The Hosted PBX: Helping Businesses Be Efficient
By
MAE KOWALKE TMCnet Associate Editor for Channels
The value proposition offered by a
hosted PBX or other managed service is nothing new to businesses: companies can operate more efficiently when they can get down to business rather than managing their technology infrastructure. What is new about a hosted PBX is the ability to have a completely outsourced phone system. In the past, the advantages offered by a hosted PBX would have been difficult or impossible to deploy. But thanks to the advent of Internet Protocol, a hosted PBX is not only possible but has become very popular.
With a hosted PBX, the heavy lifting of managing the phone system is handled by the provider. The enterprise gets the advantage of a hosted PBX in which routine changes are easy to make using a web based interface. The enterprise pays a monthly subscription fee for the hosted PBX, and in return gets a fully managed phone system.
A hosted PBX comes with
advanced PBX functionalities (like
auto attendant and
dial by name directory ) as well as advanced features (like
email notification and
click to call). These hosted PBX features require no large, initial capital expenditure on equipment. That is because the provider of the hosted PBX owns the equipment, and keeps it up to date at all times.
An enterprise using a hosted PBX can choose which features are important, and pay an appropriate price for those features. Another cool aspect of a hosted PBX is its built in disaster recovery redundancy, letting an enterprise redirect calls to another location if the office becomes inaccessible.
In many cases, a hosted PBX uses SIP, an emerging, open protocol that is quickly becoming the industry standard for VoIP. A SIP based hosted PBX is compatible with many third party solutions. For example, video calling can be set up for the hosted PBX using a soft phone. Also, any SIP phone can be used with an Internet connection from any location to access a SIP based hosted PBX. This means that hosted PBX users can access the corporate system even when traveling or working at home.
A hosted PBX also offers mobile use features like
voicemail-to-e-mail or SMS,
sequential ring groups, and
find me. These hosted PBX features mean that customers will always be able to find an answer to their question, even if the person they are trying to reach is out of the office.
Resellers, and corporate customers with IT staff dedicated to application development, will also find another aspect of a hosted PBX appealing: the ability, using a
Web Services API, to build custom admin and user portals for the hosted PBX. This ability gives the hosted PBX even more power, by becoming not just an out of the box solution, but one that can be customized as well.
With so many advantages existing for a hosted PBX, it is no wonder that this type of phone solution has become so popular!
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Mae Kowalke previously wrote for Cleveland Magazine in Ohio and The Burlington Free Press in Vermont. To see more of her articles, please visit
her columnist page.