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User Management Overview

User management is a core feature of OPBX that allows organization owners and administrators to control who can access the system and what they can do. This document provides an overview of how user management works in OPBX.

What is User Management?​

User management in OPBX encompasses:

  • Creating and managing user accounts - Add, edit, and remove users from your organization
  • Role-based access control (RBAC) - Assign roles that determine what users can access and modify
  • Extension assignment - Link users to phone extensions for call routing
  • Status management - Activate or deactivate user accounts
  • Audit logging - Track changes to user accounts for security and compliance

User Roles​

OPBX uses a role-based permission system with four distinct roles:

RoleDescriptionUse Case
OwnerFull access to all organization settings and usersOrganization administrators who need complete control
PBX AdminCan manage users (except owners) and system configurationIT administrators who manage the phone system
PBX UserCan use phone features and view their own dataEmployees who need phone extensions
ReporterCan view reports and analytics onlyManagers who need call statistics without system access

Role Hierarchy​

Owner (highest privilege)
    ├── Can manage: Owner, PBX Admin, PBX User, Reporter
    └── Full organization access

PBX Admin
    ├── Can manage: PBX User, Reporter
    └── Can configure system settings

PBX User
    └── Can use phone features

Reporter (lowest privilege)
    └── Can view reports only

User Status​

Each user has a status that controls their ability to access the system:

  • Active - User can log in and access the system according to their role
  • Inactive - User account is disabled and cannot log in
note

Inactive users do not consume license seats but retain their configuration for easy reactivation.

Users and Extensions​

In OPBX, users and extensions are related but separate concepts:

  • Users represent people who can log into OPBX
  • Extensions represent phone numbers/endpoints that can receive calls

Relationship​

  • A user can have zero or one extension assigned
  • An extension can be assigned to one user or unassigned
  • When a user is assigned an extension, calls to that extension will ring the user
  • Extensions can exist without users (for example, for shared lines or IVR destinations)

Security Features​

OPBX includes several security features for user management:

Last Owner Protection​

To prevent accidental lockout, OPBX prevents deletion of the last owner in an organization. This is enforced with distributed locking to prevent race conditions.

Role Change Auditing​

When a user's role is changed, the action is logged with:

  • Who made the change
  • The previous role
  • The new role
  • Timestamp

Password Security​

  • Passwords are hashed using industry-standard algorithms
  • Minimum password length requirements (configurable)
  • Support for password resets

User Management Workflow​

A typical user management workflow in OPBX:

  1. Create user - Add a new user with name, email, and role
  2. Assign extension (optional) - Link the user to a phone extension
  3. Set password - Either set an initial password or have the user set it on first login
  4. User activates - User logs in and begins using the system
  5. Manage lifecycle - Adjust role, status, or extension assignment as needed

Accessing User Management​

User management is available in the OPBX web interface:

  1. Log in as an Owner or PBX Admin
  2. Navigate to Users in the main navigation
  3. Use the Users page to view, create, edit, or delete users
Required Permissions

Only users with the Owner or PBX Admin role can access user management features.

Next Steps​

Learn more about specific user management topics:

Related Documentation: