Success is often a matter of advantage. An edge in production, advertisement, or quality of service can all lead to one company becoming the head of the pack. So it’s only natural that you should give your business every advantage over your competitors.
Not all advantages have to be decisive and overwhelming. Sometimes you build advantage from multiple small efforts working together. You can save money slowly through careful frugal decisions and implement efficient methods over time. These are both good ways to build your company. But there is a something you can adapt that combines small but steady savings and an increase in efficiency.
Why not consider switching your business to PBX, or private branch exchange?
The Basics of Private Branch Exchange Systems
Your business may have multiple phone lines and extensions. A regular phone system can charge you a hefty price providing service to those lines. It can also be a headache to maintain and monitor heavy activity, even if you are in charge of your own telephone lines.
A private branch exchange is a kind of software that links the phones connected to your network together through the internet. It can connect phones within the network with one another and connect incoming calls. The system can intelligently route calls to the right phones, thanks to its programming.
Types of Phone Branch Exchange Systems
There are four major types of phone branch exchange systems. Each system has different strengths and drawbacks, and some are more suitable for some kinds of enterprises than others. Before you adopt any of them, carefully consider some factors. These include the size of your operation, the amount of phone traffic your business receives, and whether or not you have the resources available to support it.
- Traditional Phone Branch Exchange: The basic kind of system, it can link many callers to multiple telephone lines. This kind of system still uses landlines to make and connect calls. This makes it more expensive to operate than other kinds of systems, since it doesn’t use the internet. These are almost always expensive to set-up and to maintain. Your business should avoid getting a traditional system unless you already have one.
- IP Phone Branch Exchange: Although this kind of system is expensive to install, it’s less costly to operate, because it routes calls through the internet. This also means that it is cheaper to run, because monthly rates are lower than a traditional system. The only expensive purchases are for the initial equipment. The only limitation to the number of phone lines this system can host is the band with of your company’s internet. You can use this system if you have your own IT department and can maintain and control the system on your own.
- Hosted Phone Branch Exchange: A business can enjoy the benefits of an IP phone branch exchange system while having lower overall costs through this system. This works in a similar way as the previous system, but a provider hosts the systems outside your company. You only need to pay a monthly fee to have faster and more efficient phone systems.
- Virtual Phone Branch Exchange: This kind of system is like a hosted system, but is controlled and maintained almost purely through the internet, usually by means of a cloud-based platform. This kind of system offers fewer features, and you should consider this if your business has more internal phones calls than external ones.
Innovations in technology are among the best advantages available to businesses. Their affordability and unparalleled reach can even the playing field between large companies and small to medium businesses. Phone branch exchange systems may not be flashy advantages, but they are the right call for a company that wants to expand one sure step at a time.
