pbxnsip now part of snom

[Vodia PBX]

As many of you probably already know, pbxnsip is now part of snom (see http://www.snom.com/en/news/press-releases...p-pbx-snom-one/

for the press announcement). What does this mean and what are the next steps?

 

If you downloaded the snom ONE free edition, you will see that not too much has changed. The software is essentially the same, just a few changes:

• The web interface is the same, just the banner and the copyright texts and links have been changed. That means if you know how to use pbxnsip, you will know how to use snom ONE.
  
• The product now needs to be activated through an activation code. The PBX will then fetch the real license key from a snom server and provisions the key. This was necessary in order to sell the product through standard distribution channels which are
  not able to handle complex license codes.
  
• The PBX is now stricter with the certificates. This makes it possible to provision snom phones without passwords (well, at least those models that come with a built-in certificate). This is a big step forward regarding simplicity of installation.
  
• We also started to include 64-bit versions in the build process on a regular basis. This is to deal with the increasing number of devices that use TLS connections for secure communications.
  
• Registrations now check what phone type is registering. Only a certain number of "third party" devices are tolerated on the different versions. This is tribute to the trend in the industry to sell complete systems and subsidize the sale of endpoints or PBX (depending on what view you have). We will keep selling pbxnsip builds under the pbxnsip brand for some time for those that want to use other devices; however those licenses will obviously not be subsidized.
  

All in all, I think this is good news as pbxnsip is now part of a bigger team. This will be piece of mind for many corporate customers that were worried about the company size and it will help getting more marketing and sales power behind it. The last few weeks were quite exciting and we are more optimistic than ever that this PBX will be a fantastic product in the SME market space.

[mattlandis]

i think for smb this is a good move.

 

The ease of provisioning pleasantly surprised me. If my initial experience continues, snom ONE works so that anyone can provision a phone. That is not an over statement. This is excellent!

 

my concern about the last point (3rd party devices) has been sufficiently aired and my mind hasn't changed so i wont bring it up again. ;-)

 

enjoy success,

matt

[mattlandis]

Hello,

 

some more questions that occurred to me:

#1-with snom ONE will there be the need to pay maintenance yearly to stay up-to-date? or will it be more like snom handset firmware--?

#2-will pbxnsip clients be able to transition to snom ONE some how?

 

thanks!

Matt

[Vodia PBX]

#1-with snom ONE will there be the need to pay maintenance yearly to stay up-to-date? or will it be more like snom handset firmware--?

 

The snom ONE yellow and blue don't have a maintenance program right now. There will be updates available as bugs are being fixed, hopefully not too frequent. But the goal is clearly to minimize "surprises" when applying software updates. There is a special warning in the admin landing page where we can notify customers that updates are available.

 

#2-will pbxnsip clients be able to transition to snom ONE some how?

 

In pure snom phone environments, customer can use the snom ONE builds instead, the pbxnsip license key is compatible with the snom license keys but AFAIK it does not include the third party licenses. When third party devices are in the game, therefore customers better stay with the pbxnsip builds to avoid "surprises" of the other kind.

 

In any case, before upgrading guys make backups of the working directory. Then you can always roll back with no regrets.

[mattlandis]

appreciate that.

 

so any pbxnsip license over 20 will become a unlimited license in snom ONE? My question is how pbxnsip license convert.

thanks!

matt

[Vodia PBX]

so any pbxnsip license over 20 will become a unlimited license in snom ONE? My question is how pbxnsip license convert.

 

No, they convert 1:1. You get exactly what you had before, but when switching to the snom ONE you have the third-party restriction (which would then allow zero third party registrations...). Probably a bad deal, so I would recommend to stay with the pbxnsip builds if you have old pbxnsip license.

[penta s.r.l.]

No, they convert 1:1. You get exactly what you had before, but when switching to the snom ONE you have the third-party restriction (which would then allow zero third party registrations...). Probably a bad deal, so I would recommend to stay with the pbxnsip builds if you have old pbxnsip license.

Hi,

what are the differences from the last pbxnsip version and the snom one version?

[Vodia PBX]

what are the differences from the last pbxnsip version and the snom one version?

 

There are no differences except the license stuff. As we are making new builds, those all come from the same code basis.

[penta s.r.l.]

There are no differences except the license stuff. As we are making new builds, those all come from the same code basis.

Ok.

 

I know, I'm missing something.. but what do you mean when you say "third-party restriction"?

Sorry for the dumb question.

[Vodia PBX]

I know, I'm missing something.. but what do you mean when you say "third-party restriction"?

 

For the snom ONE build, that means registrations from devices other than snom.

[penta s.r.l.]

For the snom ONE build, that means registrations from devices other than snom.

This means that I won't be able to use "snome ONE".

[kspirit]

My use of PBXnSIP relies on using 3rd party devices. If SNOM One does not support Cisco and other phones, I'd like to download the old PBXnSIP product. Is this possible?

[mattlandis]

Yes,

 

http://www.pbxnsip.com/download-software/software.php

 

Matt

[UKenGB]

my concern about the last point (3rd party devices) has been sufficiently aired and my mind hasn't changed so i wont bring it up again. ;-)

Where has this been aired? I can find no topics on this subject which is causing me great concern.

 

None of the info on Snom's site makes any mention of such limitation and it is only a passing comment by a support person here that alerted me to this and caused me to search further.

 

I guess first of all I need to find out exactly what this entails. Is this limit per extension or per domain? What do they mean by 'third party devices'? What about the M9? Since Snom can't supply their own Softphones (PC, Mac or iPhone) it seems harsh to artificially limit the use of other's products of this type. Or am I getting this completely wrong? Does it perhaps only relate to other hardware devices?

 

I need to get to the bottom of this because if I cannot use the softphones I need, then for me (and I suspect many others) the use of snomONE is a non starter.

[mattlandis]

Hello,

 

First of all I'm not snom and I do wish as well that 3rdparty was not restricted.

 

But to correct some miscommunication before it gets spread:

-All snom products will work with snom ONE. so snom m9 will work. it will actually automatically provision.

-snom actually does have a soft phone. Softphone link here: http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/p/snom-one-resources.html

-snom is quite clear that you can still use pbxnsip for multi-vendor senarios

 

Here are some FAQ on snom ONE i've compiled that may help:

http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/2010/10/var...d-findings.html

 

But to agree with you snom ONE does:

-very limited Mac softphone, mobile softphones, video phones, ability to use 3rdparty helper apps like VOP, nch apps, wifi phones, sip door phones, sip ceiling speakers and a host of other sip devices. Or even sites with existing sip handsets.

 

Also on the snom softphone: it is a bit dated but does run on win7. it gives the complete functinality of snom 360 included BLF! I'm not sure snom supports the snom softphone either. But there have been comments about "resurrecting" it. I have been a proponent of snom having a softphone before snom ONE was on the scene so my opinion stands there. ;-) Quite frankly a software version of the snom 870 (+ ocs/lync) would be extremely interesting considering that it is touch screen it should move to PC easier.

My video on snom softphone: http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/2010/02/int...-from-snom.html

 

I am hoping snom finds a way to remove this limitation. snom ONE (pbxnsip for that matter) is an excellent phone system. Excellent.

 

But once again, you can still get pbxnsip which is identical to snom one except it has multivendor support, no free edition and paid editions cost more.

 

Matt

[UKenGB]

Hello,

 

First of all I'm not snom and I do wish as well that 3rdparty was not restricted.

 

But to correct some miscommunication before it gets spread:

-All snom products will work with snom ONE. so snom m9 will work. it will actually automatically provision.

-snom actually does have a soft phone. Softphone link here: http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/p/snom-one-resources.html

-snom is quite clear that you can still use pbxnsip for multi-vendor senarios

...

I am hoping snom finds a way to remove this limitation. snom ONE (pbxnsip for that matter) is an excellent phone system. Excellent.

 

But once again, you can still get pbxnsip which is identical to snom one except it has multivendor support, no free edition and paid editions cost more.

 

Matt

 

Hi Matt, I know you're not Snom, but appreciate your participation.

 

Do I understand correctly then that this limitation DOES apply to softphones?

 

This is so stupid of them. I can understand that they don't want to be supporting the competition, but since they effectively don't produce softphones (their crummy old product is Windows only and really doesn't count) and as you point out, also door phones (something else I want to incorporate), what are they thinking?

 

Also, it is unforgivable that they basically keep this secret. The Snom website clearly states - "No limits, ALL features in all editions" and now, it's only after apparently wasting days on this I discover that was a lie.

 

Let's be clear on this, what constitutes a third party device and is this a domain wide limitation or per extension. IOW, I was trying to use a Siemens Gigaset until the M9 arrives, but would that count as 1 device, or 1 device for each extension to which it registers?

 

I realise that I could purchase pbxnsip, but apart from the obvious inconsistency in products from now the same company, there is a basic problem of cost. I want to be able to supply systems for residential and small business and the former isn't going to be paying the sort of costs pbxnsip seem to want. In any case, I've spent the entire morning researching this and to be honest it took that long just to get some idea of the costs and I don't appreciate companies making obvious information like this so hard to come by.

 

Then there is the contradictions I find about the PBX regarding the various levels that are available and what they include. Specifically, the comparison chart states the Office Basic edition has no Service Flags and only 2 trunks, yet from their web site:-

 

"Limited Accounts

With the Office Basic IP PBX, your company benefits from features such as :

- Auto Attendants

- Hunt Groups

- CO Lines

- Service Flags

 

Limited Trunks

With the possibility to connect to many different devices your Office Basic IP PBX includes unlimited trunks."

 

This is taken from the same page that they display the chart with the totally contradictory data of NO Service Flags and only 2 Trunks. This is the sort of amateurism that puts me off.

 

This is looking like it's all just a big waste of time. snomONE looks like a nice product and I've been very keen on getting involved, but if I cannot make use of softphones and a door phone, then as I said before - it's a non starter and I'll look elsewhere for an equivalent product on which to base my business.

 

Unless I'm wrong about all this, in which case I take it all back.

[mattlandis]

Hello,

 

>do softphones count?

The limitation (as I understand it-and my tests) does apply to softphones or any UA that registers.

 

>stupid

lets try to keep a respectful atmosphere ;-)

 

>door phone

actually the snom pa1 can act as a door phone....i'm working on an article about that..

But also remember you can have 2 non-snom devices (as snom is communicating to us today)

 

>snom softphone doesn't count...

Don't write that thing off! ;-) For as old as it is it is pretty amazing actually.

 

>they shouldn't keep it a secret...

it does jarr with the "no limits" slogon. I can't disagree.

 

>Let's be clear on this, what constitutes a third party device

the 10 user limit is based on extensions added into the system. not extensions registered (as i understand). For example you could have 10 extension and concievably 2 UA's registered as extension 40 for a total devices of 11 (or more.)

 

I think (as i understand) the 2 non-snom devices is based on devices registered.

 

>I don't appreciate companies making obvious information like this so hard to come by.

I don't think this is attempted. I think (surmising here) there may be some things snom is still trying to decide. So that may be the reason for unclear communication. My experience from working with pbxnsip is that they are very frank. You may need to talk to them to best answer all your questions.

 

> I want to be able to supply systems for residential and small business and ...

you will want to use snom ONE free. to drive price as low as possible this is the simple choice. Remember you can't have everything you want and at your price too. ;-) Set some limitations for yourself: we are a 12 person MS gold partner and even we do. We only sell Windows based systems. Before snom set the limitation we only sold snom handsets. To say you will provide the cheapest solution and support everything under the sun isn't realistic. Who can argue with a commercial grade software phone system with 10 windows only softphones for free? ;-)

 

>pbxnsip licenseing is confusing

At our company we always (always) sold pbxnsip Pro Plus licenses. Then you don't have any thing to bite you. As i said before you need to set the boundries of what you do to avoid trouble. ;-)

 

>waste of time...

snom ONE is not a waste of time. We gladly paid $100 per ext. for what we now get for free.

-This product is feature rich, rock solid and secure

-It integrates to MS Lync, Exchange and SQL!

-it run on Windows, Mac and Linux!

-It has a ton of admin features that make it nice to admin

...and...FREE. Wow. ;-)

 

Matt

[UKenGB]

My comment about "waste of time" referred to the last few days I have spent getting familiar with snomONE only to find a stupid political decision by Snom renders it apparently useless for my purpose and I believe stupid is defined as "lacking intelligence or common sense" which IMO fits this perfectly.

 

My requirements for 'third party devices' is entirely limited to products that Snom DO NOT SUPPLY, so what do they gain by not allowing their use? It is very clear to me what they will lose if this is as bad as it now seems.

 

Regarding the Snom softphone, I can easily dismiss that as worthless to me since it doesn't run on Macs - case closed.

 

Back to pbxnsip, I am still unable to determine the real differences between the Basic and Pro editions. The web site is completely contradictory (ON THE SAME PAGE), which as I said, doesn't inspire confidence. So, does the Basic edition allow the use of Service Flags and unlimited Trunks, or is that a lie too?

 

My frustration and irritation is largely borne out of the fact that I do think it's a nice product that I was so pleased to see 'apparently' ticked all the right boxes and I was enjoying learning all about it, only to have my hopes dashed like this :-(

[hosted]

this seems pretty simple to me.

 

snomONE is a subsidized product buy the purchase of a SNOM IP telephone. much the same way cisco sells a discounted PBX with the use of a cisco IP telephone.

 

IF you want to use 3rd party devices and dont take advantage of a subsidized product that is easy as well. buy PBXNSIP which is open to all devices.

sure the software is the same. its just not subsidized..

 

All we sell is snom phones, because of the tight integration. For this is is great! now we can give a free (subsidized) product and sell more phones..

[UKenGB]

this seems pretty simple to me.

 

snomONE is a subsidized product buy the purchase of a SNOM IP telephone. much the same way cisco sells a discounted PBX with the use of a cisco IP telephone.

 

IF you want to use 3rd party devices and dont take advantage of a subsidized product that is easy as well. buy PBXNSIP which is open to all devices.

sure the software is the same. its just not subsidized..

 

All we sell is snom phones, because of the tight integration. For this is is great! now we can give a free (subsidized) product and sell more phones..

It's pretty simple to me too. I want to make use of Snom's M9 with snomONE, but with the ability to use additional softphones and also a door phone and due to this policy under discussion that is impossible. Not only that, but it appears they are keeping quiet about this with NO mention of it on the Snom website which has caused a lot of apparently wasted time and effort.

 

If I was just after a free PBX to use with all NON Snom clients I could understand their point of view, but that is not the case. In fact, I'd have been interested in Snom's Softphones and door phones IF THEY MADE THEM, but they do not so I HAVE to use third party products. So it doesn't matter how many of Snom's products I buy. If I want to augment this with more than 2 registrations of products, of a type that Snom does not themselves produce, I am not 'allowed' to do so. If they just specified that you have to use more Snom registrations than third party, hey that would make sense and I could live with that. But as it is...

 

As you say, it is very simple. If Snom want me to sell their Yellow and Blue versions of snomONE, they have to allow the use of softphones in the free product.

 

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am about this, but with this current policy it is unworkable.

[hosted]

you can buy Yellow version and get 4 non-snom registrations.

 

Thats still a great value.

[penta s.r.l.]

I think that snom phones integration with the pbx should constitute a "big" reason to sell snom phones.

For this reason, Snom choice to provide a free pbx that supports (almost) only snom phones is understanble.

 

What I don't understand is the not surmontable limit of non snom phones.

Why don't they simply sell a license in order to use a non snom agent?

 

Do you want to use 5 snom phones and 9 non snom phones? Pay for 9 non snom agent.

 

Just my 2 cents

[UKenGB]

I think that snom phones integration with the pbx should constitute a "big" reason to sell snom phones.

For this reason, Snom choice to provide a free pbx that supports (almost) only snom phones is understanble.

 

What I don't understand is the not surmontable limit of non snom phones.

Why don't they simply sell a license in order to use a non snom agent?

 

Do you want to use 5 snom phones and 9 non snom phones? Pay for 9 non snom agent.

 

Just my 2 cents

Some sort of system as you suggest would be fair, but you need to consider softphones rather than other non Snom hardware. A single user on their Mac/PC might want to connect to several extensions and it would be unfair to have to pay for each extension they use as it is still only 1 person.

 

No point in putting any more effort into thinking up a good workable scheme unless Snom say they're open to suggestions.

[hosted]

yea makes sense. I think they are just trying to put something in a box and thought distribution..