Features and Benefits | Future Development | Typical Configurations | Architecture | Product Specifications

It is an easy to install and configure PBX software platform that is fully supported by our telephony hardware. It is suitable for small to medium businesses (SMB) that require a sophisticated phone system usually found in larger enterprises but without the price tag!

OpenPBX harnesses the ease of use and efficiency of the desktop PC and combines it with the plain old telephone handset to give you advanced features and the ultimate control and use of your communication system.

Whether you need to connect to primary rate (E1/T1) trunk lines or to standard POTS lines, Voicetronix has suitable line interface hardware.

Our OpenPBX Do-it-Yourself (DIY) option offers customers the ability to build their own phone system using commodity PC servers running Linux and analogue telephone handsets.

A simple and intuitive web based desktop manager allows you with a click of the mouse to easily:

1. Configure and maintain your own phone system, eliminating the need for a technician.
2. Use your web browser to navigate, select and listen to voicemail messages, instead of hard to use #* telephone button menus found on other voicemail systems.
3. Dial out using a phone book on your web browser, just like the phone book on your mobile phone.



Advanced Features are Standard - NOT Expensive Options!

Auto-attendant (eg. Press 1 for sales, 2 for support...) and voicemail are standard features allowing companies to present a professional image without expensive options breaking their budget. Also available is a highly configurable hierarchial Auto-attendant that offers multiple levels if required.

Other practical feature options enable you to use the system to:

1. Direct voice messages to email - listen to your voicemail messages using your desktop PC, or on your laptop while away from the office.
2. Record your own music on hold files as a marketing tool to increase customer awareness.
3. Effectively identify incoming calls and gain staff efficiency.
4. Control your communications costs.
5. Monitor and log calls to be used as training aids for improving customer service.



Freedom of Choice equates to a Lower Cost of Ownership!

We have taken the proprietary out of the phone system. This relieves you of having to be tied into expensive:

1. Installation, maintenance and upgrade contracts.
2. Proprietary handsets - OpenPBX supports regular analogue telephones.
3. Optional extras.



FEATURES

BENEFITS




Hierarchal (multi-level) Auto-Attendant.	Streamline customer service by managing incoming calls. Ensure caller gets to speak to the appropriate party the first time. Save time and money by not needing a dedicated receptionist. After hours, weekend and holiday menus available.
Unlimited Voicemail.	Never miss an important message from a caller because you could not be reached on the phone. No limit on the number of voicemail messages or "hours" of storage.
Flexible Music on Hold	Use the caller waiting time for promotional messages or simply provide the background music of your choice. Add and remove music on hold messages (e.g. "today's special is") with a few clicks using your web browser.
Web based user interface.	Use the power of your desktop web browser to: Save time in accessing voicemail and other advanced features. Easily change or set up phone system configurations. No need to remember crazy sequences like "*#123" to access your voicemail. Why should voicemail be any harder to use than email?
Direct connection to the internet or Office LAN.	Integrate the phone system with your computer network. Enables you to access, maintain and configure your phone system remotely using any PC with a web browser.
Scalable.	Voicetronix hardware allows OpenPBX to scale from 4 trunk lines and 4 stations to 60 trunk lines and 60 stations using multiple PC servers. Your phone system can grow as your business grows.
Unlimited Hunt groups.	Provides a simple way to share departmental functions, for example a group of extensions can be put in the "Sales" group. Then any incoming call will "hunt" through the sales group until a free extension is found. There is no limit on the number of groups or extensions in each group.
Parking.	Provides the flexibility to place calls on hold on one handset and recalling them from another handset at a different location. Blind and non-blind transfers are standard. Option to transfer to a person's voicemail box is also available.
Screen incoming calls whether internal or external via Caller-Id.	Calling party's number or name can be displayed on analogue handset that has an LCD display. This feature is implemented on inexpensive analogue Caller ID phones - no need for expensive proprietary handsets.
Least Cost Routing (LCR).	Reduce communications costs by routing calls to the cheapest carrier available.
Call Display Records (CDR).	Call information can be easily extracted from OpenPBX and used in reports to track call usage and patterns and manage resources more effectively.
Call baring.	Stop unauthorised outbound communications and reduce communications costs.
Easily upgradable via software	Future proof your investment. Most new features (eg. VOIP trunking, IP handset support) can be delivered with a software upgrade. Note: It will depend though on the Voicetronix hardware having support for the new features.




With OpenPBX we have strived to only add features that will make your phone system easy to use and help your business provide better and more efficient customer service. We want our PBX software to provide a positive impact to your business, not burden your users with endless lists of features that will probably never be used!




FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Our next generation OpenPBX application is currently in the works supporting both traditional fixed line and IP telephony services and equipment. This is being developed in conjunction with our next generation telephony platform that is specifically designed for VOIP communications. Contact us if you would like more information on this!




TYPICAL CONFIGURATIONS

In building your OpenPBX solution you need to consider the following:

1. What type of PSTN service will it connect to (ie Primary rate E1/T1 ISDN or POTS lines)?
2. How many analogue handsets will be required?
3. Which PBX features will be required?

Then all you need is a PC server running Linux, appropriate Voicetronix hardware that satisfy the above-mentioned considerations and the OpenPBX software application!

If the DIY option is not for you then contact sales for a pre-configured or custom solution.

Small business hybrid PBX system supporting analogue handsets. Take a PC server running Linux and install the appropriate Voicetronix cards (ie. Telephony server). Connect the card's FXS ports to the analogue handsets (and/or fax machine) and the FXO ports to the telco trunk lines (PSTN). Note: Digital handsets usually found in legacy keyed telephone systems (KTS) are not supported.






OPENPBX ARCHITECTURE

A block diagram illustrating the main building blocks of our OpenPBX software application is presented below.



The OpenPBX application is written entirely in Perl. It communicates with our telephony hardware via our internally developed CT server middle-ware. The code is very compact, only 1000 lines of Perl code are required for the basic PBX functionality. This made development extremely rapid, compared to using traditional approaches like C/C++. It also means the application can be very easily extended and customized, for example add a custom ACD or IVR menu with a small amount of Perl code.




PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS




System channel capacity
For standard PC server configurations		The number of channels is ultimately limited by the number of PCI express slots available on your server that can be used to install telephony cards.
Analogue trunk lines or stations		4 to 6 OpenPCI-8LS cards (up to 64 POTS lines).
Primary rate lines		4 to 6 OpenPRI Octal port cards (48 E1/T1 or J1 lines - up to 1440 B channels).
System Performance
For standard PC server configurations		The primary constraint and key to performance for high density switching with call recording enabled is ensuring sufficient disk bandwidth for the maximum number of simultaneous calls that may occur.
Calls recorded per minute		4000
Telephony Interfaces supported by OpenPBX
Trunk Interface		Digital and analogue network interface.
Digital Trunk Types		E1/T1 or J1 ISDN.
Analogue Trunk Types		Loop-start and station.
Voicetronix telephony cards supported by OpenPBX
E1/T1 ISDN lines		OpenPRI cards.
Stations		OpenPCI-4S, 8S, 8LS.
POTS lines		OpenPCI-4L, 8L, 8LS.