What is FusionPBX?

In all my experience as a VoIP & Linux expert, I have tried some FreeSWITCH frontends. I can tell that FusionPBX has been the easiest and fastest way to manage a FreeSWITCH VoIP server. I have been using FusionPBX since release 2.x and I can tell you it will help the newbie and the expert to speed up PBX management. Currently I manage about 15 PBX'es and I can tell that there are few tasks I haven't been able to do with this project.

The objective on this article is to present in a clear way what does FusionPBX offer and to avoid false ideas of the project.

Installation Process and Needed Knowledge

FusionPBX, as any free software, requires a set of minimum knowledge to install it.  The installation process it is done by checking out the GIT repository from GITHUB, when the check out is done, installation takes place using the web browser.  Interface will ask about user credentials, for web access and for database.

Basic knowledge set to do a manual installation are:

• Linux distribution knowledge (package installation mainly),
• WEB server knowledge (for NGINX or Apache),
• Database knowledge (MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL or SQLite)
• Basic knowledge on server management (like start/stop services, basic command line)

There are several installation methonds for FusionPBX (RPMs for Centos with Apache+MariaDB or scripts for Debian/Ubuntu), a user without the enough knowledge will be able to install without issues; however, if there is a problem, you will need to research.

Operation y Options

FusionPBX is presented in a menu schema where users can create their own items and link them. Standar Installation covers all basic needs. Fome of the capabilities that FusionPBX offers are:

• Followme
• Call forward
• Voice Mail
• Time Conditions
• Conference Centers
• IVR
• Call Center
• Queues

Call flow configuration is a technical process, you mut have a very clear idea of what you want and you need to know the elements involved. FreeSWITCH knowledge is needed on most cases.

FusionPBX presents a dialplan editor for advanced users, after items are created, you can manually edit some settings.

For advanced deployments, FusionPBX presents the XML handler.  The XML Handler is a software written in LUA that allows you to feed dialplans to FreeSWITCH in real-time. By using the XML Handler, you can accessto many other possibilities such as load-balancing schema.

To improve speed, FusionPBX uses Memcached. This will speed up access to dialplans.

Development

FusionPBX is coded in PHP and LUA. PHP is used for the front-ed and some scripts that FreeSWITCH needs. LUA is used on the XML Handler, IVR and other scripts that FreeSWITCH calls directly.

A developer can add any FusionPBX application in an easy way. You can take any application and clone it. Big advantage of developing for FusionPBX is that your app can use other's app items.