What Are the Different Types of PBX Phone Systems?

The phone call is still the first mode of contact between a business and a potential customer in many instances. This means that having a reliable, state-of-the-art PBX system is a crucial decision for any organization. As technology has advanced we have gone from analog exchanges to digital and virtual systems, which means that choosing your ideal phone system solution is becoming increasingly difficult.

What is a PBX Phone System?

PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange, which is a private telephone network used within a business. The users of this PBX share several outside lines capable of making external phone calls - these phone calls are carried out of the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

PBX phone systems used to only be reserved for large enterprises, but over the years the prices in installation and running costs have been reduced significantly; which means any business can now invest in an office phone system.

Features of Yealink PBX phone systems include; welcome messages, call holding, call conferencing, automatic call distribution, a directory of extension numbers, and archiving of call records. There are many other features available depending upon the type of system you invest in and if you require and third-party plugins.

There are three main types of PBX phone systems

Traditional PBX/Analogue PBX

Traditional PBX or analog phone systems exist as a physical exchange box on your company's premises. The overall costs of this type of PBX system may seem higher than other systems, but due to scaling and costs calculated per employee, the price decreases with the number of ports required.

Here, a phone box is used that connects all the on-site phone lines (ISDN lines), the costs are usually higher due to installation, downtime, and maintenance, and support. As traditional PBX systems tend to be more complex and bespoke it requires a certified engineer to fix any issues.

Many businesses prefer to operate on traditional PBX phone systems with their in-house overheads. Usually, this is in the form of a comms room that is looked after by your IT team, it also gives you full ownership of the hardware unlike in other PBX solutions. For companies operating out of one building, the PBX phone system can be just as beneficial as a virtual system.

You can still have all of the same benefits of a PBX but your exchange box is located and serviced virtually by the telecoms provider. Hosted PBX phone systems are the best phone systems for small businesses as they do not require an in-house IT team to manage or maintain any hardware.

VoIP/IP PBX

An IP PBX system is what is also known as a VOIP system (Voice over IP) and delivers voice or video over a data connection. It can also interoperate with the traditional PSTN.

The IP PBX will convert the voice into data and transfer it across the network as packets. Using data networks for voice can significantly reduce the cost of long-distance, and international phone calls; and considerably reduce the overheads of traditional line rentals.

An IP PBX solution is also able to switch calls between VoIP and traditional telephones while still offering the same functionality as your traditional PBX phone system. It is different from a hosted or cloud-based solution as the IP PBX is owned by the business, just as with a traditional PBX.