What they say:
IP Telephony reduces the set-up cost as there is only one data cable going to the desk.
What they don’t:
It reduces the set up cost of the network for sure, but the cost of IP phones are much higher than the analogue ones. And you need an IP phone with inbuilt two port switch to connect the PC or else two network cables need to come to the desk.

What they say:
All interoffice calls are free. Overseas calling is possible at lower rates.
What they don’t:
If you intend to use the same leased line which you have taken for data transfer and if you have some unused capacity in it, then IP PBX brings about a huge benefit. If you intend to take a separate IP data line or a SIP trunk in case of overseas calling, this cost needs to be considered. Of course, overseas calling is indeed possible at lower rates.

What they say:
IP PBX can integrate with your CRM software. You can know who is calling and the previous transactions with that person before picking up your receiver.
What they don’t:
IP PBX can integrate with certain CRM software’s. Some IP PBX do provide API’s but integration costs in that case can run high if your CRM vendor does not support the particular IP PBX. The usage of such a system can be higher for certain employees and lower for others.

What they say:
IP PBX can integrate with Analogue PBX. They are compatible. IP PBX can also connect to your analogue phones.
What they don’t:
Indeed. IP PBX can integrate with analogue PBX but not all the features of the IP PBX can be passed on to the analogue one. And you either need to do analogue tie-lining or PRI integration with your analogue PBX (Assuming that SIP trunking is not supported – most of the older analogue PBX don’t). This process of integration is complicated and would require the support of your legacy PBX vendor (Sometimes additional cards or modules need to be procured).

Analogue phones are supported in IP PBX but separate cards or modules may need to be purchased depending on the no. of analogue ports (FSX).

What they say:
IP PBX can integrate with your Outlook and support outgoing calls by clicking your outlook contact list.
What they don’t:
Even some of the traditional mixed PBX systems can integrate their digital phones with outlook. This technique was called CTI – Computer telephony integration.

What they say:
IP PBX can enable voice mails and auto attendant easily and don’t have a limit on no. of voice mails that can be stored (Depending on the PC or server storage space). They can also enable call recording, call monitoring, barge-in etc.
What they don’t:
Analogue PBX can also enable voice mails and auto attendant but often need integration with a seperate box and may have some restrictions on the same based on the hardware – like no of hours or messages etc. Call recording can also be enabled in Analogue PBX but requires a separate logger which may be quite costly – but comes with a lot of features for retrieval of the recorded calls. Call monitoring and barge-in features can are given by mixed PBX as well.

What they say:
No vendor lock-in (For IP soft switch) and since the PBX is actually a software, the features and functionalities can be upgraded in future. Additional extensions can be added easily by purchasing licenses.
What they don’t:
This is not valid for hardware based IP PBX. The features and functionalities can be upgraded in the future, but for a cost. There is no vendor lock except for maybe the interfaces for connecting the analogue trunk lines and extensions. Additional extensions can be purchased on-line and added easily but sometimes the no. of such extensions that can be added might depend on your hardware configuration of your server. And there might be some limitations on the no. of concurrent calls supported by the IP PBX software.

While IP PBX does save a lot of operational costs, certain amount of set up costs and integrate with your applications and bring in new features and functionalities much easier than the Analogue PBX/Mixed PBX systems, it is good to consider the above factors while evaluation.

Click here to read about 25 Advantages of IP PBX over Traditional / Analog-Digital PBX.

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