This year is starting out with a real bang for the FreePBX team as we once again come to you with a lot of great enhancements and features on the new 2.4.0 Final Release. It has been an exciting beta program that we officially launched 9 weeks ago and has been tested by over 1300 systems with fantastic feedback from our community.

The list of features, enhancements and bug fixes (most bugs from version 2.3 and prior) is much to long to share with you here but some highlights include:

• Simultaneous support for Asterisk version 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6 (best effort for 1.6 as it is still in beta)
• New Voicemail Blast Group Module
• New Language Module
• Vast improvements and many feature enhancements to Paging and Intercom Module
• Internal improvements and several new features to Queues Module
• DUNDi™ Trunk support with automatic dialplan integration
• Vast improvements to handle Zap Channel Inbound routing and incorporating Zap Channel + CID routing abilities
• System wide extension and destination registry and automatic conflict and integrity detection
• New Custom Apps module to integrate custom applications and extensions into the above registries
• Vast improvements to Devices and Users mode especially around adhoc devices
Call Confirmation support for hunt ring strategy in Ring Groups and Follow-Me

And the list goes on! Despite the many new features introduced, there has been a focus on building capabilities to help the administrator maintain internal integrity and detect issues when they occur. This effort started back in version 2.3 when we introduced the Notification Panel in the System Status Dashboard and continues to evolve as we report on more error conditions, and as we introduce more mechanisms such as the Extension and Destination registries and internal integrity checking ability as mentioned above.

So how do you get 2.4.0 onto your system when we told you that you would be able to upgrade your 2.3 systems from Module Admin? After spending all day yesterday writing and testing the upgrade module that will enable this, my family informs me that I will be taking them out to a really expensive restaurant for abandoning them (and not just yesterday!) so I’m holding it up for ransom. Once enough people use the following button we’ll get it out!

Seriously though … the donations will be much appreciated but the Update Module is on its way and will be published and available on 2.3 systems within a few days. We are delaying it just briefly for two reasons. We are monitoring the conversion rate of 2.4 beta test sites to the final release to make sure there are no issues reported in the last bug fixes that got rolled in since RC1 was released. We are also asking some of the community to beta test the upgrade module to make sure it functions smoothly when we publish it. You can get information in this forum post if you would like to help.

You can also go the traditional route to either upgrade or build new installs by using the standard install and upgrade processes listed in our site's Upgrade Instructions.

With the current training being held in Charleston, South Carolina it is only natural to plan the next event on the other Coast. We have not made any choices but are considering locations like Las Vegas (or just outside to keep the distractions during the event down a bit) or San Diego but we want to hear from you both where and when we should hold this. So feel free to reply and give your feedback to if you are hoping to attend one of our next sessions!

For now, go check out the new 2.4.0 Release and if you like what you see, or want to get the 2.3 to 2.4 Upgrade module out quicker, go press that donate button above to show your support and appreciation for all the great work and hundreds of volunteer hours that have gone into bringing you this new version!

Along with requests for the Asterisk Voice Recognition "Magic Button", I have had numerous requests over the last couple days for the Asterisk Voice Recognition Company Directory (AVRCD). As promised before, I am releasing the source for the company directory. Drop to the bottom for links to a demo and all the source files for the Company Directory or keep reading for details.

What winners and why didn’t I hear about this? Before going there, we have an important announcement concerning the upcoming training. If you were holding out until the last minute, don't skip the next section.

Registration Closes Friday

Philippe asked me to post some great stuff I’ve been working on recently. So my name is Ethan Schroeder, and in case you are wondering, I’m one of the organizers of the Open Telephony Training Seminar coming up in a few weeks.

The 2.4 release has been in Beta since December 11th and the stability has been proving itself out quite nicely. With over 800 beta sites and the almost non-existent flow of bug reports we feel very confident bringing you the Release Candidate for this next release.

You can find an overview of what it brings you in our original beta program announcement and some additional information on our recent blog post on the subject, and as always check the 2.4 Milestone Page for a rundown of information and links into all the bugs and features requests associated with this release.

If you like what you see and the work that has gone into this release, we always appreciate hearing your feedback through the press of this button:

or if you have been avoiding the donate button because it is not a "clean" tax write off, feel free to visit the Paid Support Page. You can purchase support and contact us to tell us to apply it towards the management of the project, towards specific bug fixes, or towards real support issues if you are looking for a hand.

With the 2.4 release going as strong as it has, we anticipate a quick transition to the final 2.4.0 release within a couple of weeks. If you are headed to Charleston, South Carolina for the Open Telephony Training Seminar, the timing could not have been better! We will be going over the changes and some great things that you can do in 2.4 that you can’t on prior releases. If you are still procrastinating but thinking of coming – you may want to make your final decision. The training is close to full and at the time of this writing, the reserved hotel rooms are almost gone (I think we have 2 left) and you’ll end up at a neighboring hotel after those are gone.

For now, if you have been running the 2.4 beta, check your system for online updates and bump yourself to Release Candidate 1. If you need to start clean, you can get the tarball from our mirror site, see the Download Instructions. For those of you running 2.3 and will want to upgrade when it is final, you will have the opportunity to do so through the Module Online Repository but that won’t be enabled until we go final. Despite our confidence, we don’t want people upgrading by accident until the release is final.

Hop on there and start testing now and help get this out the door!

Philippe – On behalf of the FreePBX Team

If you follow our blog then you know we are actively preparing for the Open Telephony Training Seminar next month and are also several weeks into the ongoing FreePBX 2.4 beta program. It is time to give you an update on how these two central activities are progressing and make sure you don't miss out on some of the great discounts that are soon to come to an end.

Open Telephony Training Seminar

Happy New Years to Everyone!

The year of 2007 was a great year for this wonderful project and we want to start the New Year by reflecting back on the super progress we achieved. We love this user community and hope you will take a few moments to look back with us!

FreePBX Offers their first Open Telephony Training Seminar
Last week we announced our first Open Telephony Training Seminar focused 100% on the FreePBX/Asterisk market. After much demand from many users including past FtOCC attendees (from the trixbox community) we are offering this class. We have designed it to both complement and supplement the training opportunities you can receive from other programs but aimed at those focused 100% on Asterisk/FreePBX based solutions and looking for the additional depth that the Development Team and Successful Volume Resellers can offer. As an added bonus, *the* one and only Ward Mundy from Nerd Vittles will be there to host it with us!

We encourage you to take a look and for a LIMITED NUMBER OF SEATS we are offering an early-bird discount so act quick to get the discounted seats that are available before the prices go up:

FreePBX Beta Programs
Our most recent beta program for FreePBX 2.4 was officially launched just a couple of weeks ago and so far the feedback is proving to keep up with our tradition of improved features and stability with each new release. There are lots of great enhancements that you can read about in our post.

This new release follows the highly successful FreePBX version 2.3 release that we launched last summer where we introduced many new features and capabilities in addition to the first support for Asterisk 1.4.

These releases continue our philosophy to offer about 2 main releases per year, to focus on improved stability and many bug fixes with each new release while continuing to work through the countless feature and enhancement requests that continually poor in from our loyal installed base, many of whom are you trixbox CE users who we love!

FreePBX New Web Site
In addition to the efforts spent launching FreePBX 2.3.0 we simultaneously launched this new website which integrated the many parts that previously made up our FreePBX.org website into a cohesive Content Management System. The effort tied together our Forums, News bulletins, Development Trac site and the FreePBX Application itself into a cohesive, single-sign-on environment to further serve your needs. (If you never tried it, click on the Help tab in FreePBX on version 2.3.0 or later and you will be presented with context sensitive help information on our main site).

New Stewardship
Many of you may have known Rob Thomas as the previous Steward for the FreePBX project. As Rob's demands on his time became taxed with other obligations we chose to pass the baton and have Philippe (me) take over the project to make sure it continued to receive the attention it deserved. It was a great honor and has been a tremendous amount of work to bring us along from where we were to where we have come. We hope that we are meeting and exceeding your expectations!

In an effort to justify the thousands of hours of donated time that it takes to run this project, we are establishing means help fund it. There are always donations that are welcome and appreciated but the generosity of the user base is not enough to sustain the level of professional development and project management that we hope you have benefited from with FreePBX. None the less, we welcome those donations and while you are in the New Years Spirit, why not show your support now:

Since we don't have the venture capital funds as some other organizations have to pay salaries and we receive no financial support from major companies who base their business on our project, we hope you will take advantage of the services we offer. We provide Support Options that can not only help with common FreePBX/Asterisk/Linux support issues but can go into the depth of professional services, bug fixes, project management and more that you can expect to receive from the talent that brings you and develops FreePBX. And for the New Years, we have discounted the 5 and 10 hour support blocks so take advantage of our bulk pricing. We also offer the Open Telephony Training Seminar as an opportunity for those of you who want to enhance your skills, get the inside track and better learn how to benefit and profit from this great product!

Summary
We want to re-emphasize how honored we are that there are so many users and businesses who have come to depend on our product as the basis of their businesses whether to run their telephone systems or provide telephone service to others. And for all of you hobbyist and home users who just like to complicate your lives while having too much fun doing it (and probably creating a bit of stress for your significant other) we love you too! We made a toast to our installed base this past New Years Eve and hope you were thinking of us as well!

Happy Holidays and have a Great New Years!

Philippe - on behalf of the FreePBX Team