Telephones are made huge leaps and milestones in the last half-century or so. In the bygone era, phones calls were actually completed with the help of an operator, in a room full of blinking lights, switchboards, and lots of wires/circuitry. This somewhat archaic system gave way to private branch exchange, or what’s fondly referred to as PBX.
And then entered PABX, which changed the way companies communicate internally and with the outside world. So, what’s the PABX phone system? How does it work? Please read on to get the lowdown.
What is It?
Before we delve right in, let’s take a step back and get to know PBX phone system, the father of modern telephony. PBX is an acronym for Private Branch Exchange. It is essentially a private telephone network a medium or large size company installs. The PBX system connects the company’s office user telephone extensions to the PSTN (the Public Switched Telephone Network) or SIP trunks.
With that said, the PBX phone system makes communication between departments and several company locations easy and dramatically affordable. The thing is that the older version of PBX telephone systems ran on analog technology. Today, however, PBX system has made its way into the digital world. Which brings us to PABX.
In principle, PABX is a digital or automated PBX telephone system. In a standard PABX telephone system, several service provider lines from outside the premise terminate at the company exchange. The system also comprises several internal lines that originate from different offices and lead to the company exchange.
How does PABX Phone System Work?
The fundamental structure of a PABX telephone system is composed of stations and lines. Stations are usual telephone endpoints like fax machines, desk phones, and credit card terminals. Lines are connections from outside the building to the PSTN that is often provided by the service provider. These are essential service provider lines that you get when you subscribe their service.
All the lines from the stations lead to the exchange which happens to be where all the external lines (service provider lines) terminate. That’s where a computer comes into the picture; it manages the calls and switch them from line to another as per the dialed number. A PABX switches/exchanges call without the need for human interactions, hence the phrase Private Automatic Branch Exchange.
The integrity of any PABX system relies on the equipment used and the skills of the installer. For top-notch PABX system installation services, do a little research to zero in on high-quality installer.