The benefits of an IP PBX (News - Alert) to any enterprise are “similar to and different from the benefits of a VoIP system in general,” according to officials of VOIP-News.com.

Downsizing to one network of communication instead of two, in their view, “creates clear cost savings and a reduction in basic infrastructure wiring. Furthermore, there are significant savings from the lower basic cost of completing external calls.”

But IP PBX “goes even further, bringing greater benefits to enterprises with increased manageability, upgradeablity, and enhanced feature sets.”

Among the specific benefits of an IP PBX over traditional phone systems or PBXs are simply cleaner and simpler infrastructure and lower operating costs. There’s also the simplified equipment and maintenance, unified communications and improved scalability and growth.

There are some call routing features which VOIP-News.com officials recommend you should include in a project:

Automated Attendant

An automatic system to answer phones with the ability to build phone menu systems, add call menus, transfer to voice mail and create flexible and programmable rules to handle all of these features.

Call Menus

Flexible call management menus with user selectable options – a more advanced version of the traditional phone tree/ menu systems. A better-quality system will let you have multiple sets of menus and even change them based on time or on information gleaned from caller ID.

Managing Extensions: Features to help the phone system administrator, such as the ability to add new extensions, remove unneeded extensions, change extension locations and much more from a Web-based control panel.

Call Forwarding

Automatic, programmed or manual call forwarding to any number.

Call Transfer

The ability to transfer calls between extensions without going back to a central switchboard.

Call Parking

Essentially a group hold – put the caller on hold in a waiting area so that any other phone system user can pick the call up.