Benefits of a hosted PBX

Hosted PBX

Introduced in the late 1990s, hosted PBX (Private Branch Exchange) provides PBX service over the internet/telephone. Unlike conventional phone systems, hosted PBX users can access all features of the system, regardless of their physical location. Services can be customized for each user. These are major advantages for organizations having geographically distributed offices with a single administrative location and those with mobile, remote and home employees. Hosted PBX systems are compact and occupy a fraction of the space occupied by legacy PBX systems. The servers at the service provider site form the seat of intelligence of a hosted PBX service.

Hosted PBX provides a distinctive cost-advantage. High entry costs and the need for frequent expensive on-site equipment maintenance and upgrades are eliminated in a hosted PBX system. The only initial investment for a hosted PBX solution is on the standards-based routers and IP phones, whereas legacy phone systems need to be upgraded almost every few years. Hosted PBX does not require the employment of expensive IT professionals to maintain the system. It provides the benefit of low total cost of ownership. Administration, upgrades and repairs can be performed remotely, and services are available in real time to users. The voice communication cost of each user in a hosted PBX system can be monitored using a web-based tool.

Hosted PBX provides the advantage of need-based payment facility to users and reduces the net service bill. A hosted PBX phone system provides features such as auto-attendant, call forwarding, call conferencing, voice-to-email, etc., and it also provides excellent call handling capabilities and enables seamless routing of calls to any phone across locations.

Hosted PBX systems do not have capacity limitations. Hosted PBX is easy to scale-up, upgrade and keep synchronized with newer technologies. Hunt groups and call queues can be changed easily and extensions can be included, removed and changed by the click of a button.

With almost 99.999% reliability, hosted PBX services have a reliability edge over conventional PBX systems. Even in case of a disaster, hosted PBX systems continue to function and remain universally accessible.

During internet outages, users will not be able to make or receive calls, but incoming calls will continue to be processed by the hosted PBX system, since the associated servers are located at the service provider's site. The caller will be able to hear recorded messages and record voicemail. This minimizes the impact of any outage.

Hosted PBX solutions work well across carriers, technologies and geographies and are interoperable with devices from various vendors. Hosted PBX solutions work with analog phones, VoIP phones, mobile phones and PBXs using trunks or ISDN-PRI.

Hosted PBX is an ideal option for new small and midsized organizations requiring implementation of disaster recovery for their voice communication. An efficient option for many organizations, hosted PBX enables enhancement of existing phone systems with flexibility and newer features. Hosted PBX acts as a viable alternative in locations that do not have VoIP options, and is widely used in call centers, to enable operators to work from various locations and across time zones.