About hosted phone services
Traditional hardware-based PBX phone systems were once the only real choice for full-featured business phone service. Now, there are several configurations to choose from, including hosted phone services:
- Traditional PBX systems use dedicated telephone hardware located at your business to provide business phone features and call routing
- A software PBX works like a standard premise-based PBX, except it runs on a computer server, instead of dedicated telephone hardware
- A VoIP PBX is a premise-based system that uses VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to connect all the phones in your office, but still needs specific telephone hardware to connect to the external telephone network
- Hosted PBX services process calls and provide business phone features via central data centers, and deliver calls to your offices using VoIP
How it works
The primary difference between a traditional phone system and a hosted phone service is the location where calls are processed. With hosted service the bulk of the call handling is done at a vendor's data center instead of a telephone closet in your office.
When a caller dials your number, it first rings through to the data center. There, an auto-attendant answers the incoming call with a custom message you record. Callers can leave messages, dial direct extensions, choose from a name directory, or select from a menu of options and recorded messages. Calls only reach your office when a direct extension is dialed.
When calls are routed to your office they are sent to their destination using VoIP technology. VoIP allows calls to be delivered over a broadband Internet connection instead of a traditional analog telephone lines.
Requirements
There are few special requirements for setting up a hosted phone service. You'll need a reliable broadband Internet connection, as well as phones that are IP capable. In most cases, you'll be able to keep your existing phone numbers and extensions.
