By Clack Kenneth


PABX is a system which has been very popular with businesses in the past. It has helped control and distribute calls internally and has improved the usefulness of telephone systems, becoming very familiar in the market because of its wide popularity. This technology has now been overtaken by hosted PABX systems, which are taking the World by storm, because they can do everything that was previously possible, and more.

Probably the biggest advantage has been related to cost. This new flavor is cheap enough to be offered to ordinary residential households as well. Compared to the price of previous equipment that was needed, this is unbelievably cheap. The service provider will absorb all the set-up costs.

Coupled with the fact that no specialized equipment is needed, the cost of calls has been sharply reduced compared to the old land line rates. This makes use of VoIP technology, which was always demonized by the existing telephone companies. By cutting costs in this area without reducing usage, there is more money available for improvements in other areas, improving competitiveness for alert businesses.

With this new concept, functionality, apart from internal VoIP links, resides on the hardware of the Service provider, which handles external calls, both local and international, using VoIP technology. The cost of calls has decreased dramatically, and the telephone has become more effective than ever.

There is an advantage to the company in that capital expenditure on PABX equipment is no longer a factor. All that is necessary is a monthly fee, usually based on usage, and this is much less than previous monthly telephone bills. Most companies will already have a hardware capable of handling internal VoIP calls, and there are no extra maintenance costs.

Previously, the capacity, cost and speed of the available data lines was insufficient to handle this sort of application. Recent upgrades mean that this should not present problems for the foreseeable future, although international links might run into capacity problems. The improved communication made possible by this technology is thanks to the ongoing revolution in information.

Companies still using the old-fashioned land-lines should definitely investigate the potential of hosted PABX, as should householders. The cost savings possible can help stretch limited income further. Costs in south Africa are on a rising trend, and any reduction should be gratefully welcomed by everybody . After all, there can be no justification for paying more than you need to.




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