Companies of any size need a worthy phone system. At its heart is something called a private branch exchange, or PBX, that delivers the dial tone, routes incoming telephone calls to the correct extensions, and provides features such as voice mail, call forwarding, conferencing, voice recognition and more.
A PBX isn’t cheap–and that puts smaller operations that can’t afford one at a significant disadvantage. Enter “hosted” PBX, which aims to let small shops communicate just like their bigger competitors.
The advent of Internet-based telephone services, such as Voice over Internet Protocol, has reduced the cost of single-line services. And the ability to make unlimited long-distance calls over VoIP connections has made it possible for employees working in different locations to keep in touch as often and for as long as necessary. Even so, the features that office-based workers take for granted in their enterprise phone systems may be out of reach for smaller organizations.
A typical PBX consists of a set of external phone lines, a centralized server system, a set of internal phone lines, and a console from which all connections are manually configured. Traditionally, a PBX’s nerve center and its thick tangle of cables reside on a patch board in a closet. Not so with hosted PBX.
Now, a single, high-performance PBX can be located anywhere in the world and connect its users across the Internet. This provides greatly increased economies of scale so that thousands of users can share the expenses of a single sophisticated PBX. Beyond the ease of installation and maintenance, most hosted PBX systems come with advanced features, such as connection via a personal computer (“click-to-call”), automatic call recording and even integration with customer management software. And you get all of this for perhaps 25% of the price of hardware-based solutions.
This new breed of hosted PBX services is now able to deliver the same levels of service and features through VoIP connections to organizations as small as two employees. And not only can these systems support small work groups; companies also can add users whenever and wherever they need by simply adding a user account to their virtual PBX and connecting a VoIP telephone to the user’s high-speed Internet connection.
Diversity Of Offerings
While hosted PBX offerings vary in features, pricing and equipment, all eliminate the hassle of installation at a central location. And all those hairy issues typical of traditional PBX systems–like hardware failure, software updates and compatibility–are simply not issues for customers of hosted PBX systems. Likewise, the provider is responsible for its connectivity, both to its customers, who connect their VoIP phones through their high-speed Internet connections, and for their connections to the standard telephone networks that let their customers connect with traditional telephone numbers.
The other nice thing about these systems: Customers can configure nearly all aspects of their phone services. These functions can include adding users, setting up call routing, establishing call restrictions and permissions and reviewing call logs. Each of these functions would normally be part of an organization’s PBX system. The difference here is that the management functions are handled through a Web browser rather than at a console connected directly to the PBX.
About VorTech Services, INC
VorTech Services, INC, is a leading provider of Hosted Phone Systems (“Hosted PBX”) and Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) services for emerging growth and mid-sized businesses based in the United States. VorTech makes buying or upgrading a business phone system extremely cost effective, easy to manage, and even reduces monthly telecommunications expenses. Our platform offers better scalability and business continuity options compared to customer premise based phone systems. We provide the lowest total cost of ownership by eliminating the need for customers to buy expensive hardware and software that usually resides in a phone closet. Expensive service contracts are also a thing of the past. VorTech seamlessly interconnects multiple offices and mobile workers with our national footprint, and we have the perfect calling plan to meet virtually any business requirement.