Just another success story. We've been using Trixbox 2.6.xx for years now with zero issues, hassles, or major problems.
Our "home office" :
One of the "interesting" install problems we faced was with the OpenVox A800P cards - they require a standard hard drive power connector (Molex 4-pin) and the 2U Dell we chose to use as a server didn't have ANY. Being a modularly constructed server, everything just snaps in and power (and data) is passed through Dell-proprietary connectors.
What we did to resolve the issue was to take apart the dual power supply "bridge" and solder 12 gauge, appropriately colored stranded wires and reassemble, and on the other end crimped on two Molex 4-pin connectors, one for each card. This has worked very well but of course the staff member who soldered this together has outstanding skills in this area.
In the field we have three Grandstream GXP2000 phones connecting through the public internet and internally we have three of the same phones, plus 37 Zultys 4x4 "Zip" phones, and one Grandstream GXP2000 + side car for operator/receptionist use. Older phones but they're reliable and work very well. All internal phones are powered by POE whereas the remote phones use those annoying little wall warts.
trixbox CE: 2.6.2.5
Kernel Version 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5 (SMP)
Distro Name CentOS release 5.5 (Final)
System: Dell PowerEdge 2940
Processors: 4
Model: Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 2.40GHz
CPU Speed : 2.39 GHz
Memory: 8gb
Storage: DELL PERC RAID5 (Direct-Access)
1: HITACHI DK32EJ-72NC (Direct-Access)
2: HITACHI DK32EJ-72NC (Direct-Access)
3: HITACHI DK32EJ-72NC (Direct-Access)
4: HITACHI DK32EJ-72NC (Direct-Access)
5: HITACHI DK32EJ-72NC (Direct-Access)
Controller 1: Openvox A800P - fxo, fxo, fxo, fxo, fxs, fxs, open, open
Controller 2: Openfox A800P - fxo, fxo, fxo, fxo, fxo, fxo, fxo, fxo
We also have a 12-person remote office that has the same version of Trixbox and the OS, but runs on different hardware. The server is a Dell SC1425 with 2gb of memory and a pair of mirrored 250GB sata drives. The card is also an A800P and again, required modification to the power supply to provide for the old-school Molex hard drive connector the board needs. This card has four FXO cards and one FXS card, and 12 Zultys 4x4 zip phones attach to it. The two servers are connected by the IAX2 protocol for direct "local" dialing of remote extensions, etc.
The FXS cards in both sites are for connection to a traditional fax machine. While Trixbox can be configured to handle outbound and inbound faxes we struggled to get the inbound to route to intended individuals and instead, were stuck with a centralized mailbox to receive faxes. This, for us at least, created a potential privacy issue as some faxes are not intended for everyone to read (management, HR, Legal, etc). While old-school fax machines are annoying, they do work and everyone is comfortable with it.
The thing we like about Trixbox CE is that it's PC based - which for us saved us dollars throughout the year as we no longer have to maintain through a vendor a traditional PBX system, with proprietary phones. Now when hardware breaks (and it's inevitable as you know), one can cobble together parts or maybe even a complete server, move everything over and install Trixbox, then restore last night's backup of the scripts and sql database, and you're back up and running.
This benefit is in addition to the savings realized by leveraging flat-rate phone service from whichever provider you choose.
In a world where communication is "critical", mean time to repair is an important factor. Having a plethora of "computer guys/gals" makes a Trixbox solution easier/faster to repair than a traditional PBX system.
Member Since:
2009-04-04