Website design By BotEap.comThis guide tries to help you understand what exactly IP PBX is and what you need to start a successful IP PBX business.
Website design By BotEap.comFIRST THINGS FIRST – WHAT EXACTLY IS IP PBX?
Website design By BotEap.comYears ago, before the existence of PBX, if a worker wanted to talk to another worker in the same office, the full price of the call was charged; Obviously, this was a huge waste of money for most companies, which is why PBX was invented.
Website design By BotEap.comIt wasn’t always IP PBX… years before the Internet was as widely used as it is today, it was plain and simple: PBX.
Website design By BotEap.comPBX
Website design By BotEap.comIn 1970 the switchboard began to be used. The switchboard was a hardware-based system and was first connected by hand; this is what we call ‘manual call switching’.
Website design By BotEap.comThis is how it worked:
- When someone called the company phone system, the call reached the main switchboard.
- The caller had the option to choose who or what department they wanted to connect with.
- Once he chose where to connect, a receptionist had to manually connect the PBX server to the phone of the person or department he wanted to call.
- Once the call ended, it had to be disconnected.
Website design By BotEap.comObviously, this had many disadvantages. First, companies had to pay someone to connect and disconnect all those cables. Second, the amount of cables running must have caused a real disaster. In addition, these systems were very expensive, so only large companies could afford to have one.
Website design By BotEap.comThat’s why a change was necessary…
Website design By BotEap.comIt wasn’t long before a system was invented to connect those wires automatically.
Website design By BotEap.comNow there were two types of systems:
- ‘private automated branch exchange’ (PABX) – which was the system that connected the cables automatically, and was used by large and rich companies
- ‘private manual branch exchange‘ (PMBX) – the system where one had to manually connect the cables, which was used by regular companies
Website design By BotEap.comSlowly but surely, PMBX disappeared from the market, and only PABX later became PBX, short for ‘private branch exchange’.
Website design By BotEap.comWhen VoIP began to catch on in the 1990s, PBXs began to evolve into IP PBXs (Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange) as businesses found this to be an easy way to save money. Calls over the Internet are charged at a fraction of the price of regular calls.
Website design By BotEap.comOver the years, IP PBXs have improved dramatically and more features are added all the time.
Website design By BotEap.comNOW THAT WE UNDERSTAND WHAT IP PBX IS, LET’S SEE HOW IT WORKS…
Website design By BotEap.comThe IP switchboard is basically a telephone network within a company that allows free calls to be made between different users (internal calls). Calls outside the network (external calls) can also be made, but they probably won’t be free. IP PBX calls are made using VoIP, so even though external calls are charged, they will still be much cheaper than regular phone calls.
Website design By BotEap.comIP PBX offers many features such as call queue, call forwarding, voice mail, call recording, voice menus, etc. more than regular calls.
Website design By BotEap.comFor a business to set up an IP PBX system, they will need an IP PBX server, one or more IP or softphones, and an optional gateway (for external calls).
Website design By BotEap.comThe IP or softphones will need to register with the server in order for the server to have some sort of list of all users connected to it.
Website design By BotEap.comWhen a company worker wants to call another worker, this is what will happen:
- The person who wants to make the call will ‘ask’ the server to establish a connection
- The server has a list of all users and phones and their IP addresses, using these IP addresses internal calls are made
- For external calls, the server will make use of a VoIP gateway or provider
- Users can make calls with the system anywhere they have Internet access. This means that not everyone has to be working from the same office, they can be working from home or from different offices.
Website design By BotEap.comThe IP PBX also handles incoming calls and can easily direct callers to the person or department they want to call.
- The system can be connected to one or several telephone numbers
- Businesses can choose to have a personalized greeting that callers will hear when they call. If there are multiple phone numbers, there may be separate greetings for each number. Businesses can choose to have a personalized greeting outside of business hours only.
- Businesses can choose to have a custom menu where callers can choose which person or department they want to call. Businesses can also choose to have their receptionist answer calls and direct callers to the appropriate person/department.
- Companies can choose to record a message for when someone from the company or department is unavailable.
- The IP PBX system will ensure that the call connection is stable for the duration of the call and that the connection is closed when the call ends.
- There are additional features like call queue, hold, call transfer, etc. that some providers will offer. Businesses can also choose to play music or personalized announcements while callers wait to be connected.
Website design By BotEap.comADVANTAGES OF THE IP PBX FOR COMPANIES
- IP PBX makes internal calls easier, more efficient and free. This contributes to the smooth running of a business.
- If there is an auto menu then it saves money because there is no receptionist answering
- Workers can connect to the system even when they are not in the office. This means workers can easily work from home and still stay connected. Workers can also work from different offices and be connected to the same telephone network. It’s easy to add or remove phones from the system since there are no cables involved. This means that as the business grows, the system can grow with it.
Website design By BotEap.comIn addition to the advantages for the company itself, there are also advantages for the company’s customers.
- It only takes one number for customers to call anyone in the company.
- When the call menu is automated, it saves time as it is faster than when a receptionist has to answer and direct the call and they are less likely to be connected to the wrong person.
Website design By BotEap.comThis also benefits the companies themselves, as customers are more likely to deal with companies that have good phone systems than companies that don’t.
Website design By BotEap.comA NEW REVOLUTION – HOSTED IP PBX
Website design By BotEap.comHosted means that there is no physical IP PBX system in the office. Everything is in the cloud. Companies will basically rent the system from their provider. The system will be in the provider’s office and all the company needs to connect is an Internet connection.
Website design By BotEap.comMore and more companies these days are turning to hosted systems instead of their own because they offer many benefits including:
- no upfront fee
- no installation costs
- when the software is updated, companies with hosted IP PBXs can simply download the update
Website design By BotEap.comThe disadvantage of hosted systems is that there is not as much customization compared to proprietary systems.
Website design By BotEap.comWhen it comes to choosing between hosted or proprietary IP PBX systems, small to medium-sized businesses with up to 300 users are advised to use hosted systems, while large enterprises are better off with their own system.
Website design By BotEap.comWHAT YOU WILL NEED TO START OFFERING IP PBX TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
Website design By BotEap.comYou will need IP PBX software to start offering these services to your customers. This is basically a softswitch with IP PBX module. You can buy or rent one. If you are just starting out it might be better to rent as it is much cheaper. If you are already offering VoIP services and just adding IP PBX, you can use the same softswitch but you will need to get the IP PBX module.
Website design By BotEap.comBefore you can decide what you’ll need to start offering IP PBX services, you need to decide what kind of customers you’re going to target. If you want to offer your services to small and medium-sized companies, then it is best that you offer hosted services. If you want to offer services to larger companies, offer regular IP PBXs. If you are already offering VoIP services to your customers, decide what your customers would prefer and offer it.
Website design By BotEap.comWHAT YOUR IP PBX CLIENTS WILL EXPECT FROM YOU
Website design By BotEap.comWhen you start offering IP PBX systems to your customers, there are a few things they will expect from you:
- As with all VoIP systems, there is an issue with privacy and security. Your customers will want to make sure that the phone numbers of your customers, vendors, etc. are you sure. That is why you will have to show them that you are trustworthy and that you will never give their information to third parties.
- They will expect good quality at a low price.
- They want their system to save them money and time
- It has to be easy to set up
- They may want additional features like voicemail, call forwarding, queuing, waiting, smartphone and tablet options, etc.
- They will also want excellent customer service in case something goes wrong.
Website design By BotEap.comWHAT YOU WILL NEED TO DISCUSS WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS BEFORE STARTING WITH IP PBX…
Website design By BotEap.comWhen you offer your clients IP PBX services you will need to help them decide on a couple of points to help them get the most out of their system:
- What hours of the day will the phone system work? What will happen when I am outside business hours? Will there be a personalized message?
- When will voicemail appear? Only after hours? Or when an extension is busy?
- When multiple calls come in at the same time, how should the server handle them?
- Some IP PBX providers will offer a feature that allows businesses to see what number callers are calling. This is useful for businesses that have multiple phone numbers connected to the same server and want to know which number the caller used to make that call.
- Before the IP PBX can be used, a directory must be created with all the phones that will connect to it.
Website design By BotEap.comBecause the IP PBX market is growing so fast, there are endless opportunities to offer IP PBXs. Whether you want to cater to large, medium or small businesses, if done correctly it can become a very lucrative business.
