Choosing a Business Phone System

By: Gen Wright Click author's name for more of his/her articles

The telephone system that a company uses can sometimes be as important as the product or service it sells. We've all had to call in for tech support one time or another for a product that we've bought. What about communication within the office, including having conference calls with a team in another city (or country for that matter)? The phone service may be more important then you may think. Therefore, it is absolutely critical to select a telephone system that best fits your business and its unique demands.

The world of corporate communications is very large and complex, with hundreds of companies, both small and large, offering varying services. You can buy a traditional PBX system and have it located on-site, buy an IP PBX and use your company's data connection to take care of phone calls, or pick a Hosted PBX solution, where the provider manages the equipment in another location, and you manage everything via a web interface. With these drastically different options, it is crucial to know the important features of each choice to choose the one that best complements your business.

PBXes

PBX boxes are usually the conventional, 'go-to' business telephone service that most businesses pick when they need to set up a telephone system. A PBX is the central hub of an office telephone network, connecting all the telephones in the office together and to the PSTN. It also allows for an abundance of calling features like extension-to-extension dialing, call transferring and auto-attendants. Unfortunately, PBXes are prohibitively costly, and need to be stationed in the office itself. Furthermore, an IT specialist is also required to operate and manage them.

PBXes are the best solution for large corporations that have a workforce that is working from a central location. These businesses have enough money for the high cost of getting and managing the PBX, and having the box in the same location as the people who are using it can be useful.

IP PBXes

IP PBXes are almost the same as traditional PBX telephone systems, the difference being that they use VoIP to conduct telephone calls. There is still a central box that connects all phones to each other and has to be located in the office. However, IP PBXes employ VoIP, which grants companies all of the associated benefits. Conventional telephone devices can be used, along with the newer IP phones.
The presence of Voice over Internet protocol technology provides increased flexibility and smaller costs when compared to old-fashioned PBXes. Smaller businesses may still find IP PBXes too expensive, however.

Hosted PBX or Virtual PBX

Hosted PBXes are relatively new to the market, and are probably the most ground-breaking in leveling the playing field for businesses, both large and small. These kinds of providers offer much cheaper prices for the same group of phone system features, allowing businesses both small and large to use professional telephone services. Hosted PBXes rely on VoIP. This takes away the requirement for numerous telephone lines in your office location, because the data connection is used to make phone calls. VoIP calls are cheap, and create useful features, like voicemail-to-email. However, this service only works with IP telephones.

Hosted PBX providers also manage and operate the PBX equipment themselves. Businesses who sign up for the service can set up features like auto attendants and groups via a web interface, without having to mess around with the PBX. This characteristic of hosted PBXes means a much greater degree of flexibility, allowing businesses to grow or shrink their phone network as necessary, without calling on a specialist. Hosted PBXes also gets rid of the headaches of managing a cumbersome and intricate piece of equipment, which is a plus for any company!

These factors drive down the cost of having an enterprise-grade telephone system. Hosted PBXes are ideal for small and medium-sized firms that have employees distributed over various places. Although employees are in different cities, the hosted PBX will link them all as if they are in one centralized office, allowing the business to present a unified image to its clients.