infoTECH Feature

July 26, 2021

A Guide To Hosted Private Branch Exchange



A hosted PBX (News - Alert) refers to the cloud-based phone system hosted over the internet and not at the physical location of a business. If your business has implemented these hosted PBX services, they help you with limited maintenance and cost savings. 

The technology now allows telephone operations to be conducted over the internet. This resulted in the IP PBX. However, hosted PBX is where you manage your telecommunications off-site. Your business, therefore, doesn't have to invest in training, software, hardware, and day-to-day maintenance.

Your business can change like most businesses; they have started to switch to the hosted PBX service provider. And the good thing, these hosted PBX providers have efficient and affordable business phone system solutions.

Perhaps you want to consider the hosted PBX phone system in your business. This ultimate guide provides you with detailed information to get started.

How Hosted PBX Work

There are different components to virtual PBX - a VOIP phone, the internet, and the hosted PBX provider. The moment you set it up, all your phones connect to the PBX through the internet. Additionally, the benefit is that your connection will always be open, and you can make or receive calls anytime.

Therefore, when your business subscribes to cloud phone services, the Hosted PBX service will effectively take your phones from your company with inbound and outbound calls having to pass through them.

In other words, the service provider will maintain your complete phone system. In case one data center goes down, then all calls are routed to other data centers. This ensures your phone system runs smoothly.

Moreover, the hosted PBX provider should have a team that ensures your business gets efficient and secure services.

Everything will be configured and maintained by the service provider. Your employees only log in through an online portal and ensure they can receive the calls through the internet. Perhaps there is somewhere to adjust the settings; your team can easily make the changes through the online portal.

Hosted PBX Vs. Traditional PBX

The significant difference between these two PBX is how VoIP technology sends voice traffic through the internet. This utilizes the broadband connection for incoming and outgoing calls.

On the other hand, traditional analog PBX connects to Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) through copper wire. This will allow dependable and basic voice calls.

An analog PBX provides your business with simple functionality. Some of these functions include hold, dial, mute, and transfer incoming calls. However, a hosted PBX has been designed to provide advanced features needed in a business. Some of these features include blocklists, allowlist, auto attendants, conference calls, voicemail, and call queuing.

Why Some Businesses Uses Traditional PBX?

Most of the large companies like to use traditional PBX. This is because it tends to suit them than the small and medium-sized businesses. If your company is large and well established, it has an IT team on-site. That means your company is capable of performing extra duties that must be done for maintenance and upkeep.

In addition, a large company can have a budget to fund the setup and running costs. This is not something possible for many small businesses. Therefore, they have to rely on service providers. So, in a large corporation, where business projects will remain unchanged for years, and employees remain based on-site, it makes it better to adopt the traditional PBX. That is because it will be a viable solution.

Unfortunately, most businesses choose to have analog phone systems because they are afraid to change.  The challenge could be inevitable, and your business must embrace this technology because traditional PBX will be relegated.

Pros of Hosted PBX

Hosted PBX has plenty of benefits, making it essential to set up for your business. However, the most significant advantage is the savings you get from the initial configuration, recurring, and maintenance costs.

Other benefits of choosing Hosted PBX include:

  • On-demand Access to local phone numbers and toll-free numbers
  • Easy to scale up and down, which relies on demand
  • Improved capacity to deal with an inbound call spike
  • Existed features are upgraded while new features are added without additional costs
  • No extra costs to incur for setup, maintain or upgrade the traditional PBX
  • Advanced infrastructure having dedicated servers that ensure business continuity without downtime
  • Increased reliability and security

That well said, there are other crucial benefits of hosted PBX you need to know. These benefits include:

1.Remote Working with Hosted PBX

The outbreak of Covid-19 has proven, therefore forcing enterprises to change to remote working. Most companies that were prepared allowed the employees to work at home seamlessly due to the help of Hosted PBX. That ensures business activities are carried as usual.

When you adopt a hosted PBX, it allows the employees to access the phone system anywhere as long as there is a reliable internet connection. The incredible thing is that calls are forwarded to their laptops or phones without additional costs, software, or equipment.

2.Reliability and Performance

Hosted PBX offers your business increased reliability and security. This is because it will not depend on a landline, thus reduced potential issues.

In addition, business continuity will be guaranteed because the service provider has various servers located in the country.

3.Flexibility

The other advantage is that hosted PBX provides you with unparalleled flexibility. Therefore, your business can easily change the call settings instantly. Cloud PBX enables you to make changes on various settings such as email and voicemail, call transfer and call forwarding effortlessly, or switch them on and off.

This means that you don’t have to wait for the telecom provider or cost your business to implement the needed call settings. That’s why hosting PBX is highly recommended because you can control what you need.

4.Easy To Set Up And Low-level Maintenance

Setting up hosted PBX will take a few days to complete. The good thing, there will be no disruption in your business. If you look at traditional PBX, it requires an on-site infrastructure, and after setting up, it will need maintenance and updates. These will have to be provided by an in-house team.

As discussed earlier, hosted PBX helps your business negates the cost of installing infrastructure and hiring a team full-time to manage your on-site PBX.A hosted PBX refers to the cloud-based phone system hosted over the internet and not at the physical location of a business. If your business has implemented these hosted PBX services, they help you with limited maintenance and cost savings. 

The technology now allows telephone operations to be conducted over the internet. This resulted in the IP PBX. However, hosted PBX is where you manage your telecommunications off-site. Your business, therefore, doesn't have to invest in training, software, hardware, and day-to-day maintenance.

Your business can change like most businesses; they have started to switch to the hosted PBX service provider. And the good thing, these hosted PBX providers have efficient and affordable business phone system solutions.

Perhaps you want to consider the hosted PBX phone system in your business. This ultimate guide provides you with detailed information to get started.

How Hosted PBX Work

There are different components to virtual PBX - a VOIP phone, the internet, and the hosted PBX provider. The moment you set it up, all your phones connect to the PBX through the internet. Additionally, the benefit is that your connection will always be open, and you can make or receive calls anytime.

Therefore, when your business subscribes to cloud phone services, the Hosted PBX service will effectively take your phones from your company with inbound and outbound calls having to pass through them.

In other words, the service provider will maintain your complete phone system. In case one data center goes down, then all calls are routed to other data centers. This ensures your phone system runs smoothly.

Moreover, the hosted PBX provider should have a team that ensures your business gets efficient and secure services.

Everything will be configured and maintained by the service provider. Your employees only log in through an online portal and ensure they can receive the calls through the internet. Perhaps there is somewhere to adjust the settings; your team can easily make the changes through the online portal.

Hosted PBX Vs. Traditional PBX

The significant difference between these two PBX is how VoIP technology sends voice traffic through the internet. This utilizes the broadband connection for incoming and outgoing calls.

On the other hand, traditional analog PBX connects to Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) through copper wire. This will allow dependable and basic voice calls.

An analog PBX provides your business with simple functionality. Some of these functions include hold, dial, mute, and transfer incoming calls. However, a hosted PBX has been designed to provide advanced features needed in a business. Some of these features include blocklists, allowlist, auto attendants, conference calls, voicemail, and call queuing.

Why Some Businesses Uses Traditional PBX?

Most of the large companies like to use traditional PBX. This is because it tends to suit them than the small and medium-sized businesses. If your company is large and well established, it has an IT team on-site. That means your company is capable of performing extra duties that must be done for maintenance and upkeep.

In addition, a large company can have a budget to fund the setup and running costs. This is not something possible for many small businesses. Therefore, they have to rely on service providers. So, in a large corporation, where business projects will remain unchanged for years, and employees remain based on-site, it makes it better to adopt the traditional PBX. That is because it will be a viable solution.

Unfortunately, most businesses choose to have analog phone systems because they are afraid to change.  The challenge could be inevitable, and your business must embrace this technology because traditional PBX will be relegated.

Pros of Hosted PBX

Hosted PBX has plenty of benefits, making it essential to set up for your business. However, the most significant advantage is the savings you get from the initial configuration, recurring, and maintenance costs.

Other benefits of choosing Hosted PBX include:

  • On-demand Access to local phone numbers and toll-free numbers
  • Easy to scale up and down, which relies on demand
  • Improved capacity to deal with an inbound call spike
  • Existed features are upgraded while new features are added without additional costs
  • No extra costs to incur for setup, maintain or upgrade the traditional PBX
  • Advanced infrastructure having dedicated servers that ensure business continuity without downtime
  • Increased reliability and security

That well said, there are other crucial benefits of hosted PBX you need to know. These benefits include:

1. Remote Working with Hosted PBX

The outbreak of Covid-19 has proven, therefore forcing enterprises to change to remote working. Most companies that were prepared allowed the employees to work at home seamlessly due to the help of Hosted PBX. That ensures business activities are carried as usual.

When you adopt a hosted PBX, it allows the employees to access the phone system anywhere as long as there is a reliable internet connection. The incredible thing is that calls are forwarded to their laptops or phones without additional costs, software, or equipment.

2. Reliability and Performance

Hosted PBX offers your business increased reliability and security. This is because it will not depend on a landline, thus reduced potential issues.

In addition, business continuity will be guaranteed because the service provider has various servers located in the country.

3. Flexibility

The other advantage is that hosted PBX provides you with unparalleled flexibility. Therefore, your business can easily change the call settings instantly. Cloud PBX enables you to make changes on various settings such as email and voicemail, call transfer and call forwarding effortlessly, or switch them on and off.

This means that you don’t have to wait for the telecom provider or cost your business to implement the needed call settings. That’s why hosting PBX is highly recommended because you can control what you need.

4. Easy To Set Up And Low-level Maintenance

Setting up hosted PBX will take a few days to complete. The good thing, there will be no disruption in your business. If you look at traditional PBX, it requires an on-site infrastructure, and after setting up, it will need maintenance and updates. These will have to be provided by an in-house team.

As discussed earlier, hosted PBX helps your business negates the cost of installing infrastructure and hiring a team full-time to manage your on-site PBX.



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