For Switchvox:
Streaming music and messages on hold, or uploaded files.

Enjoy the benefits of custom on hold music and messages on your Sangoma Switchvox PBX.

screenshot of Switchvox Music On Hold Control Panel

Music On Hold for Switchvox

Sangoma, Switchvox, PBXact, FreePBX, Sangoma Business Voice

There are many Switchvox-related platforms available, and they have different music on hold workflows. Let's look at three categories:

  1. Switchvox Cloud 8.x
  2. Switchvox On-Premise Appliance
  3. Sangoma PBXact, FreePBX, PBX GUI

Switchvox Cloud: Audio Files Manual Upload

Switchvox Cloud uses downloaded audio files (.mp3 or .ogg). These files are uploaded into the cloud platform and assigned to groups for playback. The current Switchvox MOH page says the MOH tool has two tabs: Songs and Groups.

User instructions instruct the admin to create an MOH Group, upload the audio files, then assign the group in: Caller Experience > Queue Callers Hear: Music On Hold > Group. It also says that applying MOH changes requires restarting Switchvox software to make change effective. Note: restarting can drop active calls.

Switchvox On-Premise Appliance: Live Streaming

Switchvox appliances allow the use of a USB sound card adapter connected to the USB port, then setting the default system group to external. The audio port will allow the use of the Easy On Hold® streaming audio device, eliminating manual file uploads and the repetition common with files-based platforms.

Sangoma PBXact / FreePBX / PBX GUI: Live Streaming MOH

The cloud PBX platforms from Sangoma, including the popular FreePBX, can use a streaming URL as the music on hold source. For Sangoma PBXact, follow the instructions below.

Learn more: Sangoma documentation for music on hold

Tips for using streaming hold music in Sangoma PBX environments:

  1. Log in to the Settings menu, select Music On Hold, and then select Add Streaming Category
  2. Name the streaming category (i.e., Easy On Hold Stream URL)
  3. Write the application path. Easy On Hold will provide a URL (HTTP) for you for a stream in the ULAW format, so calls already using this codec will be able to listen to the stream without any transcoding. Apply the URL as follows:
    /usr/bin/mpg123 -q -s --mono -r 8000 -f 8192 -b 1024 http://eoh-prod-streaming-server-1.easyonholdcloud.com/51ce16b9468643a07ede7db390r50486

Learn more about using an external audio on hold player device with Switchvox PBX

As of version 5.8, you can plug in a USB audio streaming device, and it becomes a new MoH Group. That group can be used for the system’s MoH, and/or for MoH of any queue. A Group can be set as the system’s MoH.

See the article in our blog.