What is PBX (Private Branch Exchange)?
PBXBX is a business phone system that gives an office its own extensions, transfers, call menus and queues, so many people can share a few outside lines.
A PBX is what turns a phone line into an office phone system. It decides which phone rings when someone calls, lets the receptionist transfer a caller to accounts, plays the "press one for sales" menu and holds callers in a queue when everyone is busy.
Traditionally a PBX was a box in a cupboard, wired to desk phones. An IP PBX, often called a cloud PBX, does the same job in software. Staff answer from an app or a browser, and the menus, queues and opening hours are changed online instead of by a technician.
Whether to keep an old box or move online depends on how your business works. We go through the signs in "Should you replace the PBX box in your office?"