5 Different Types of PBX Phone System

When you have just started its okay to have a single telephone line but as you evolve over years you need to add more phones for staff who may be located centrally or dispersed Virtually around the country.

More lines mean more telephone numbers which can increase complexity as well as the cost. Fortunately, our scientific experts have developed a piece of equipment that can manage this situation- “PBX” or “ private branch exchange”. This fancy term will help you link all the phones in a company and across multiple locations together.

The modern systems are computerized and some of them even work on the internet. The cutting-edge technologies make PBX systems much easier to manage and affordable.

So if you are one of them who is looking forward to getting more telephones in the office, it’s important for you to know more about the types of PBX, their strengths and weaknesses, average number of callers they support etc.

1) Traditional PBX

The traditional PBX phone system is landline based and relies on a Physical Hardware box. The bulky traditional telephone lines enter your office and are then connected to a PBX box. Then these phone lines are distributed to every desk in your office.

Compared to the newer advancements, Traditional PBX’s are extremely expensive to set up. Besides the cost of PBX hardware which is approximately $1000 and up you also have to install traditional analog lines inside and outside your office if you haven’t got them already.

Traditional PBX phone system usually operates well but generally have a less lifespan as the hardware components such as trunk and extension cards becomes obsolete with time. Also, these systems are becoming very difficult to support by the Private PBX suppliers.

2) Digital PBX systems

A digital PBX system can deploy both a traditional analog PBX system as well as IP phones. These systems can be upgraded by adding background music to entertain the customers on hold or by integrating with VOIP phone system. Compared to traditional PBX phone system digital PBX system offers better sound quality.

They come with digital answering assistants, voicemail and call forwarding feature. These systems are a popular choice for businesses with older wiring, unsecured phone lines, and unreliable internet connection.

3) Onsite IP PBX Phone system

Famous as VOIP phone system, these PBX systems are very well aware of how to take full advantage of existing bandwidth and robust internet connection available. With the inception of the VOIP phone system and unified communication, the IP platform is considered as the most common type of PBX system. With the help of the internet, they provide advanced functionalities such as call stability, better call quality, voicemail to email, video calling, mobile integration etc.

To use VOIP Phone system to its full potential you will have to use SIP trunks. This will provide you with some additional features such as advanced call routing, call accounting, disaster recovery etc.

The main advantage of using VoIP Phone system is that they are extremely easy to set up: ethernet cables are used to connect the telephones instead of traditional ones. This means that if you want to rearrange your office, you don’t have to go through the troubles of rewiring.

However, the IP PBX system is still an expensive option to choose from because of the high cost of PBX hardware and installation. Larger businesses can go with this option as they don’t have to pay a monthly service fee compared to hosted PBX which we are going to discuss next.

4) The cloud-based Virtual Phone system

Also known as Hosted PBX, these enterprise-level business phone system supports inbound routing as well as outbound calls. Companies that have myriad employees who are making calls on a regular basis should generally prefer this option as this will perfectly suit their business needs.

All communication will now take place through a router that is connected through an internet connection. The cloud-based Virtual Phone system is an ideal solution for companies that are geographically dispersed. Suppose your business is set up in Australia and has prospects calling from countries such as Canada, UK, USA and other countries in the world. In such circumstances reaching your clientele with an Australian Phone number will have very slim chances of success.

This is where a Virtual Phone number can rescue you. It can help you gain the trust of prospects situated in various countries by providing a number of the same country you want to contact.

These online phone numbers are actually local numbers which can help you gain the trust of your prospects and turn them into paying customers.

In addition to this, Virtual Phone numbers come with features such as auto attendants, Call Holding, conference calls, call forwarding, voicemail to email etc.

The most important advantage of using a Virtual Phone number is that there is no hardware to purchase or install, as a result, the initial cost is much much less. Instead, the users have to pay a monthly subscription fee per extension. This makes cloud-based Virtual Phone system an extremely economical option. The set-up is also easy-all you need to do is connect your phones with an ethernet cable and manage your call routing settings online.

5) Virtual PBX Phone system

Virtual PBX Phone system is the lighter version of the Cloud-based Virtual Phone system. Using this PBX system, calls can be routed to VOIP extensions, landlines, cell phones etc.

Even though they may lack some of the features that come with a cloud-based Virtual Phone system, it can be a great choice for smaller businesses and those that utilize remote teams. The Cost of setting up and maintaining a Virtual PBX Phone system is the lowest of all.

Which PBX system do we Recommend?

A cloud-based Virtual Phone number from a Service provider like CallHippo is an ideal solution for Small and medium-sized enterprises. It comes with all the features that are necessary for the business that too at an extremely affordable price. All your business need is high-speed internet service and Phone headsets and you are all set to go..!!

Source:- CallHippo