speakercon

I did download the Call Flow Designer, but yes seems I can't use it with the trail version If I can get a pro trial I'll have a go with it- thanks. I got some pricing for hosting with a comms supplier but the monthly cost was very high (nearly 75% higher than an on prem server) so I think I'll probably go down the on prem route for now, or I'm also looking at hosting on Azure.

Thank you, Do you mind me asking which way you went with hosting - physical/VM/cloud?

I've had a look and it seems there is a separate feature code for logging in and out, so two buttons would need to be programmed and BLF doesn't seem to be a feature. Thanks allow for the idea though, I think this way will be acceptable, or even using the app.

Thanks for that idea, sounds promising! I've just logged in to have a look at setting that up but unfortunately the free 1 year license I have doesn't cover queues I've just been reading it's possible to unlock the pro features for 40 days through a partner so may look into that. I really don't want to commit to a year without testing this out. I'm assuming the log in/out of a queue works by dialing a feature code so this would be programmed into the phone as a speed dial on a spare line key, does the BLF LED indication work for this?

I've previously setup a few FreePBX systems but I'm considering using 3CX for a new deployment I have coming up which would cover three separate sites. I have the trail version of 3CX setup and I've got some Fanvil and Yealink phones connected for testing, and everything is working nicely. On the current Digital systems that are going to be replaced there is a night service setup, so on the reception phone a button can be toggled to put the phones on day/night service and an LED goes red/green to show which mode the system is in. Night mode sends external calls straight to voicemail. In the past on FreePBX I've been able to replicate this by using the Call Flow Control module which allows calls to be routed to either A or B depending on day/night mode which can be toggled by dialing a feature code (*56 for example). I then create BLF speed dial on one of the reception phone's line keys so they can turn on/off night service and the BLF LED shows red or green. You can create multiple of these rules and then aim different DDI's at the appropriate one and each has a different feature code which works great for multi site systems. I'm struggling to replicate this on my 3CX setup. There only seems to be one day/night setting meaning if one 3cx server is used for multiple schools they all have to be in the same day/night service at the same time. Also although I've read it is possible to turn day/night mode on and off using a feature key, the BLF feature doesn't seem to be available so there is no visual indication on the reception phone to show which mode the system is in. I know some schools use a timed day/night services which 3CX seems to encourage but this is unideal, for example if reception go home early one day, or need some quite time for training - the button method seems so much simpler and more flexible as not all our receptions are manned all day and within the same time frames. Maybe I'm missing something, and I know many edugeekers are 3CX users so if anyone has had this scenario and has overcome it would be great to hear your solution. This thread seems to suggest the BLF option is not possible - https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/3cx-night-mode-visual-indication.45633/ My main reason for switching to 3CX is because of the soft-phone and app seems very good and easy using the tunnel and I've not had much success using the FreePBX app/soft-phones off site, so any feedback on how well the 3CX app and softphone works offsite would be great. Thanks.

I've recently gone through this process myself, (having never delved into the iOS management world before) and with some help from Edugeek I have everything up and running. Step 1 - Create an apple school manager account - https://school.apple.com/#enrollment Step 2 - Choose an MDM to remotely manage your iPads (I chose Lightspeed and am very happy with it) - https://www.lightspeedsystems.com/en-uk/solutions/lightspeed-mobile-device-management/ Step 3 - Purchase iPads from an Apple Authorized Reseller so they can be automatically enrolled in ASM. Step 4 - Link your ASM account to your MDM system and setup your policies and App requirements and off you go.

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I'm just thinking in terms of logging support requests would you say these are mostly to fix faults or are they configuration changes? I can imagine the setup with the hosted firewall and filtering needs more intervention but at the moment the only reason I would need to get in contact with our current provider would be to report and outage which basically never happens (touch wood).

We're currently looking at changing our ISP and have proposals from a few providers including Schools Broadband. On paper their proposal looks very appealing what with the hosted firewall and netsweeper filtering. I've already read through numerous threads on here about issues with the service a few years ago but I was hoping to get some recent feedback from current customers in terms of reliability of the services. Thanks

I hate using joiners if at all avoidable and would always prefer to replace the cable but working in older buildings which often have celling voids that are inaccessible due to asbestos they've been my only realistic option on numerous occasions, and to be honest I've not had any issues with them. I always use these - https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/bt-855/coupler-wired-cat5e/dp/CS13869 I've also seen power and data in the same dado with no separator many times, not ideal (or compliant!) but I've not seen it cause any problems in the real world. Maybe I've been lucky! If it’s dropping to 100mb its likely that one or more of the blue/brown cores has a poor connection. As others have said I’d reterminate all the connections starting at the socket module, then the coupler and then finally the patch panel if no joy. If none of that works the cable is probably damaged somewhere or the socket/coupler/patch panel itself.

I would recommend HikVision, I've installed quite a few NVR's and cameras and had no issues at all, also I find it very reasonably priced. If your wanting to do the install DIY you'll have to find a reseller that is happy to sell you kit as you can't buy direct. The NVR's support the onvif protocol so if your existing cameras do too you should be able to use them; we have some old qvis cameras which will be replaced at some point but currently working fine.

I've setup freepbx previously and have nothing but good things to say about it, but I have a new installation coming up and I'm going to go with 3CX this time. I'm currently debating having the server on prem or hosting via 3cx directly or Azure.

Looks like a HP core is the way to go, I was thinking this might be the case and was rather hoping someone had had some good experience doing it one of the other ways. Hi Alex, we have about 500 clients (windows/chrome/iOS) but will be adding voip phones and IP CCTV. I've configured HP edge switches before but not a core, I imagine it's similar to other makes where you create the VLAN's, set the IP range and then add rules into the routing table? I like to try and do things myself where I can, so debating making the purchase and having a go... How hard can it be?

Do you mind me asking what model HP you use at the core and did you set it up yourself? I've been looking at the JL253A (2930F).

I know this topic has been discussed in quite a few other threads but I've been unable to come up with a conclusion on the best way to do this, and know others are interested in this too. I'm looking to do a refresh on our switching and as we use Ubiquiti wireless it makes sense to look at their switching (that along with all the positive feedback from edugeek members). The edge stuff is obviously easy, its the routing that seems to cause some debate on how best to achieve this. It seems to me that there are a few options and the cloud key controller alone cannot do this, so: Use either a security gateway or a dream machine. Use a Ubiquiti Edge Switch Use a HP/Cisco layer 3 switch. Security gateway/dream machine - concerned about their ability to handle the sort of traffic a secondary schools would need routing, and them acting too much like a firewall than I would like and potentially hinder the Fortigate. Edge Switch - Not managed from the 'cloud' dashboard, and there doesn't seem to be a way to stack or have any redundancy (apart from buying a spare on the shelf) HP/Cisco - Solid tried and tested way of routing, but it would be nice to have everything the same brand and managed centrally If anyone has any thoughts on these ideas or if anyone has had the same conundrum it would be great to hear what route you went down.

Update! I've got all this working now, many thanks for the help.

Yes I have set the link up using the token, I think I understand what your mean. Buy the apps in ASM (even if they are free), they then appear in LS and can be assigened to groups which removes the need for an apple ID to be used on each device. I got caught up with something last week but I shall give this a go on Monday, thank you!

Ah okay, for example I've tried to add Chrome, just in lightspeed but the app isn't appearing and it seems to be promoting for an apple ID. So I need to add Chrome to ASM first, then in the lightspeed group?

Please forgive my lack of Ipad knowledge, I've never had much to do with them. I've spent quite abit of time reading through old threads but I'm struggling to it straight in my head the best way to do this. We've got around 30 Ipads that have been previously setup using a single icloud account. We have had a bulk load more of them from the DfE but unfortunately at the time we were not signed up to ASM. I have now setup ASM so I have have contacted the DfE support as I believe it's possible for them to enroll them automatically now we have an org ID? I'd like to enroll our existing devices in ASM as I believe even though it is possible to install a Lightspeed profile without enrolling in ASM, this is called 'Unsupervised' which means the profile can be removed? If so I intend to use AC2 to enroll the older Ipads in ASM, which I believe will involve wiping the IPADS? I have two IPads that we purchased recently from a reseller and they have appeared in ASM, I have setup a Lightspeed profile and linked it to ASM, so the two IPADS are now showing in Lightspeed and I've created some groups and settings and put them in. Am I correct that the Ipads still need to be signed in to an apple ID to allow apps to be pushed out by Lightspeed? If so is the best way to create an icloud account in ASM and then use that to sign into the ipads? Thanks in advance

Ah so you went down the IP speaker route. Have you targeted all rooms or just corridors? If you are using the multicast streams priority I'd be interested in how well that works with the cyber data speakers. I've had limited success getting one stream to smoothly override another (for example getting the bellcommander multicast stream to override the background music while the 'bells' ring, then the music fade back up again).

@ajg I've only just seen this thread but I actually did the same project over Christmas last year using Bellcommander and Snom PA1 multicast paging devices linked to 100V amps and speakers. The system acts as the class change bell, paging system and we can also play music using the 'Background Music Service' (also from Acrovista). Did you go ahead with the project?

I know there are many happy Backupify customers here, so hoping to pick your brains! We have just started using the service and our only payment options seem to be by card over the phone, or international bank transfer. I'm surprised there is no online portal for card or paypal. This is causing me a problem as the bank have advised us not to use the card over phone international for security reasons, and our account is not setup for international transfers and setting it up requires a great deal of paperwork and time. Does anyone else have this problem or a way around it? Thanks

We're having an annoying issue with File Stream. We've been using it for nearly a year without any issues but over the last couple of weeks a small number of computers are having an issue where the program seems to loose internet connectivity and any documents created or modified will simply show as 'Upload Queued' and nothing new will download. Restarting file stream does not fix this, the only way to sort it is to restart the computer which is obviously very inconvenient. Some things we've noticed. It's only happened on 1809 versions of windows 10, both Pro and LTSC (as of yet). On the older LTSB we've had no reported issues. It's only started happening over the last couple of weeks - which does coincide with the new version 39.0.10.0 being updated. It's random in how it happens, could stop working 10 minutes after a reboot or work fine for days then break randomly. I'm thinking it could be something on on our computers that is interfering with it, as I would have thought if there was an issue with the program itself lots of other organisations would have noticed by now. I've disabled everything in 'Windows Security' and uninstalled our antivirus (bitdefender) and I'm waiting to see if the issue reoccurs after these steps. Google support are looking into this, but I thought I'd post on here encase anyone else is having this issue. Thanks,

Looks good, I'd definitely like to give that a go. I'm not against paying if needed to be honest (price depending!). 7 days seems a stretch unless I lock myself in the server room for a week.

Ah that looks straight forward then. I'll follow it through one day next week and report back on how it goes! @Ditto - That course looks good, looks like you can view the material for free but you need to pay to get certified?

I am looking to sign up our school to G Suite for Education. I have previously been a G Suite admin so am familiar on how it works / features / administration, however I have not set it up from scratch before so I'm looking for some advice on the setup procedure before I follow the sign up process. I would like to have a google account created for every AD account we currently have and every future account. We have a 100% windows environment at the moment and we use 365 for email. My understanding is that there is a sync tool to install on the DC which will create a google account for every windows account and sync any account/password changes. We already own a domain name that is only used for our website and is not linked to the domain or 365 and I would like to use this as the Google Domain. I've partly followed the signup process through and it gives me the option to use an existing domain, but I'm unsure how I would link the domain to G Suite. So my main concerns are: How to link the domain to G Suite - I assume some DNS settings will need changing? Is it possible to keep using this domain name for the website as well as G Suite? Does 365 need to be involved in any way? Many thanks in advance!