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Types of Commercial Phone Systems Print E-mail

Types of Commercial Phone Systems


A business telephone system can be found under many names - perhaps you are familiar with terms such as;
  • PABX or PBX system
  • Commander or key system
  • VoIP or converged system
  • hosted/Centrex solution
Then again, perhaps you aren't familiar and that's why you're reading this guide! That is perfectly OK, but it won't hurt to recognise some of this terminology to avoid confusion in the future and assist in gaining a better insight into what types of systems are available to your business.

Although between the different types of systems, delivery technologies and other system features do differ (although in some cases not very significantly), all of them are designed to offer your business with the infrastructure top provide 3 basic services:
  • Make calls to customers through the networks of carriers (such asTelstra and Optus)
  • Direct and manage calls into your organisation as efficiently as possible
  • Optimize internal communication

In relatively recent times, a new technology known as Voice over IP (VoIP) has been introduced and  is progessively becoming an important part of telecommunications. VoIP technology involves the alternative routing of  internal calls over data networks, rather than through traditional phone lines. For some businesses, VoIP systems have the capabilities  to provide significant cost savings and other benefits.

PABX (or PBX) Systems

Traditionally, PABX systems have tended to cater for companies with a larger number of employees and provided more advanced functionality than Commander or key systems. PABX systems evolved from the telephone exchanges used by the telephone carriers such as Telstra and Optus, and required entire dedicated equipment rooms to house the central switching equipment. As with most areas of technology and in line with developments in computer technology, the functionality of PABX's has increased dramatically whilst the size of main equipment has gradually declined and can now be rack mounted with a company's IT servers and associated equipment.

Commander or Key Systems

Commander or Key Systems were originally designed for companies with up to 50 employees. While the key system did have all of the core business telephony functions, it did not have some of the more sophisticated applications and features such as ACD or hospitality. On the other hand, the proprietary telephone handsets used on key systems were easier to use with dedicated keys for common functions like hold and transfer and LED's to indicate incoming lines and if other users on the system were on the phone.

Today, the difference between key systems and PABX's is quite blurred following the introduction by major manufacturers of digital "hybrid" systems which can actually be customized to provide either PABX or key system functionality as required. These new hybrid systems have the capability meet the specific requirements of 99% of businesses. PABX's still tend to dominate large corporate environments where more than 1000 extensions are needed or there is a requirement for the telephone system to integrate with specific and complicated applications such large call centres or hospitality front office applications.

VoIP Systems

Voice over the Internet commonly known as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) represents the latest in phone system technology. Using this new technology, regular voice calls are sent over a computer network as opposed to the previous use of traditional phone lines.
In its simplest form, VoIP requires a regular phone, an adapter, broadband Internet service, and a subscription to a VoIP service. When you place a call, it is sent over the Internet as data until it nears the recipient's destination. Then the call is translated back into a more traditional format and completes the trip over standard phone lines. Also known as Internet telephony, this allows for extremely cheap long-distance and international calls.

For more information about VoIP refer to our VoIP Phone Systems Buyer's guide
 

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