Home » Technology
Category Archives: Technology
The Most Versatile VoIP Provider: FREE PORTING
JUST RELEASED: Visit the Incredible PBX WikiIntroducing Incredible PBX 2025 with Asterisk 22 and FreePBX 17
We’re two weeks late, but here’s a belated Happy New Year 2025 with an all-new Incredible PBX release. And we’re two days early celebrating the 20th birthday of Nerd Vittles. The good news is the hits keep coming thanks again to the yeoman’s work of Joe McConnaughey, aka @kenn10. The new Incredible PBX 2025 offering incorporates the latest releases of Asterisk® and FreePBX®. Better yet, it offers a choice of Linux platforms including Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and Debian 12. While the choice is yours to make, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is a platform no-brainer for us because it provides up to 12 years of support from Canonical with their Ubuntu Pro Expanded Security Maintenance (extra 5 years) and Ubuntu Pro Legacy Support (extra 2 years). That gets you to 2037 assuming Asterisk and FreePBX make it that long.
We used to recommend dedicated hardware as the platform of choice for Incredible PBX deployments, but we’ve had a change of heart as virtual machine platforms now provide equivalent performance with a much easier methodology for backing up critical data with a couple of button clicks. In future weeks, we’ll introduce you to the latest and greatest Proxmox 8. But let’s get started today with the latest release of Incredible PBX 2025 using dedicated hardware. Then you can rebuild on the Proxmox platform after school begins again next week.
To begin, download the Ubuntu 24.04 ISO to your desktop. If you haven’t previously installed it, download and install Etcher to your desktop as well. Next, using a 4GB or larger USB flash drive, use the Etcher application to burn the Ubuntu 24.04 ISO image to the USB drive.
On the computer you will be using as your Incredible PBX 2025 platform, boot the x86 machine and reconfigure the BIOS. Set the initial startup sequence to boot from a USB drive in legacy mode. Now insert your new Ubuntu 24.04 flash drive and reboot. Follow the traditional Ubuntu installation scenario. Choose Install Ubuntu Server to begin. Choose your Language and Keyboard Layout. Select Ubuntu Server (minimized). Configure a IPv4 Network Interface. Leave the Proxy Address blank. Accept the Ubuntu Archive Mirror default. Deselect the LVM Disk option. Accept the Default Storage Configuration. Create a nerd user with a password of your choice, and enter ubuntu as the server name.. Skip the Ubuntu Pro upgrade option. Enable the OpenSSH Server install option. Skip enabling any Ubuntu Feature Snaps. Wait for the install to complete and then choose Reboot Now. Remove the USB flash drive as the reboot begins, and the server will boot into Ubuntu 24.04.
Login to your new server as nerd. Issue the following commands to reset Ubuntu for management from the root user account by assigning a new root password:
sudo passwd root logout
Log back into your server as root and issue the following commands to permit SSH access as the root user at the IPv4 address shown:
ip a sed -i 's|#PermitRootLogin prohibit-password|PermitRootLogin yes|' /etc/ssh/sshd_config systemctl restart ssh logout
Using SSH or Putty from your desktop, log back into your new Ubuntu server as root at the IPv4 address revealed above. Issue the following commands to kick off the Incredible PBX 2025 install:
apt install wget tar nano -y wget http://incrediblepbx.com/IncrediblePBX2025.sh chmod +x IncrediblePBX2025.sh ./IncrediblePBX2025.sh
If you need text-to-speech (TTS) support for Incredible PBX 2025, follow this installation tutorial and then go here to sign up for service.
If you’d like to run Incredible PBX 2025 on a Raspberry Pi 5, follow this tutorial.
Originally published: Friday, January 17, 2025
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
Introducing Incredible PBX 2024 with Asterisk 21 and FreePBX 17
We don’t often celebrate New Year’s Day in August, but 2024 is different. And the hits keep coming thanks to the yeoman’s work of Joe McConnaughey, aka @kenn10. We finally have a new Incredible PBX 2024 offering that incorporates the latest releases of Asterisk® and FreePBX®. Better yet, it offers a choice of Linux platforms including Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and Debian 12. While the choice is yours to make, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is a platform no-brainer for us because it provides up to 12 years of support from Canonical with their Ubuntu Pro Expanded Security Maintenance (extra 5 years) and Ubuntu Pro Legacy Support (extra 2 years). That gets you to 2036 assuming Asterisk and FreePBX make it that long.
We used to recommend dedicated hardware as the platform of choice for Incredible PBX deployments, but we’ve had a change of heart as virtual machine platforms now provide equivalent performance with a much easier methodology for backing up critical data with a couple of button clicks. In future weeks, we’ll introduce you to the latest and greatest Proxmox 8. But let’s get started today with the latest release of Incredible PBX 2024 using dedicated hardware. Then you can rebuild on the Proxmox platform after school begins in the fall.
To begin, download the Ubuntu 24.04 ISO to your desktop. If you haven’t previously installed it, download and install Etcher to your desktop as well. Next, using a 4GB or larger USB flash drive, use the Etcher application to burn the Ubuntu 24.04 ISO image to the USB drive.
On the computer you will be using as your Incredible PBX 2024 platform, boot the x86 machine and reconfigure the BIOS. Set the initial startup sequence to boot from a USB drive in legacy mode. Now insert your new Ubuntu 24.04 flash drive and reboot. Follow the traditional Ubuntu installation scenario. Choose Install Ubuntu Server to begin. Choose your Language and Keyboard Layout. Select Ubuntu Server (minimized). Configure a IPv4 Network Interface. Leave the Proxy Address blank. Accept the Ubuntu Archive Mirror default. Deselect the LVM Disk option. Accept the Default Storage Configuration. Create a nerd user with a password of your choice, and enter ubuntu as the server name.. Skip the Ubuntu Pro upgrade option. Enable the OpenSSH Server install option. Skip enabling any Ubuntu Feature Snaps. Wait for the install to complete and then choose Reboot Now. Remove the USB flash drive as the reboot begins, and the server will boot into Ubuntu 24.04.
Login to your new server as nerd. Issue the following commands to reset Ubuntu for management from the root user account by assigning a new root password:
sudo passwd root logout
Log back into your server as root and issue the following commands to permit SSH access as the root user at the IPv4 address shown:
ip a sed -i 's|#PermitRootLogin prohibit-password|PermitRootLogin yes|' /etc/ssh/sshd_config systemctl restart ssh logout
Using SSH or Putty from your desktop, log back into your new Ubuntu server as root at the IPv4 address revealed above. Issue the following commands to kick off the Incredible PBX 2024 install:
apt install wget tar nano -y wget http://incrediblepbx.com/IncrediblePBX2024.sh chmod +x IncrediblePBX2024.sh ./IncrediblePBX2024.sh
If you need text-to-speech (TTS) support for Incredible PBX 2024, follow this installation tutorial and then go here to sign up for service.
If you’d like to run Incredible PBX 2024 on a Raspberry Pi 5, follow this tutorial.
Originally published: Monday, August 19, 2024
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
Incredible VMware Deal: Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro Free for Personal Use
In case you missed it, Broadcom purchased VMware® from Dell in late 2023 for $61 billion. While pricing for commercial licenses went up, the good news for hobbyists is that Broadcom immediately rebranded VMware Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro for Macs as free offerings for personal use. While open source virtual machine platforms have dominated the marketplace over the past few years, if you fall into the personal use group, then this is a deal you can’t refuse. That’s not to say that VMware doesn’t have its fair share of quirks, but once you get past the installation process, VMware is a rock-solid virtualization platform.
While Proxmox remains our virtualization platform of choice for Linux, today we’ll walk you through getting VMware running on your Windows 11 or Mac desktop. One word of caution. There are three different installation procedures for Windows 11, x86 Macs, and ARM-based Macs. Be sure you use the correct procedure for your actual desktop computer.
With all three platforms, you’ll first need to sign up for a Broadcom account here. Once you’re registered, log into your new Broadcom account by clicking on the Login button. Then follow the applicable tutorial below to install Incredible PBX 2027 with Ubuntu® 22.04, Asterisk® 20, and FreePBX® 16. When finished, hop over to our Incredible PBX 2027-U tutorial for setup tips.
Installing VMware Workstation Pro with Windows 11
For Windows 11, install VMware Workstation Pro 17 for Personal Use (Windows) from here after logging into your Broadcom account.
1. Download this Incredible PBX 2027-U-VMware.ova image into Downloads
2. From your Downloads folder, right-click on the IncrediblePBX2027-U-VMware.ova file, click Open With, choose VMware Workstation
3. Give the virtual machine a name: IncrediblePBX2027-U, Accept default Storage Path, click Import
4. Click on the new VM in left sidebar and Click Power On
5. Login as root:password and press Ctrl-C at first prompt
6. Edit /etc/netplan/00* and add the following below the dhcp4 line:
dhcp-identifier: mac. Then save the file.
7. Issue the following commands:
echo -n > /etc/machine-id rm /var/lib/dbus/machine-id ln -s /etc/machine-id /var/lib/dbus/machine-id
8. Reboot and proceed with the normal installation scenario after logging back in
Installing VMware Fusion Pro on x86 Mac Desktops
For x86-based Macs, begin by downloading Fusion 13 Pro for Personal Use. Start it up on your x86 Mac desktop and then…
1. Download the Incredible PBX 2027-U zip file from this link
2. Unzip the file and switch to the unzipped directory
3. Right click the disk-1.vmdk file and open it using the VMware Fusion Pro app
4. Create a new VM specifying Linux -> Ubuntu-64bit as the platform
5. Choose Legacy BIOS and for the disk to use, Use Existing Disk, Take Disk Away and specify the disk-1.vmdk file above
6. Click Continue, Finish, and Save. When the VM is loaded, do not start it yet. If it starts, type halt to stop it.
7. Click Window, Virtual Machine Library, right-click on your VM, and choose Settings
8. For Network Adapter, choose Bridged Network -> Autodetect
9. For Hard Disk, click Advanced Options and then…
10. Check Pre-allocate Disk Space (this will keep the drive from loading as read only). Click Apply
11. After reconfig completes, start up the VM and press Ctrl-C at the first prompt after logging in as root:password
12. Enter the command: ip a
13. Write down the name associated with the network adapter, e.g. ens33
14. Edit /etc/netplan/00*
15. Replace the existing network adapter name (e.g. ens160) with your actual adapter name (e.g. ens33)
16. Add the following below the dhcp4 line: dhcp-identifier: mac. Then save the file.
17. Issue the following commands:
echo -n > /etc/machine-id rm /var/lib/dbus/machine-id ln -s /etc/machine-id /var/lib/dbus/machine-id
18. Issue command: sed -i "s|ens160|ens33|" /etc/default/knockd
19. Reboot and proceed with the normal installation scenario
Installing VMware Fusion Pro on ARM-Based Mac
For newer ARM-based Macs, begin by downloading Fusion 13 Pro for Personal Use. Start it up on your ARM-based Mac desktop and then…
1. In your Downloads folder, download iPBX2027U-ARM.tar.gz
2. Untar the file: tar zxvf iPBX2027U-ARM.tar.gz
3. Rename the untarred file to something unique. Be sure to preserve the .vmwarevm extension. Repeat steps #2 and #3 for each additional virtual machine you wish to create using unique file names each time.
4. Double-click on the .vmwarevm file that you untarred and renamed to start up the virtual machine in VMware Fusion..
5. Proceed with the standard Incredible PBX install procedure by following the prompts.
Originally published: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
Electric Vehicles 101: 2024 EV Buyers’ and Owners’ Guide
We’ve put this Electric Vehicle Guide together for those just getting their feet wet in the EV world. But we think you’ll find a few golden nuggets even if you’re a die hard EV owner like us. Our EV adventure began in 2016 with the purchase of a Tesla Model S with Full Self-Driving (FSD) after Elon Musk’s video was released showing his Tesla driving him to work hands-free and dropping him off at the front door of the office building before parking itself after waiting for pedestrians to cross the street. All fabrications as we would later learn. When our car unexpectedly died in the middle of nowhere leaving us stranded 200 miles from the nearest Tesla dealer, we sold it.
Lesson #1: Never buy any car that you can’t get fixed in a timely manner by a repair shop near where you live and/or frequently travel.
Following our Tesla debacle, we purchased a Jaguar I-Pace followed by a Tesla Model X, then a Kia EV6 and last week a Mustang Mach-E GT, Performance Edition. So we’ve been around the block (several times).
In our 7+ years of EV ownership, here are our take-aways.
Lesson #2: If you’re dead set on owning a Tesla, DO NOT PURCHASE FULL SELF-DRIVING. It was promised in 2016 and every year since. It’s not even close to working safely and reliably. In fact, I’m amazed it is still allowed on public streets. If you really want full self-driving, buy a GM product with Super Cruise or a Ford product with Blue Cruise. Both work flawlessly.
Lesson #3: Unless you have a way to charge your vehicle regularly at your home, don’t buy an EV. If you really still want to be part of the EV revolution, buy a hybrid (PHEV) that can keep itself charged. Using public charging facilities to keep your vehicle charged is not only time-consuming, but it’s also expensive. Pricing at most public EV chargers is almost as costly as gasoline, and a fill-up typically takes 40 to 60 minutes as opposed to 5 minutes at a gas pump.
Lesson #4: Avoid long road trips in an EV. It’s nerve-wracking, expensive, and time-consuming. A neighbor of ours in Florida drives his EV from Washington, D.C. to the beach and has to make five or six charging stops along the way. I’d sooner shoot myself. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to afford a second car, an EV makes an excellent, cost-saving, around-town car especially if you can charge it in your garage. For example, in Florida, charging in your garage costs roughly 5 cents per mile of charge. That’s less than one-third the cost of driving a typical gas-powered vehicle.
Lesson #5: We would never own another vehicle without Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Elon calls it Auto-Pilot on the Tesla. It’s available on virtually every modern vehicle for an extra charge. While it won’t drive you to your destination and still requires that you keep your hands on the wheel, the stress of driving is greatly reduced. Be advised that all LKA systems are not created equal. On a Tesla, the feature is an all or nothing deal. You cannot make minor steering corrections without first disengaging auto-pilot by yanking on the steering wheel. With the other vehicles we’ve owned including Audi, Nissan, Infiniti, Jaguar, Range Rover, and Mustang, you can make steering adjustments without disengaging LKA, a much safer approach.
Charging Your Electric Vehicle
There are three types of charging systems for EVs: Level 1, 2, and 3. Level 1 chargers can be used with any 120 volt, 20 amp A/C outlet and provide about 3-5 miles of charge for every hour of connection. Level 2 chargers are typically installed in garages or office building. They require a 240 volt, 50 or 60 amp connection and provide 20 to 25 miles of charge per hour. Level 3 chargers are expensive and are typically found at commercial charging stations such as Tesla Superchargers, Electrify America, EVgo, and many others. They can provide 50 to several hundred miles of charge per hour. Prices vary depending upon local costs of electricity as well as supply and demand. The two questions you should be asking are (1) where’s the nearest Level 3 charger to my current location when I have 20% of range left and (2) which chargers have the best pricing per kWh. Our favorite cellphone app to obtain this information is Chargeway. It can be configured to show Tesla Superchargers or CCS chargers or both with pricing and charge availability. Chargeway includes over 80,000 charging stations from over 40 networks throughout the US and Canada. Add your EV and it automatically shows stations that match your EV’s plug type and power levels as well as pricing and charge time estimates. Once you’ve identified your vehicle in the app, you can further refine the settings in the Filters option. We typically set Green (J1772/CCS) to 6 and 7, Blue (CHadeMO) to 7, and Red (Tesla/NACS) to 7 since Mustangs can use both CCS and Tesla V3+ Superchargers (with adapter).
Finding Information About Electric Vehicles
Our favorite source of news about EVs is Electrek.While the editor was originally a Tesla FanBoy, he has sobered up a bit since his Tesla tried to kill him a couple times. Another great source of information are the forums for Tesla, Rivian, and the Mach-E.
Current Deals on Electric Vehicles
Before you start shopping for an EV, you first may wish consider which electric vehicles current;y qualify for tax rebates. Also worth a careful review are which vehicles include free charging. Finally, it’s a good idea to check recent news articles documenting price reductions on particular EVs. For example, just last week Ford dramatically cut the prices on all 2023 Mach-E vehicles and brought back 0% financing. If you’re dead set on a Tesla, the best time to purchase is the last week of every quarter when Tesla is attempting to meet sales goals.
Something We’ve Missed?
If you’ve got a tip that we’ve overlooked, feel free to share it by leaving a comment below.
Introducing OSS Endpoint Manager for FreePBX 16 & Incredible PBX 2027
If you’ve been searching for a free, open source provisioning system for your SIP telephones and you’re using Incredible PBX 2027 or other FreePBX® 16 platforms, your prayers have been answered thanks to the hard work of Bill Simon. What this buys you (for free) is a quick way to configure SIP devices from most of the major players shown above including Aastra, AudioCodes, Cisco, Linksys, CloudTC, Digium, Grandstream, Intelbras, Mitel, Norphonic, Patton, Polycom, Snom, Thomson, Unidata, Xorcom, and Yealink.
To get started, log into FreePBX on your PBX platform and click on the Settings tab. If you see OSS Endpoint Manager as you will on most Incredible PBX 2027 installations, you can skip installing OSS Endpoint Manager and move on to the next step. Otherwise, here are the steps to install OSS EPM 16. Using SSH, log into your PBX as root and issue the following commands:
cd /var/www/html/admin/modules wget https://filedn.com/lBgbGypMOdDm8PWOoOiBR7j/OSS-EPM/ossepm16.tgz tar zxvf ossepm16.tgz fwconsole ma install endpointman rm -f /tmp/* fwconsole reload
Once you have OSS Endpoint Manager installed, return to the FreePBX GUI and open the application under the Settings tab. Read the reminder that you’re not using Sangoma’s commercial endpoint management product. Then click on the pull-down box in the right margin. Now let’s get the templates for the various SIP devices loaded onto your server.
- On the right pull-down, choose EndPoint Manager Settings.
- Adjust the entries as desired to set up your server as the host.
- For Package Server, enter: https://ossepm.incrediblepbx.com/
- Click in any other field to save your entries.
- On the right pull-down, choose Template Manager.
- Click the displayed link to download the latest templates from GitHub.
- On the right pull-down, choose Package Manager.
- Click Check for Updates.
- Click Install button beside each desired Brand.
The rest is a walk in the park. Plug in your SIP devices and perform the manufacturer’s steps to place the device in configuration mode. Insert the credentials to access OSS EPM on your PBX. Then sit back and enjoy the show.
Originally published: Thursday, February 1, 2024
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
5 Minute PBX With Any Virtual Machine
For those with an existing virtual machine platform either at home or at the office, today is your lucky day. We have an Incredible PBX image for VirtualBox, VMware, Proxmox, Windows WSL, Mac UTM, and Linux Containers LXC that will have an Asterisk® PBX with FreePBX® up and running in less than 5 minutes. If you’ve ever wanted to kick the tires on a fully-loaded, secure PBX that offers virtually every telephony feature on the planet, now’s your chance. And it’s FREE!
If you’d prefer to let someone else worry about hardware maintenance, networking, and power outages, we’ve even got an Incredible PBX offering in the Cloud that will only set you back $25 a year in your choice of locations: Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Germany, or The Netherlands. And that includes a free backup for a rainy day. Start here.
For those that are new to the open source community, finding free software is pretty easy. Finding good documentation to accompany it is more of a challenge. With Incredible PBX, you get both. My previous employer spent well over $150,000 for a PBX with less than half the features you’ll find in Incredible PBX out of the box. And you’ll never have to worry about upcharges every time you add a feature or an additional user or extension. Pick your free virtual machine platform below and enjoy the ride.
Incredible PBX 2027 for VirtualBox
For VirtualBox platforms, start by downloading the latest Incredible PBX 2027 .ova image from the Incredible PBX repository. You have a choice of operating systems: Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 11. Then read our VirtualBox tutorial for setup and usage tips.
Incredible PBX 2027 for VMware
For VMware, start by downloading the latest VMware image for Incredible PBX 2027 and Ubuntu 22.04. Then read our VMware tutorial for setup and usage tips.
Incredible PBX 2027 for Proxmox 7
Our Incredible PBX 2027-U for Proxmox 7 tutorial will walk you through setting up a Proxmox server and building Incredible PBX 2027 virtual machines with Ubuntu® 22.04, Asterisk® 20, and FreePBX® 16 in minutes using a powerful little MiniPC.
Incredible PBX 2027 for Windows 11 WSL
If you’re strapped for cash and simply want to use an existing Windows 11 computer as the virtual machine host for Incredible PBX, you have a couple of options. First, you can install VirtualBox on your machine and follow the VirtualBox tutorial above. Another options is to deploy Microsoft’s own virtual machine platform for Windows 11. It’s called Windows 11 Subsystem for Linux (WSL). You’ll find step-by-step install instructions in this Nerd Vittles tutorial.
Incredible PBX 2027 for Mac UTM
With Apple’s new, proprietary processors, the days of using VirtualBox on a Mac are over. But, fear not. Apple has introduced their own virtualization platform: Mac UTM. You’ll find step-by-step instructions to deploy both UTM and Incredible PBX in this Nerd Vittles tutorial. For older Intel-based Macs, you still can deploy Incredible PBX with VirtualBox.
Incredible PBX 2027 for Linux Containers LXC
For those of you that have kissed Windows and Mac desktops goodbye, there’s now a virtualization platform for Linux desktop computers as well. You’ll find our tutorial for Linux LXC Containers here. You won’t be disappointed.
Adding a $1 a Month Phone Number with Free Incoming Calls
Last, but not least, let us point you to two of the best deals on the planet when it comes to acquiring a telephone number for your PBX with free incoming calls. CallCentric offers $1 a month residential DID with free incoming SIP calls. And a similar deal is available from LocalPhone with up to 100 free incoming calls of unlimited duration every day. We use both services and have never experienced an outage in over 10 years.
Originally published: Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
A Cloud-Based Asterisk PBX: 0 to $5/Mo.
In our last post, we catalogued the various ways to deploy an Asterisk® PBX using existing Windows, Mac, or Linux desktop hardware. But that solution isn’t ideal for everyone especially if you’re looking for a cloud-based platform that provides redundancy and backups. So today we’ll introduce some cloud platform Asterisk solutions, at least one of which can be deployed in under five minutes.
Let’s begin with our personal favorite, CrownCloud. For $25 a year, you get a 5-minute install from an Incredible PBX snapshot in your choice of locations: Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Germany, or The Netherlands. You also get a free backup image. And, of course, you get the full complement of Incredible PBX utilities which set this deployment apart from all the other FreePBX® offerings.
It’s not every day that you get an opportunity to deploy an Incredible PBX® server on a cloud platform as robust as the one offered by Oracle®. And the fact that it won’t cost you a dime EVER makes this all the more appealing. This isn’t some bargain basement, crippled cloud platform with barely enough horsepower to get your server booted. Quite the contrary, this is an ARM-based Ubuntu 20.04 platform with 6GB of RAM, 45+ GB of storage, and a 1GB network pipe. The CPU capacity is equivalent to multiple physical cores of an Intel Xeon processor with hyper threading enabled. Read our step-by-step installation tutorial for deployment instructions. This install is best suited for those with some networking experience.
If you want a low cost Cloud solution that’s easy to deploy, you can’t beat RackNerd’s KVM Cloud platform for $12.98 a year which works out to just over $1 a month. The Incredible PBX 2027 tutorial for Ubuntu 22.04 will have you up and running in under an hour with the latest releases of Asterisk 20 and FreePBX 16.
Let’s finish with the elephants in the room: Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle. They all have cloud offerings, and our recommendation is don’t go there. Their services are EXPENSIVE. And they offer less functionality at significantly higher cost than some of the smaller, well-established companies such as Vultr and Digital Ocean. If $5 to $6 (with backups) a month for a cloud platform is not too rich for your blood, you can’t go wrong with either of these. And just like with RackNerd, the Incredible PBX 2027 tutorial for Ubuntu 22.04 will have you up and running in under an hour.
Originally published: Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
Deploying a Free Turnkey Phone System
To say the New Year is ushering in a scaled back constituency for self-managed telephony systems would be an understatement. Much of this migration from Asterisk® can be traced directly to the proliferation of cell phones coupled with the expansion of Zoom and Microsoft Teams deployments thanks to the COVID nightmare.
Despite Sangoma’s best efforts to commercialize Asterisk and FreePBX®, we think there’s still a place for free systems especially turnkey Asterisk PBX deployments that can coexist on Windows, Mac, and Linux desktops. For today, we’ll point you to tutorials that will let you download and then install a turnkey platform of your choice in just a couple minutes.
For Windows 11 and Zorin desktops, you can deploy Incredible PBX 2027 for Debian 11 and run it under VirtualBox. If you prefer an Ubuntu platform for Incredible PBX 2027, a tutorial is available here as well. If you’re using a Zorin desktop, keep in mind that VirtualBox must be reinstalled before use:
apt remove virtualbox-dkms apt install virtualbox-dkms
Another turnkey Asterisk PBX option for Windows 11 desktops is WSL. Complete instructions for deployment and use are available here.
For Mac users, the available turnkey option of Incredible PBX depends upon whether you’re using an older Intel-based machine or a newer machine with Apple silicon.For Intel platforms, VirtualBox is an ideal platform for Incredible PBX 2027. For newer Macs with M1, M2, or M3 processors, simply deploy Incredible PBX with the UTM application.
Finally, for Linux desktops (and we prefer Zorin), you have two options. As noted above, you can deploy Incredible PBX with VirtualBox. For real-time performance, we prefer deployments using LXC Containers.
We’ll close with a few tips for the new year as you begin your new journey into the world of free Asterisk PBX telephony. Unlike some of the commercial offerings, the Incredible PBX platform offers a variety of support options. You can get first-hand support and hand-holding on the VoIP-Info.org Forum. Second, the Incredible PBX Wiki offers literally hundreds of tutorials and recommendations on every subject imaginable. Finally, the Incredible PBX Repository has download links for every platform and every script that has ever been produced.
Enjoy and Happy New Year!
Originally published: Sunday, December 31, 2023
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
Free Asterisk Solutions