What is a PBX?

What is a PBX? Anyone intending to buy or replace a small business phone system needs to ask the question. Phone systems have changed more in the last 5-10 years than in the previous hundred years. Today's PBX does not even resemble the PBX of the 1990s. Back then nearly every business with more than 10 employees had a PBX system and usually employed a PBX operator as well. Flash forward to today and not only has the PBX disappeared from view, but so has the PBX operator.

Originally the PBX was designed reduce the cost of phone services by doing two things:

1. Provide a mechanism to share lines or trunks between extensions i.e. employees.

2. Enable employees to make internal calls from one extension to another without incurring a charge from a phone company.

The early PBX systems accomplished these tasks with lots of manual assistance from operators. Over time most of the manual steps were automated by embedding instructions into electronic circuit cards.

Embedded logic PBXs were expensive to buy and maintain. For a business to justify the investment there had to be a minimum number of employees at the same location as the PBX, usually between 10 and 50.

What is a PBX today?

The PBX is still required to deliver on the original mission, but some things have changed:

1. Circuit card based PBXs have been superseded by PBX software that runs on a server or appliance.

2. The modern PBX is an IP or VoIP PBX designed to carry telephone conversations over broadband networks rather than telephone trunk lines.

3. It is the hub of a converged voice and data network. Voice and data no longer require seperate networks. An office phone system no longer requires dedicated PBX wiring.

4. Courtesy of open source PBX software, there are free or nearly free PBX options.

5. An IP PBX does not have to be located on the premises. It can be located anywhere and it can be shared between hundreds or even thousands of small businesses.

6. A Virtual PBX is an option where a small business can access all the features of a sophisticated IP PBX without needing to buy, accommodate or manage it.

SMBs requiring a multi line phone system are now dismissing the idea of installing a PBX. They would rather outsource the responsibility to specialists capable of providing a range of services including toll free numbers, fax, disaster recovery, SIP trunking ...

What is a PBX - in the near future?

Large organizations with IT departments and associated infrastructure can justify the investment in a premise based PBX system. At the enterprise end of the market, voice is just another software application that needs to be maintained by technical specialists.

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