A hosted PBX (also called a cloud PBX) is a business phone system that runs in your provider’s data centre instead of in a box in your office. Your phones connect to it over the internet.
What a PBX does
PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. It is the brain of a business phone system: it routes incoming calls, connects internal extensions, runs menus and voicemail, and decides what happens out of hours.
On-site PBX vs hosted PBX
- On-site: you buy the hardware, it sits in your building, changes often need an engineer, and it usually relies on ISDN or analogue lines.
- Hosted: the provider runs it for you, you manage it from a web portal, and phones work from any location with internet.
Benefits of a hosted PBX
- no upfront hardware cost
- works for remote, hybrid and multi-site teams
- automatic updates and security patches
- features such as call recording, queues and analytics built in
- easy to add or remove users as your team changes
Who it suits
From one-person businesses to teams of hundreds. It is especially strong for businesses with staff in more than one place, or anyone facing the end of ISDN.
VoIPer’s VoIP phone systems are hosted PBX systems, set up and supported from the UK.