An (IP) PBX Phone System stands for "Private Branch Exchange". It is a private telephone network that bridges your telephone lines (callers) with extensions and other contacts inside your company or organization.
A PBX is a full telecommunication system designed specifically for handling callers from your Analog, VoIP / SIP telephone lines, PRI lines or PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Service, also known as POTS - Plain Old Telephone Line Service)...
Today's business PBX phone systems allow for a host of integrated features to expand your company telecommunication options.
Today's phone systems include integrated options for connectivity using both POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) along side VoIP - Voice over IP (AKA: SIP - Session Initiated Protocol) telephone line services. Other common options include PRI (Primary Rate Interface) lines which are end to end digital ciruit lines.
There a usually two componants to a Telephone System Network:
► The main PBX Box.
► The telephones - or end-user client devices which may include a mixture of: Office desk phones, remote phones, mobile phone app integration and SIP/or softphone applications.
PBX Phone Systems today also expand and enhance the way we communicate with new integrated features like PC and Mobile Device connects, conference scheduling and collaboration options, and many many more options as programming and IP / Network / Internet technologies change.
Options and capabilities on newer phone systems are not just limited to connecting telephone lines - they help connect people in your company around the world faster, and in new techologically reliable ways!
Today's telecommunication systems come with a host of multiple options with advantages and disadvantages associated with each platform...
Means your hardware (and software) is physically kept in your office and your telephone line service comes in via various methods. "Demarcation" is associated with your physical telephone wired service coming into the building at a junction point - and is hard wired into your phone system. Or, you can have your line service come in through VoIP or PRI services direct to your phone system.
Means - the main hardware box or phone solution servers are located off premises at a provider's site, and you connect using authenticated SIP desk phones or software designed to communicate direct to that service providers networked solution. This provides for a pay-per-use model and has several drawbacks and limiting factors for most businesses.
Cheaper, easier to use and set-up - for most small, medium (SMB) and large corporate businesses - keeping your company's telecommunications in house avoids downtime or other critical problems associated with hosted PBX Solutions, including: loss of power, internet downtime and other technical factors that can affect your day-to-day operations.
Using your own system in house also means you are NOT limited to growth and have FULL ACCESS to an abundance of your features not provided in hosted PBX solutions...
Plus many more - On-Premise PBX Systems usually have all features unlocked and accessible. Hosted PBX solutions will LIMIT many functions and feature access and charge you accordingly for adding functionality.