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What is the Difference Between Hosted PBX and a Traditional PBX?

A hosted PBX provider will help you save money on hardware costs and maintenance upgrades.

Thanks to the Internet (which many people now like to reference as "the cloud"), many technologies at different locations can be accessed and shared across the web. Traditionally, businesses required a PBX that was large, required lots of power, and was expensive to maintain. Traditional PBXs also required physical copper phone lines and phone trunks, which were prone to noise and almost impossible to reroute during emergencies or outages. Therefore, a majority of businesses have started to make the switch to a hosted PBX solution for a more upgraded, tech-forward system that is feature-packed.

By using their existing Internet connections, businesses can now connect with VoIP providers that operate very large state of the art PBXs and rent extensions to businesses for affordable rates.

Switching to cloud hosted PBX allows businesses to throw away their old internal PBX and save both space and power; but more importantly, businesses will now have access to all of the enterprise level, state of the art features not available in their legacy PBX. And the best part is that any business of any size can no matter the size of their business. Maintenance costs for software upgrades, adds, moves and changes are also eliminated, saving you hundreds or thousands a month for telephone service.

How Can a Cloud Hosted PBX Benefit Me?

A Hosted PBX solution will help you save on monthly maintenance costs and costly hardware upgrades.

Choosing a hosted PBX system for your business has big benefits. Cloud hosted PBX service can help you and your business in the following ways:

Eliminates maintenance costs for software upgrades, adds, moves and changes
Provides state of the art enterprise level features (and often times for free)
Provides higher quality voice connections and is more fault tolerant
Ease of use for staff and administrators via user and admin portals
Integration with state of the art CMS and CRS systems like Salesforce, Quickbooks, and other software
The price! Because with VoIP you can save thousands compared to a traditional PBX

These are just a few of the ways in which a hosted PBX system can help take your business to the next level. If you want to get yourself a Hosted VoIP, you need to know a little more in order to make the most out of your investment.

What should I expect from my Hosted PBX provider?

Hosted PBX solutions provide customers with enterprise-grade features and extensive functionality.

All VoIP providers are not created equal, and like most service-oriented businesses, each VoIP provider will target a group or segment that best suit their capabilities. Shopping for a cloud hosted PBX provider can be simple and quick if you take a few minutes to gather your thoughts and create a list of your absolute needs as well as your wish list. Some things that we think you should consider when evaluating VoIP providers is if they provide the following free services:

Keep my existing phone number (local number portability )
Auto Attendant
Conference Calling
Enhanced Voicemail
Call Recording
CMS and CRS integration
Fully automated data backups and software upgrades
Call Forwarding
Provide and easy to use web-based user interface to manage your users/extensions

All VoIP providers will connect your calls to traditional landlines and mobile networks, and vice-versa. You place your calls just like you would on your traditional PSTNnetwork. Most providers (but not all) also offer a toll-free service on 800 and 8XX, and give charge per number and per month for toll-free numbers (in addition to per-minute charges). So if you need a toll-free number, check and compare prices with providers before you commit.

One the biggest differentiators between business VoIP providers will be their customer service. Read the reviews pertaining to each provider on this site, and use our innovative plot graph to see all reviews across our featured providers. You will see some that some providers rate better with small to very small businesses while other providers like RingCentral are better at catering towards mid-sized and enterprise businesses. Read our user reviews in order to get a better look at each business VoIP provider.

What is a Virtual PBX?

A Virtual PBX requires less hardware and no maintenance than an on-site PBX

As mentioned above, a virtual PBX is another term for a type of hosted PBX. The term “hosted PBX” means that your PBX is hosted by a VoIP service provider.

Many virtual PBXs require a full PBX hardware and software system to operate, but you don’t have to own any of the PBX components yourself. Instead, your VoIP service provider owns and manages the PBX hardware system and provides you with PBX service from a remote location. You never have to buy, own, or operate any hardware yourself. This, in turn, helps you save money because you are not staffing anyone for regular maintenance, or buying additional expensive equipment.

The term virtual PBX may also refer to a cloud PBX. A cloud PBX is a PBX that is hosted almost entirely on the Internet. Cloud PBXs eliminate the need for traditional hardware of a PBX and do not have a physical location. Rather, all of your data is stored online through cloud technology. This means that a virtual PBX can be easily connected with any computer, tablet, mobile phone, or VoIP phone from any location without any kind of physical plugging in.

Cloud PBXs are hosted by a service provider in that the service provider designs and implements the cloud PBX, and the cloud technology is hosted by their server..

How is a Virtual PBX Different From an IP PBX?

A Virtual PBX requires less hardware and less maintenance than an IP PBX.

With an IP PBX, you own and operate the PBX system in your own office. However, the overarching problems with owning an IP PBX includes limited functionality, constant maintenance and upkeep, and a lack of mobility. If you have your own digital IP PBX, it may be composed of some hardware and some software components, or it may be entirely composed of software. Still, owning a digital IP PBX will require you to keep tabs on your system.

But with a virtual PBX, your only business requirement is IP phones and a computer with Internet access. This drastically reduces your maintenance, upkeep, and equipment costs.

With a virtual PBX, you can have an almost unlimited number of phone extensions for your office. However, many virtual PBX service providers will only include a certain number of extensions in each plan. For example, the Pro plan with RingCentral includes 10 extensions, while the Office 300 plan with Phone.com includes unlimited extensions.

You can also use your virtual PBX VoIP system to provide extensions for employees working in different locations all over the world. Because a virtual PBX is hosted online, you aren’t limited to phone lines at a single specific geographical location for your service.

Virtual PBXs are the most basic type of virtual phone system. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can get more advanced virtual PBXs with more features, or cheaper virtual PBXs with fewer features.

What are the Advantages of a Virtual PBX?

A virtual PBX has no hardware, great enterprise features, and an affordable price tag.

Installation is easy with virtual PBX because you don’t have to buy any hardware for the system.

And virtual PBXs are frequently very cheap. In some cases, they may be your cheapest option for PBX service. Top-rated providers like Corenexa offer PBX solutions that are affordable for consumers with any size business.

However, you should note that pricing for virtual PBXs doesn’t always include phone service. With many VoIP service providers, you will also have to be sure to get a business VoIP phone solution as well.

Virtual PBX VoIP systems may also include lots of useful features:

Music on hold
Auto Attendant
Faxing
Voicemail
Unlimited extensions
Dial-by-name directory
Custom greetings

Who Uses a Virtual PBX?

A Virtual PBX is suitable for companies who want to keep their costs low and do not require on-site equipment.

Not everyone is a perfect fit for a Virtual PBX. Virtual PBX's benefit businesses that want to keep their equipment off-site, keeping maintenance and upgrade costs down. A Virtual PBX is also great for businesses that have workers who travel or work off-site; the system allows them to connect in and take advantage of the Virtual PBX features without having a physical desk and phone. Some of the biggest benefits of a virtual PBX are:

No equipment cost or maintenance, since all equipment is hosted by the provider off-site
Scalable and flexible. See changes (additional lines, features, etc.) almost instantly
Free local and long distance calling because your calls are sent over the Internet
Cheap international calling rates
Enterprise features

Virtual PBXs may be very minimal. You should shop around before settling on a virtual PBX to see how various companies stack up based on their included features and overall cost. Some of the more fully-featured virtual PBXs are likely to cost more, but the less expensive virtual PBXs may not be able to provide the services that you need.

OK I’ve Made My Decision to Switch To Hosted PBX VoIP Service. What's Next?

Switching to a hosted PBX will help reduce your overall spending, provide you with enterprise-grade features, and boost your business' productivity.

Beyond the time-saving and free features, the benefits of a cloud hosted PBX system are pretty clear:

Reduced spending: There’s really no denying that building up your own private phone network can put a lot more at stake than just how much you’re going to spend on it. Aside from just the extra hardware, there’s labor involved. In more drastic cases, you might even have to remodel an office, when in reality you could’ve just made a few clicks and few calls to your VoIP provider. Cut spending on upkeep and maintenance, and you’re free to invest in other areas of your business.

Different strategies: It is important to remember the flexibility offered by a Hosted PBX service lets you execute bigger strategies than ever before. Bigger strategies are usually the result of having more room to combine various tactics. It hardly matters what kind of hierarchy or chain-of-command your business follows. As long as communications become seamless and easy, there’s a lot more you can get done. It gives you the freedom to focus your business on what really works.

Availability for everyone: Different connections provided by your own Hosted PBX provider still go both ways. They can make it easier for you to contact somebody, and vice-versa. Connectivity is simple yet effective, no matter the distance.

With hosted PBX service you get the benefits of a big-business-style phone system without the expensive equipment cost of an IP PBX phone system. Each of the hosted PBX providers above offer service at reasonable rates..

Data Collection and Scheduling

Collect all pertanent information to configure and test the system prior to installation and training.