Quick Start

Set up your cloud phone system and make your first call

This guide walks you through setting up a working phone system in about 10 minutes -- extensions, a phone number, and a simple IVR menu.

Step 1: Sign Up

1. Go to pbx.dev and create an account
2. You'll land on the dashboard overview -- this is your real-time command center

Step 2: Create Extensions

Go to Extensions in the sidebar and click + Extension.

Each extension needs:

• Number -- auto-assigned starting at 100 (e.g., 101, 102)
• Name -- the person or function ("Front Desk", "Sales", "Support")
• Voicemail -- toggle on to auto-provision a voicemail box

Create a few extensions for your team. You can always add more later.

Step 3: Register Phones

Go to Phones and click + Phone to register a device for each extension.

Hardware Phone (Polycom, Grandstream, Yealink, etc.)

After creating the phone, you'll see SIP credentials:

You can email these credentials directly to the user from the creation dialog.

WebRTC (Browser)

No phone hardware needed -- users can call directly from their browser. The dashboard includes a built-in WebRTC softphone that connects via wss://sip.pbx.dev:8443.

See WebRTC for details.

Step 4: Add a Phone Number

Go to Numbers and click + Number to assign an inbound phone number.

Choose where calls should route:

• Extension -- ring one person directly
• Ring Group -- ring multiple extensions
• IVR Menu -- play a greeting and collect key presses
• Queue -- hold music + distribute to available agents

For a simple setup, route the number directly to your main extension.

Step 5: Build an IVR Menu (Optional)

Go to IVR and click + New Menu to open the visual flow editor.

Drag nodes onto the canvas and connect them:

1. Start with a Greeting node -- type your welcome message and choose a voice
2. Add a DTMF Menu node -- configure "Press 1 for sales, 2 for support"
3. Connect each menu option to a Transfer node pointing at the right extension
4. Add a Voicemail node for the timeout/no-input path

Save the flow, then go back to Numbers and update your phone number to route to this IVR menu.

Step 6: Configure Business Hours

Go to Settings > General and set:

• Timezone -- so business hours work correctly
• Business hours -- start time, end time, and which days
• Recording -- toggle "Record all calls" if you want automatic recording with AI transcription

Test It

Call your inbound number from a cell phone. You should hear your IVR greeting, press a digit, and ring through to the extension. If nobody answers and voicemail is enabled, the caller can leave a message that will be transcribed automatically.

Check the Overview dashboard to see the call in real-time, and Call History to see the completed call details.

What's Next?

• Call Queues -- Set up a support queue with hold music
• Ring Groups -- Ring multiple people simultaneously
• Recordings -- Review AI-generated call summaries
• Settings -- Fine-tune recording, caller ID, and dialing rules