With telephony jargon being new to many businesses, you may have many questions regarding all of these new concepts, terms and acronyms !
In order to help you better understand what these terms and concepts mean, we have prepared a list of Phone Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's), below:
Q. What is a PBX / PABX ?
Q. What is PSTN & ISDN ?
Q. What is IP ?
Q. Do I need a computer to use voice over IP ?
Q. What is the voice quality of voice over IP ?
Q. Can Voice over IP be used with different phone systems (PBX's) ?
Q. What is an IP-PBX / iPBX ?
Q. What is IVR (Interactive Voice Response) ?
A Private Branch Exchange (PBX) or Private Automatic Branch Exchange (PABX) is basically a phone system designed for private (often) business use. These phone systems provide basic functionality such as free internal calls, call hold, call transfer and voicemail.
The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is the international telephone system in which copper wires are used to carry analogue voice signals.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a newer telephone network in which voice signals are carried using digital technology.
Whether telephone calls are made from either PSTN or ISDN networks is usually hidden from the user.
"Internet Protocol" or IP, is the method (protocol) used to send and receive data between devices over the Internet.
No. VoIP solutions from Maxsum can either integrate with your existing phone system, or replace it entirely. All calls are made and received using a handset on your desk. There is no need to have your computer switched on, nor are there any additional headsets, cables or sockets required!
Excellent. Voice quality is often indistinguishable from that of a traditional PSTN or ISDN call.
Yes. A voice over IP solution from Maxsum can be easily implemented for use between locations with different existing phone systems (PBX's).
An IP-PBX, often written as "iPBX", is a device that provides the functionality of a traditional PBX, but is designed to operate using Internet Protocol (IP), from the ground up.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is a function provided by some PBX's, that allow the caller
to make interactive choices on how a call is handled, depending on their input. For example,
when calling a larger organisation, you can "Press 1 for Sales, 2 for Accounts...".
All PBX's supplied by Maxsum have customisable IVR functionality built-in as standard.
If you have any questions, or there are any telephony terms or concepts that you are unfamilar with, please do not hesitate to Contact Us - we are more than happy to help out !