PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange and it is a private
network of telephones connecting different nodes inside a single company. All
the telephones within an organization are interconnected to form a complete
network. The telephone PBX system
enables users to connect to each other within the system, and also make calls
to external telephone lines. A number of outside lines are shared by all the
users of the PBX for the purpose of making the external phone calls. The
telephones are connected to the external PSTN or Public Switched Telephone
Network, VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol, and SIP Trunks.
The telephones in a telephone PBX system may
use either the regular telephone lines, or the internet for making these phone
calls. PSTN was used in the earlier years of the PBX system and nowadays, VoIPs
are in vogue, since such networks have a number of additional features and
benefits. You have 4 types of PBX systems available these days and they are:
·
PBX
·
Hosted/Virtual PBX
·
IP PBX
Using the internet to make telephone calls is far cheaper
than the traditional telephone lines. A major advantage of using a PBX is that the
telephone calls among the different nodes in the PBX are absolutely free. This
helps cut down a lot on the telephone costs. Calls to external agents are charged
at the usual rates. A single phone number is used for all the shared
telephones. They are differentiated using the extension number of each
telephone. There are several types of software available for this purpose, each
offering their own features and benefits.