Hosted PBX in plain terms
Are you in the market for a dependable and low-cost business phone system? If so, you might find yourself confused over the various options available and the different acronyms attached to them.
Hosted PBX is one of the most powerful solutions for businesses in recent years. Here are the basics to help you make informed decisions about your business.
PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. Unlike an exchange operated by a phone company for the public, a PBX is an exchange (or switch) serving the needs of a particular business. Hosted PBX (sometimes called virtual PBX), is an alternative to the traditional PBX. With a hosted PBX service, there is no need for expensive hardware equipment in your office. Both the hardware and the software required to manage your business phone system reside at the provider’s data center. As a user, all you need is a phone and a broadband internet connection. You no longer need a telephone closet in your office.
The system provider (for example 800PBX), delivers the functionality you need over the internet. Each time a call comes in it rings through to the data center first. From there, the caller can dial an extension, leave a message, pick a name from the phone directory, or pick among a menu of pre-recorded messages that you have defined.
Each call is sent from the provider’s data center to your office through VoIP (Voice over IP) technology. Simply put, this is the technology which converts audio to data, so it can be delivered over the internet. Once at its destination, the data gets converted back to audio, which is what you hear once you pick up the phone at your desk.