VoIP Versus Premise-Based PBX

A VoIP service provider takes the place of a telephone company in providing phone and fax services. VoIP service providers use their secure and private networks to manage unified communication functions of a VoIP phone system. Here are ways that a VoIP phone system differs from a traditional, premise-based PBX system.

Equipment:

Premise-based PBX: Businesses need to buy or lease all phone system equipment, including the necessary internal phone switching network and store it all onsite.

VoIP: None. A hosted VoIP PBX service maintains all the necessary equipment offsite in its secure facility.

Business Lines:

Premise-based PBX: Businesses need to install multiple phone lines.

VoIP: No phone lines are needed, just a broadband connection.

Phones or Handsets:

Premise-based PBX: Businesses need to purchase phones or handsets for each employee.

VoIP: Businesses can use their existing phones or purchase IP phones. Often times, VoIP service providers offer its subscribers IP phones for free or reduced rates.

Phone Bill:

Premise-based PBX: Businesses pay an outgoing call rate, plus additional charges for toll and long distance calls, as well as fees for additional phone lines.

VoIP: Businesses pay a low monthly service fee to their VoIP service provider, as well as the monthly fee to the provider of their broadband connection.

Ongoing Service and Maintenance:

Premise-based PBX: Businesses must pay to service and maintain their premise-based PBX equipment.

VoIP: None, since the VoIP service provider hosts the equipment.

An email fax facility is quite simple to use; and all you need is the document either saved on your PC or indeed you can scan it in. So, once you have the paperwork you need to send saved on your PC, there are no limitations to where you can send your fax from; you can even send them from your laptop as you are commuting home on the train by simply hooking up to a wifi hotspot.

An online fax service is an excellent and quick way to send large documents to recipients who have either standard fax lines or indeed online fax. A online fax uses VoIP technology, and many VoIP providers will supply you with a fax number free of charge for a limited period of time so that you can receive faxes too, straight to your computer, wherever you are.

An online fax is not only far more convenient than a standard machine; it is much more private; you do not need to worry about leaving the office and your faxes arriving for everyone to see any more. When you have an incoming fax, your VoIP provider will give you a notification, and you can even have it set up as an email alert.

An online fax allow you total privacy as you can saves all your sent and received faxes in your computer hard drive, and you need only print out the one that you really need. Online faxing really is like emailing, except that you can send large documents in an instant. Whereas with an email you would painstakingly be trying to upload the attachments only to find that they were too big, with an online fax service, your faxes will be sent in an instant, no matter how small or large.

The online fax service has brought about a rebirth of the fax and fax machine, the antiquated method of sending documents once again being used all over the world by people with and without VoIP technology. It has been estimated that within ten years all small businesses will use VoIP providers for their calls, and this will of course amplify the online fax business tremendously too.