What Is the Difference Between PBX and PABX?

Adopting the right phone system is an important decision for most businesses. As your company grows, so does the need for an agile and feature-proof solution. That’s why most companies look for a durable and scalable system to meet heavier internal and external communication load as time passes.

Despite plenty of information made available to walk you through the communication systems, terminology often confuses non-tech savvy readers. This article aims to address the two important terms, PBX and PABX, to help you wrap your head around the concepts and ease your search for a perfect solution.

What Is PBX?

PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. It’s a telephone system that allows users to communicate using external phone lines. That’s a basic definition, but there are different ways in which this can be realized. Examples included popular traditional and virtual systems:

• Traditional system creates an internal network using physical copper-based wiring that’s connected to a PBX box. It helps companies to handle internal communication without additional costs, while a number of external lines are available for incoming external calls.
• A virtual PBX is a cloud-based option that solely relies on the Internet to make and receive calls. This option is ideal for easy automation, as well as routing to VoIP extensions, or landlines. It is also deemed favorite amongst small businesses, as it requires little upfront investment costs.

What is PABX?

PABX is short for Private Automatic Branch Exchange and to put it simply – it’s an automated PBX system. In the early days of business telephony, traditional PBX systems required switchboard operators to connect calls by manually plugging wires to circuits.

PABX models, on the other hand, can automatically connect the calls. This erases the need for additional on-site operators and allows to lower telco costs. PABX also integrates features like voicemail, video conferencing, and automatic ringback.

Difference between PBX and PABX

You might wonder how PBX ceases to exist, since no one uses the manual switchboard for their business any more? The answer is simple – all PBX systems are now automated and therefore evolved to be PABX systems instead. The best way to think about PBX and PABX is to consider them synonyms.

PABX Features

Phone system features are amongst the most important criteria for making your final decision. Some of the most eye-catching tools include:

Auto-attendant

An auto-attendant is a voice menu that connects callers to a relevant extension. Its job is to make sure every customer is placed in a queue or redirected to voicemail. For the best efficiency, businesses can also set up different modes for during and out of business hours. This way, the customers will be directly forwarded to voicemail when employees are away from the desk.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

IVR is an advanced version of the auto-attendant feature. Instead of simply placing the call in a queue, it proceeds to ask common ‘yes/no’ questions and help shorten the queue or direct you to the employee who is qualified to respond to your set of issues. IVR can also collect basic information before a human attendant gets on the call.

Voicemail

Apart from typical voicemail functions, some cloud-based solutions take it a step further. For instance, the voicemail to email option helps with automated transcription, in turn making it easier for your team to respond to voicemail. By having a quick preview of the voice messages, you can also more effectively prioritize messages that require immediate attention. Other options, such as the Do Not Disturb (DND) function, helps block calls to specific extensions and route them directly to voicemail.

Automatic Call Recording

The option to record the call can be set up directly through the software of your PBX without the need for additional hardware. Call recording is a popular feature especially for quality control and staff training. In some countries and industries, it is also legally required.

Call Groups

This feature adds different employee extensions to one shared ring group. When the customer calls, all phones of the groups ring until the available employee picks up. It’s an efficient way to lower the number of unanswered calls, and make sure that there are always backups when the customers are calling individual extensions.

Call Parking

This feature allows employees to place a conversation on hold and move it to a different line. This is important for agents that want to transfer a call to an appropriate team or take the issue to senior management.

Benefits

These features help you efficiently manage your business communication and here are main benefits that you can expect from adoption of a modern PABX solution:

Cost Savings

Automated switching dismisses the need to hire a dedicated team to manually manage extensions. Plus, many vendors offer a subscription-based or pay-as-you-go model for their offerings helping you maximize your telco savings.

You can choose the tailored package that fits your specific needs from any provider who catches your eye. This is very different from the traditionally small pool of traditional PSTN providers available in the area.

Improved Customer Service

Customers want to quickly reach agents in good time to resolve their problems. PABX systems have the potential to help businesses upscale their customer service through simple automations. With functions like routing, IVR, and call groups better call management is easy even during periods of peak traffic. The customer satisfaction is instantly boosted when the callers aren’t stuck on a busy line and get attended to right away.

Scalability

Cloud-based PABX systems are a perfect fit for a growth-stage startup, as they allow businesses to easily scale up in peak season and down during the off-season. It can be done with a simple click of a button, unlike traditional systems that heavily rely on costly and irreversible hardware upgrades to accommodate these changes.

Final Words

Almost everyone today relies on an automated system to fully equip themselves for a turbulent and ever-changing landscape of customer service and business communications. Since a complete automation take-over, distinctions between PABX and PBX lost their value. Instead, customer’s attention is entirely focused on the individual mix of features that can empower their business.
For more information about the best communications solutions and endless resources and topics to maximize your experience, please visit VoIP-info.org.