From the first connection
to your daily decisions.
The Obelisk manual: download, SSH installation, first login, live supervision, call reports, AI, administration and recovery.
- 01Prepare and install
- 02Configure your team
- 03Read, decide, verify
Installation & first steps
6 chaptersPrepare the FreePBX server
Obelisk is installed on an existing FreePBX server. Before you start, have the SSH login, database details and the address you use to open FreePBX ready. The steps below explain what you need.
Transfer and open the installation kit
Download the complete Obelisk ZIP, copy it to the FreePBX server and extract it into /root/obelisk-install. Keep that directory: it will also be useful if you need to resume installation or manage scheduled jobs.
Run the preflight and guided installation
First check that the server is ready, then start the guided installer. Have your database details and FreePBX web address ready. The commands below use the kit extracted in /root/obelisk-install.
Answer every installation question
Keep this guide open while you install Obelisk in SSH. Find the question shown in the terminal, read what it means and enter your answer. At the end, links show where to change settings in Obelisk later.
Activate Obelisk and sign in
Once installation is complete, activate Obelisk and sign in with the administrator username and password created during setup. You can then complete or change the settings from the Administration menu.
Verify initialization and the first call
After installation, check that Obelisk can connect to the PBX, show a known call and play its recording. Start with installation diagnostics, then follow the steps below.
Live operations
8 chaptersDashboard: supervise queues
Use Dashboard during the shift to relate waiting calls to available agents. Start with a known queue and a clear operational question before changing membership or pause states.
Wallboard: coordinate live activity
Wallboard provides a queue-and-agent view for continuous supervision. Use it when the immediate distribution of calls and people matters more than the statistical charts available in Dashboard.
Videowall: prepare a shared screen
Videowall makes queue names, waiting calls and conversations readable from a distance. Set the visible section and tile size for the real display before leaving it running in the control room.
Monitor: inspect extensions and calls
Use Monitor to find an extension, understand its current state and inspect visible calls. Queue membership, device availability and call activity provide different pieces of information; read them together.
Live supervision: listen, coach and join
Live supervision starts from an identifiable active call. Choose the mode intentionally and verify the receiving extension before sending a request to the PBX. The controls shown depend on permissions.
Status: inspect devices and connectivity
Use Status to inspect the registered devices behind extensions. Read model, reported software version, contact information and latency together when investigating availability or preparing maintenance.
Recordings: find audio and review an analysis
Start from the call you need to review. Audio availability and saved AI analysis are separate: a recording can exist without analysis, and an analysis can remain after its audio has been deleted.
Action Center: turn observations into tasks
Use Action Center to assign and follow operational work. An observation is a case to assess; a task records a decision, an owner and its subsequent handling. Neither automatically proves a customer problem is still open.
Reports & call journeys
7 chaptersGlobal Dashboard: read service results
Use Global Dashboard to locate periods and queues that deserve investigation. Its historical indicators summarize selected data; they do not replace live supervision or the detailed call reports.
Answered calls: compare volume and handling
This report examines recorded answered queue calls. Use a defined selection to compare agents, queues, time patterns and telephone origins, then return to individual rows to verify what produced the aggregate.
Missed calls: understand unanswered exits
Use this report to examine calls that left a queue without an answer. Different exit events suggest different investigations; a missed queue call is not the same thing as an unanswered ring attempt toward an agent.
Unanswered rings: investigate individual attempts
This report counts ringing attempts toward agents. One incoming call can generate several attempts and can still be answered later. Keep this unit of analysis separate from incoming-call volume and missed-call totals.
Outbound calls: compare traffic and lines
Use Outbound calls to examine attempts, answered calls and durations by agent, line and outcome. The report provides traffic evidence for cost reviews; monetary costs require the applicable carrier tariffs and billing rules.
Routing Log: reconstruct recorded call events
Use Routing Log when a total is not enough to explain what happened. A compact call row opens into the chronological queue events associated with its call ID. Event totals and call totals are different measures.
Contacts & Journeys: investigate repeated numbers
Contacts & Journeys connects queue entries and repeated calls using recorded identifiers and normalized telephone numbers. It follows numbers, not verified people: a shared switchboard or family telephone can represent several customers.
Workload, quality & AI
3 chaptersWorkload & Forecasts: plan coverage
Use historical arrivals to estimate demand and test staffing with Erlang C. Forecasting and coverage calculations use PBX data locally; optional AI is not required to obtain these results.
Quality & AI: interpret analyzed conversations
This workspace aggregates saved recording analyses. Establish which calls have usable analysis before interpreting scores or trends. Reading existing statistics does not require a new audio analysis or a new report-generation request.
AI Manager: request operational advice
AI Manager interprets the current queue situation when requested. It is an optional assistant for the Team Leader; it does not automatically change queue membership, pauses, schedules or PBX configuration.
Administration & maintenance
17 chaptersBack up and restore the configuration
The configuration backup is a password-protected transfer of supported Obelisk settings and users. Use it before significant administrative changes and keep it outside the PBX. It complements a complete system backup, whose database, recordings and installation files have a different recovery scope.
Plan complete recovery
A complete recovery plan covers the application, SQL data and the external files that make the installation usable. Coordinate it with the person responsible for FreePBX and the database. A downloaded configuration archive, an update recovery copy and a full system backup protect different things.
Apply and recover a coordinated update
Updates coordinate application files and any required Obelisk database migration through a saved plan. Start from Administration, Updates and the compatible update ZIP supplied for your release. Keep a current full backup and a maintenance window available before authorizing application.
Manage scheduled jobs and maintenance
Scheduled processing keeps data and background features moving after installation. Treat the schedule, feature readiness and permission to delete recordings as separate controls. A job can be installed correctly while waiting for a license, service configuration or an explicit administrative setting.
Organize operational views
Build shared groups of queues and extensions, then combine them with account permissions and each team leader’s preferences.
Manage users, access profiles and 2FA
Decide which pages an account can open, which commands it can use and which resources it sees in the live views.
Review the access log
Investigate authentication and account-security events, keeping them distinct from the queue and supervision commands recorded in the operational log.
Trace operational commands
Connect a queue or live supervision command to its user, source view, target and recorded outcome.
Customize branding and interface text
Set the shared application identity and selected interface wording while keeping personal display choices in Preferences.
Manage database catalogues and procedures
Separate descriptive catalogues, telephone geography and database maintenance so that a naming change never becomes an accidental data operation.
Configure access security
Combine network rules, trusted proxies and security alerts with account authentication, while preserving a tested administrator access path.
Configure system services
Use the twelve system areas to connect Obelisk, tune collection and reporting, and verify the services required by optional automation.
Run installation diagnostics
Collect a current, read-only picture of installation health before changing permissions, connections or scheduled processing.
Protect your account in Profile
Change your own password, enroll an authenticator and keep recovery codes available without altering the permissions assigned by the administrator.
Adapt your personal workspace
Use personal preferences on top of the administrator’s shared configuration to make allowed views easier to read and operate.
Expert CLI: jobs and email reports
Use SSH to diagnose scheduled work, pause and resume it through the supported installer, or run an eligible weekly or monthly report manually. These commands operate on the installed application and its configured recipients.
Expert CLI: recovery and utility catalogue
Choose a utility by the fault you have identified. Start with a diagnostic or preview, understand its scope, then use the documented recovery procedure. The presence of a PHP file does not make it a routine maintenance command.
An unexpected result?
Use the Knowledge Base to investigate a specific problem, or explore practical cases to connect several product views.