few services, but unlike the paid version of Phonebooth, they have a waiting list now.

Build your own, or get a basic paid service. Either way, you'll spend a few bucks a month....
marksat
join:2013-02-13
Miami, FL

marksat to conwaytwt

Member

to conwaytwt
said by conwaytwt:

How about setting up an old PC or a $35 Raspberry Pi computer as a PBX? Then it's under your control and no extra expense to unlock all the features. Lots of info at »nerdvittles.com/

Good thought -- and yes, I did throw an Asterisk instance up. (Not on a raspberry, just on a pc.) Easy stuff, too, and works great and is more flexible than the hosted solutions I've seen. I've also read how to put instances on Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).

Your suggestion might be a super plan, too. The reason I wanted to push it to the cloud is for disaster situations. Business burns down (yeah, I know, the business has bigger problems if there is a fire, right?), internet goes out, whatever might happen, telephones would still work.

Also, I've noticed that small businesses in general just don't seem receptive to having a machine on site doing their telephone. I'm not even sure why.

I suppose I could throw an instance up at my business and host the system at my site. Then of course comes all the disaster recovery/business continuity planning associated with hosting a phone system at my place.

So my question becomes, is pbxes.org the only free hosted pbx solution out there?
grand total
join:2005-10-26
Mississauga
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grand total

Member

said by marksat:

The reason I wanted to push it to the cloud is for disaster situations. Business burns down (yeah, I know, the business has bigger problems if there is a fire, right?), internet goes out, whatever might happen, telephones would still work.

IP phones won't work if your internet goes out if your PBX is in the cloud or not.
Stewart
join:2005-07-13

Stewart to marksat

Member

to marksat
If your total usage fits in a PBXes free plan (less than 2000 minutes per month), then IMO you probably don't need a PBX and should instead look at providers that include PBX features with their service, such as VoIP.ms or Anveo.

Alternatively, you might have a not-very-reliable PBX (your own, cheap VPS provider, etc.), but have your incoming number(s) with a provider that has a failover feature (most do). If your PBX does not respond, calls will be routed to e.g. your cell phone.
marksat
join:2013-02-13
Miami, FL

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Member

to grand total
said by grand total:

said by marksat:

The reason I wanted to push it to the cloud is for disaster situations. Business burns down (yeah, I know, the business has bigger problems if there is a fire, right?), internet goes out, whatever might happen, telephones would still work.

IP phones won't work if your internet goes out if your PBX is in the cloud or not.

ip phones that are not attached to the ip infrastructure at the building do, though. So for example using a sip phone on a cell data plan works while the building is going up in flames.