Out of Favour PBX

Paul Cloudsdale, technical director at O-bit Telecom says the traditional hardware based PBX is rapidly going out of favour with SME and that the hosted alternative is gaining in popularity.

The evolution of PBX and the impact on the channel.

Until recently, Private Branch Exchange (PBX) has been at the cornerstone of the communications infrastructure in most businesses. However, technological developments have meant that in-house, hardware-based PBX solutions have been falling out of favour. Resellers need to understand why the PBX is not as popular and what the main alternatives are, if they are to remain at the front of the pack.

The popularity of traditional PBX is dwindling because it no longer meets the needs of smaller businesses, especially those hit by the recession. Many companies are finding PBX unnecessarily expensive, as it-can't be combined with an existing broadband connection. As well as paying for both of these connections, the business then either has to lease the PBX hardware itself, or try and free up CAPEX budgets to buy a PBX outright. Also, PBX systems are not easy for the end user to configure. If another phone needs to be added, or if users need to be swapped around, it is a difficult and time consuming task. This difficulty extends to technical problems as well, because they require an engineer to be called out to the site -which can sometimes take days -leaving the business without its phone line.

The main thing that SMEs want out of any PBX alternative is flexibility in terms of paying for the solution and setting it up, as well as ease of use with regards to maintenance. For rescuers, this is an excellent opportunity to provide small businesses with the new breed of PBX services -hosted PBX delivering Internet Protocol Telephony (lPT). For many businesses, this offers the perfect alternative to traditional PBX.

Firstly, there is no hardware involved, other than the handsets themselves. The actual PBX is hosted by the service provider, and all the end user needs to do is connect their handset to the network. As there is no hardware to lease, costs are kept down as the end user only has to pay for the handsets, and the monthly costs of the service itself. This also means that hosted PBX only requires a broadband connection, letting businesses avoid the cost of paying for phone and broadband lines. The fact that the PBX is hosted in 'the cloud' also makes it simple for end users to configure their own PBX via a graphical user interface (GUI) that runs inside a traditional internet browser. Adding new users, changing numbers or creating groups, only takes the click of a button, rather than the process of swapping cables over in a physical PBX box.

Another reason why resellers should be seriously considering hosted PBX is because it is easier to set up than standard PBX. Everything can be configured in the systems handling the hosted PBX, rather than having to configure PBX hardware and then send it to the customer to be set up by an engineer. This also means that any problems can be solved by the service provider and don't require an engineer to be called out to the site, reducing the customer's downtime and the call out fees the reseller has to pay.

The fast pace of technological growth in the telecommunications industry means that resellers need to keep an eye on these developments. At the same time, it is also essential to look for changes in the attitude of your customers towards new technology. The right technology at the right moment can provide rescuers with many opportunities and being able to supply hosted PBX means that resellers can stay one step ahead of the competition.

- Comms Business, March 2010, page 61