Noel's Muses

And with no device level access to UCM's, you can't install basic components like mpg123, icecast or ezstream to use local streaming, nor can you stream local radio or plug a radio or other form of playback device in and stream that, you're stuck with whatever selection of music you upload, maybe this is fine for some markets, but the one we're in, everybody streams... everybody... and since the UCM's are asterisk underneath, there is no reason not to allow its configuring, just like we've been doing on FreePBX for about the last five years or so.

This is where own hardware that doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, combined with Open Source alternatives like FreePBX win out, you can get powerful yet cheap and reliable industrial hardware such as a Partaker i3 that at lower end of its specs is going to out perform a UCM 6301/6302 and can handle many hundreds of simultaneous active calls, and many times that again in device registrations, with plenty of fast SSD storage with a price tag that in Australia is on par with Grandstream's entry level UCM 6301 (which is still cheaper than Sangoma's entry level PBXact devices btw).

As an example of the Partaker i3 with 4G's RAM, this is a snapshot taken from a service during business hours, the first, it's suitable uptime and resource stats with 141 active calls, and 29 of them enjoying MoH streaming, from icecast and ezstream on the device itself

Did you know even a Raspberry pi 3b+ is benchmarked to process 150 perfect calls without transcoding, with however, your limited to only about perfect 20 active calls, a pi4 has been benched to over 70 perfect transcoded calls (referenced benchmarks video)
so imagine what an i3 or i5 with 4 or 8 G's of RAM can do, and how much voicemail or recorded calls you can store with a 256GB SSD, I've previously covered how Partaker are the providers of some of Sangoma's PBXact models, and how the Sangoma models are deliberately so under spec to make you buy higher end units you're better off buying direct from Partaker.

This brings me to a video I recently watched, given time zones and "life" getting in the way I've been unable to participate or watch many of this guys streams or videos like I used to, but I digress... it must be that season again, where this certain zealousness filled youtuber, one whom I once had respect for, must have had, to borrow a line from Pink Floyd, a momentary lapse of reason, for when he was recently attacking other PBX's for charging for modules to accomplish zero config, and stopping right on the edge of naming them but everyone knew he was talking about Sangoma and FreePBX, he seemingly forgot the zero config module with FreePBX (called Endpoint Manager) for Sangoma phones - just like Grandstream UCM's and Grandstream's phones - is included, and completely free.


Cambridge Dictionary...
Zealousness is commendable, but it cannot ever be an acceptable excuse for unprofessional and unethical conduct.

Sure, you have to pay for add-on licensing for that same module to unlock third party phones, but at least the EPM module can support third party phones, unlike Grandstream's zero config, which only has capability for Grandstream devices, nothing else.

Now, to address Willie's claim the cost of zero config (EPM) for FreePBX is about the cost of a UCM, well Houston, we have another problem...

Quick Background - Now that 99% of Australia is on the NBN, and lost traditional phone services (POTS), FXO ports are useless, so we'll look at the UCM 6301 for our comparisons (it still offers one FXS port in case you have an analog phone for a fax or whatever).

So I updated my spreadsheet price list this morning for the five known UCM retailers

GRANDSTREAM UCM6301 IP PBX		CityTech	$427.02

GRANDSTREAM UCM6301 IP PBX		MyITHub	        $363.00

GRANDSTREAM UCM6301 IP PBX		AusPCMarket	$469.00

GRANDSTREAM UCM6301 IP PBX		AdvanceIT	$375.00

GRANDSTREAM UCM6301 IP PBX		HomAppliance	$361.02

The cheapest AUD 361, and the most expensive AUD 469 (go figure), in taking the average of the five retailers, we get AUD 399, next I visited Sangoma's website and checked the current cost of Endpoint Manager which is still listed at AUD 208 for a 25 year licence.

OK, I was never a maths genius, but even I know that 208 is not on, nor near par with, 399, it doesn't come anywhere close to it, not even to the cheapest price, what was it Cambridge says about zealousness... yeah...

For the record I wouldn't recommend EPM for anything under 30 or so phones, by the time you stuff around getting everything set up, you could have had it all configured and running, remember zero config is zero config for end users, not for the ICT team

In Australia, the Cisco 78xx series like its predecessors the 514g and 94x series, are hugely popular, these robust reliable phones are everywhere, they're decently priced (often rather cheap with bulk discounts), have super crisp like standing-next-to-you clear audio. If your in government, education, big or small business, you're probably using them. Cisco, along with Avaya, Mitel, NEC, and Panasonic make up 99.9% of all IP phones used in Australia, there are others but their numbers are insignificant compared to brands listed above, and no matter what brand you use, If you have a lot of these phones it makes sense to purchase the EPM licence to unlock zero config of third party devices, no ones going to sit around manually programming hundreds or thousands of the things - unless you have a UCM.

Lets stick to reality, no business will blow their budget having their IT team or external consultants manually configure hundreds or thousands of phones all by hand, nor will they be replacing all those perfectly suitable working phones either, it'd be cheaper to install a gateway or two then replace dozens of phones, your PBX is just one part of the big picture, it must like every component of the system, be fit for purpose.

So I commented on that video pointing out a few facts, and reminded him of the lack of streaming capability as huge drawback, only to get a message a day later from a mutual acquaintance saying my post he read a day earlier was no longer there, I know the comment was still there a few hours after I posted since I checked back, but next day sure enough it was deleted. I was rather surprised that this guy who I've followed for years, and interacted with on multiple occasions all a sudden decides to do a censorship sweep on me when factual points about the UCM are raised, he's never canned any other comments of mine before, but the ban hammer was applied by him, or someone.

My issue with this is a lot of people who don't know better, will watch that video and walk away with deliberately false and misleading information, this guy is not a newbie, he is not a fool, he knows damn well what he said was wrong, and well, I don't involve myself with people who act like that so unsubbed from him.

Speaking of Gateways...

Grandstream marketing says their GXW gateways have a couple kilometres loop length, you will be pushing it up hill to make anywhere near that in the real world (all vendors exaggerate though, they try claim lab perfect environment results for the real word, where it's far from it), however for the price point of around AUD 1200, they are good value and work extremely well in smaller loops like Hotels, Motels, and Aged Care, but if it's for a bigger campus environment, you'll need something with more grunt, and I've pointed this out to Grandstream, with my several year old ticket, gaining no traction.

Campuses are where Sangoma's Vega 3050's win out, with a quoted seven kilometres loop (I'd be more inclined to say only five) you're better off, even at around AUD 3200, it's still far cheaper than the alternatives like the Cisco voice gateways that come in at around four times that, geez, a SmartAx or TA 5000 loaded with voice cards and MLT would be cheaper.

And if you're wondering what I think of Grandstream's little 2 and 4 FXS port ATA's? I absolutely love them.

In Conclusion

The UCMs need to reach parity with their competition, if they allowed device access, if they allowed for streaming, local storage access, if they offered the ability for third party zero config, then they'd have a winner in my books, even Yeastar's MyPBX do zero config for free for a few vendors, including Cisco, then despite the limiting hardware and storage (not all clients need to record all calls or have a lot of voicemail - but many do), I think they'd have a great product that I'd be happy to use, the same with their gateways, perfect for Hotels or Aged Care, but they need to support decent distances like five kilometres (real world) at least to be considered serious contenders for campus environments - it is after all why I opened such tickets all those years ago.

Lastly, and I've mentioned this before, no matter who a person is, or how much you consider they know about a subject or product, do your own homework, don't just take their advice for granted, especially when they may have financial interests in promoting a brand. It would take the uninformed five minutes of Google fu'ing to confirm my comments.

• Disclaimer I have no ties or allegiances to any brand, this allows me to be neutral and honest in my opinions, I use products from multiple vendors including all those mentioned within, when they are fit for purpose.
  
• The images and linked third party video content used in this article are copyright property of their respective owners, they are used here without permission under Australian Copyright Law's Fair Dealings Exemption.