A Private Branch Exchange, known as a PBX, is an internal telephone network. It exists on-premises as a more traditional telecommunication system. But you can host it from the cloud securely over internet protocols as well. Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange (IP PBX) phone systems are telecommunication devices that can make and receive phone calls over the internet while maintaining analog phones throughout the office. An IP PBX provides voice connectivity to desk phones within a building while overseeing the outgoing and incoming calls across its telephone network using an internet connection.
How does PBX work over internet protocol?
IP PBX phone systems place and receive phone calls over the internet by converting analog voice signals into digital and then directing calls to a VoIP service provider to manage the initiation and termination of every call.
IP-based voice services use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) which become the standard for VoIP phone systems. You could use SIP trunking which offers multiple voice channels for a PBX. On the inner side of a PBX, that remains unchanged. Users can call each other, check voicemail, and set up call groups as they could before. It's by design.
There are a set of credentials for SIP trunking accounts would be given by a VoIP provider. Incoming calls are presented to your PBX to accept after it authenticated once. Your SIP trunk is also an automatic way to reach an outside phone line by users. It is determined by the PBX itself whether if calls are handled internally or relayed over to the PSTN.
Advantages of having a IP PBX system
Voice over Internet Protocol powers both SIP channel and cloud phone systems significantly better than analog-based landlines. Even though an IP PBX server may seem cheaper, it can still come with costs such as maintenance fees and technical bottlenecks.
Cloud PBXs enable you to take advantage of new communication features faster. Your VoIP service provider can offer a full-featured voice solution in the scenario of needing to expand your customer support team which allows you to focus on your customers and not needing to configure a Linux-based PBX server.
If you're already familiar with PBX phone systems, an IP PBX could be a smart stop-gap solution. Additionally, SIP trunk lines are location independent, so you can get up and running in record time if you move offices.
Enhancing your business with an IP PBX brings some benefits:
PBXs can lower communication costs than their analog predecessors as they offer both metered and unmetered trunking services.
A proven VoIP service can higher up your PBX quality to cloud-based reliability with multiple data centers for dependable performance. They can route calls elsewhere whether your PBX goes down or not.
It keeps existing hardware with just a SIP address, password and domain. You won’t need to set up a new hardware to preserve your productivity while getting into a PBX service.
PBX requires minimal change for scaling up the number of voice channels if necessary. SIP trunking as a gateway also helps experiencing the value of a VoIP system.