A PABX system allows a company to have many phone lines within an office while only having a few connections to the wider public network. This saves the company money since leasing and installing outside lines can get very expensive.
A private branch exchange (PBX) is a telephone network that is operated and administrated internally within a company. PABX stands for Private Automatic Branch Exchange. In the past calls were routed manually by an operator. The ‘automatic’ part of the term PABX refers to the fact that this is now performed through specialized equipment or software.
A PABX system allows companies to switch between multiple internal phone extensions while having minimal lines to the external phone network thus saving money. The PABX acts as a private telephone exchange that routes internal calls between extensions within a company and links an extension to the public network only when an outside line is required by the user.
A PABX system consists of software and hardware elements. These can include routers, fax machines, modems, switches, and adapters and, typically, specialized handsets that are provided to users. The main benefit of such systems is that they simplify both internal and external communications between users. Within a company, a user needs only type an extension number to be connected. When an outside call is received such systems also allow callers to type the internal extension of the person they need to contact. When a line to the public telephone network is required a user simply presses a specified key and then dials the number required.
PABX systems come with many features that make them particularly useful to a business. Some of these features include the following:
Automatic Ring Back – if a specific extension is busy the system will automatically ring the user that called when the extension is free
Call Forwarding – incoming calls can be routed to other extensions when required (for instance when the user of the extension is not in the office)
Call Pick Up – lets a user pick up a call that is ringing on another extension
Call Recording – Calls can be recorded for security or training purposes
Call Transfer – a call in progress can be handed off to another extension
Conference Call – multiple users can be assigned to a single call
Ring Groups – various extensions can be assigned to a group with features that enable calls to be automatically assigned to members within the group based on criteria that you set.
These are only some of the features that a modern PABX system provides and modern systems come in many varieties to suit specific business needs.
