From small scale businesses through large businesses, the backbone of a business phone system is their PBX, or "Private Branch Exchange." From the rudimentary days of the old switchboard systems, to the vast, feature rich business phone systems of today - it's more than just a means of communication - the PBX is how things get done. Let's have a look at what it takes to bring this technology into your company, or upgrade its existing system.

It's not like deciding on your long distance carrier or cell phone. In those markets, the options are limited and it's mostly one size fits all.

But a PBX is an entirely different decision. Businesses have many different needs and specific desires when it comes to communications. This is one of those decisions that changes everything, determining your ability to scale with future needs and expansion, your ability to leverage the power of the internet in your communications network (with technologies like VoIP,) and your ability to remain bulletproof and immune to services outages, with things like battery backup UPS systems and remote administrative capabilities. To give you an idea of just how crucial these features can be, consider how your business is impacted by this:

You might need to see if you have space for the unit you're considering. A business PBX can vary in size from tiny to huge. A dazzling array of features is no small comfort if you fail to account for the amount of space the unit will take up, especially if you have a small office.

Not only that, but installation is a sobering topic. Many powerful PBX systems take special proprietary setups, extended networking, or wholly gutting your existing phone system to make way for the new. Some can use a standard phone system already in place, or even your basic computer network - though you may also end up sacrificing features for flexibility and convenience. Many times, the proprietary setups use their special connectors and wiring to deliver more data and extra features.

If you'd prefer not fit a PBX into your business's physical location, there are hosting options available. Rather than running the system yourself, a hosted PBX is a standard business phone system, hosted and managed by a provider. The advantage is largely that you can take a hands off approach to the system, and have little investment in equipment. Calls can easily be routed to other numbers as well, such as cells and home phones. The flexibility and low equipment investment can make this an attractive option, or one to consider while you weight the benefits of more powerful installations at your place of business.

"Can you hear me now?" isn't something you want your customers or employees to have to utter. Making sure you're prepared to deal with any communications needs that may crop up is serious demand of modern business. Choosing a good, well rounded PBX to drive your business phone system will ensure that you're capable of seamless integration with other modern technology, such as email and text messaging. Hopefully some of the topics mentioned here have given you some food for thought, while determining what you really need.

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Avaya is one of the biggest companies in the market IP Telephone Systems and communication software.

Avaya continues to combine hardware as the 2400 Series Digital Telephone,5400 Series Digital Telephones,302D Attendant Console and more with their software products like Avaya One-X,IP Office,Phone Application Suite,Callmaster and Call Master to create one communication suite.

Latest Ayaya updates: 2400 Series Digital Telephone, Service Provider Contact Center On Demand, 9610 IP Telephone, one-X Portal, G860 Media Gateway, Directory Enabled Management, ScanSoft SpeechAttendant, Avaya Web Conferencing, Computer Telephony, Witness ContactStore

Another popular suite is Avaya Distributed Office delivers rich communication, collaboration and mobility capabilities to branch offices. This centrally managed, SIP-based communications platform easily scales to meet the needs of large enterprises with distributed sites. Advanced applications, such as presence and instant messaging, can now be delivered to every branch, enhancing responsiveness to customers needs. In addition, mobility features support employees on the go, providing effective communications regardless of location. To reduce staff training requirements, Distributed Office offers an optional key system interface. SIP architecture makes scaling to thousands of sites simple, and Avaya can reduce on-site installation time by delivering pre-configured Distributed Office platforms directly to the branch site. In addition, enterprises can leverage intuitive centralized management tools to decrease set up time; manage updates and upgrades; and provision user moves, additions, and changes.