How Using A Hosted Pbx Can Change The Way You Look At Business Communications

PBX phone systems provide extra features for businesses that are not traditionally available through consumer telephony

. For businesses with high call volume and multiple customer service representatives, a PBX system can allow multiple lines to be utilized without the high per line charges associated with traditional phone service.

What is PBX?

PBX stands for 'private branch exchange', and originally referred to a internal telephone exchange set up to organize, distribute and transfer calls within an office. Unlike regular telephone service, where calls for multiple businesses are being handled directly by the phone company, a PBX system can streamline interoffice handling of calls and provide extra features such as:

Menu routing for inbound calls

Direct dialing by name or extension,

Individual voicemail boxes

Distribution of calls to specific groups

Call forwarding

Extension dialing and call transfer

After hours messaging

Extended hold with music or service announcements

POTS lines (plain old telephone service) is expensive once you expand your business office needs to over four separate lines. When you have high call volume, a customer service department or a sales room, POTS just isn't going to cut it.

The development of VoIP (voice over internet protocol) made PBX an even more viable option, as it was possible to integrate in business PBX systems with VoIP. SIP (sessions initiation protocol) can allow two separate PBX systems to connect voice traffic over an internet connection. Expand the idea still further, and you get a IP-PBX, or 'soft' PBX system, where the hardware serves a limited purpose and all functions are carried out virtually.

This opens the door to unified communications, creating an easy way to integrate call routing, retrieval and storage, data transfer, and all other actions necessary to run a complex and wide flung business operation. CTI (computer telephony integration) allows voicemails to be played back from a browser window, calls to be dragged and dropped for a quick transfer to the appropriate party, and conferences to be conducted with team members in any number of different locations.

In addition, these software based PBX systems, commonly known as hosted PBX services, allow companies to take advantage of telecommuting or work at home employees, enabling instant real time communication and access to all the conveniences of a brick and mortar office from anywhere with a high speed internet connection. With very minimal equipment requirements, this alone can increase productivity and employee retention while cutting operational costs dramatically.

by: Andrew Wiggin

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