- Start saving up to 30%
- Plans as low as $10/month
- Work from any device
- Call forwarding, analytics, and business texting
- Flexible pricing plans
- Get a new number or bring your own
- Free additional phone lines
*Promotional discount of 40% off the standard rate applies to monthly recurring voice extension charges for up to 99 lines. Offer available for new accounts only, and only for purchases completed online. Discount does not apply to add-ons, features, hardware, or one-time charges. Taxes and fees not included. Services and billing will continue until canceled. You may cancel at any time through the Vonage online portal or by calling customer care, but cancellation within the contract term is subject to Early Termination Fees up to the total price of your service contract. To apply the discount, choose a plan and enter the promo code 40PERCENTOFF on the payment screen when you checkout online. Offer valid through 7/5/2023
What is a PBX Phone System?
PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange, which is a private telephone network that's used within a company. Traditionally, companies utilizing a PBX system would have specific proprietary phones for the software. Nowadays, however, most companies use Open-Standards-based IP-PBX, which allows the companies to use the IP in VoIP as the transport technology. Besides saving your company money, a PBX phone system bypasses many of the traditional phone system delays, such as
- Ring groups
- Queues
- Voicemail, and more
A Private Automatic Branch Exchange is slightly different than a traditional PBX system in that calls and exchanges are taken care of automatically, as opposed to via a live operator. Most systems nowadays are in fact PABX systems even if only referred to as PBX. It's important to understand all of the details associated with PABX systems in order to make the most of it in your company.
You want to learn more? Try our ultimate guide to a PBX phone system.
Benefits of PBX for Business
As your company grows you’ll need to scale your VoIP system as well—and a PBX system is the best way to link all of the phones in your company together, even across multiple locations.
Here are some of the benefits to incorporating PBX in your business:
- Central control - The receptionist feature allows external callers to access your company through 1 phone number and PBX technology allows multiple callers at once.
- Simple internal communication - When you call another employee at the office through a PBX the call is rerouted internally and doesn’t go outside the building like traditional phone systems which incur a charge.
- Useful features - For example: Auto attendant, which replaces a traditional receptionist and cuts out wait time for callers, and call routing/follow-me, which enables you to forward calls from your office phone to any other phone in the exchange system.
- Maintenance-free system - Since a PBX uses the internet for calls, you save money on equipment—which means less maintenance than traditional phones and lines.
Hosted PBX Vs. On-Premise PBX
Hosted PBX is where the provider hosts the PBX and handles the technology that provides the service, while on-premises PBX is, as you’ve probably guessed, where the technology is stored on the premises of the company. The IP routing of on-premise PBX may use more current technology than hosted PBX.
Here are some of the main differences between hosted and on-premise PBX:
| Hosted PBX | On-Premise PBX |
|---|---|
How to Choose
When deciding between a hosted PBX and an on-premise PBX, the question basically comes down to your company’s size and IT capabilities and needs:
| Hosted PBX | On-Premise PBX | |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended For |
Here’s a breakdown of the choices. If your company is small and needs to stay conservative with money, and also doesn’t have the proper in-house IT capabilities, it’s probably better that you start out with a hosted PBX system. If, however, your company has in-house IT capabilities that can handle its own phone system’s needs, then the on-premise PBX is the way to go.
Our Top 3 Picks
- 1
Tailor VoIP solutions to your industry's unique ...- No. of users - Unlimited
- Pricing - From $13.99/month/user
- Best for - Remote companies seeking mobility
Tailor VoIP solutions to your industry's unique d...Read Vonage ReviewVonage - Best for reliability with 99.99% uptime
Vonage Business emerges as a veteran in the UCaaS landscape, delivering a robust mix of VoIP, SMS, live chat, and video functionalities. This experience translates into a smoother operation than you might find with newer platforms, offering a reliable and refined communication solution for businesses of all sizes.
The platform has 41 built-in features that enhance collaboration, customer engagement, productivity, and employee experience. Agents get tools like Call Announce, which previews the caller's identity and purpose, while managers can access the Busy Lamp Field, showing which lines are active.
Kevin Peña, Strategic Partnerships Manager at Headsets.com, says, "Since moving to Vonage Business Communications, we have team members working in both home and office stations. They’re able to log in from wherever they are that day seamlessly. We can log in to our VBC accounts and make or receive calls from a cell phone just as easily as an office phone. It’s a simple, user-friendly interface that keeps calls, voicemails, and messages all in one place."
Why we chose Vonage: It offers unique industry-specific solutions for sectors like healthcare, retail, education, and finance. Take healthcare, for instance: the platform enables you to route patients directly to the most suitable medical professional for their particular needs. Also, features like the VisuWell app center integration ensure HIPAA-compliant virtual visits, enabling medical professionals to connect with patients on almost any device.
Our experience: When we integrated Vonage into our operations, the fully customizable virtual AI receptionist saved us a lot of headaches. It allowed us to set up dependable call routing for holidays, lunch, after-hours, and emergencies. With the AI virtual assistant, managing customer engagement became significantly easier for our agents.
Vonage Pros & Cons
PROS
Video conference with up to 200 participantsNo user limit on lower-tier plansCan flip live calls between devicesCONS
Mobile plan lacks single sign-on for in-app authenticationLocal phone number costs an extra $4.99/month - 2A leading business VoIP platform
- No. of users - Unlimited
- Pricing - From $20/month/user
- Best for - Internal team collaboration and task management
A leading business VoIP platformRead RingCentral ReviewRingEX - Best VoIP provider overall
RingCentral’s RingEx cloud communication service is designed for teamwork. It combines all the essentials—VoIP calling, SMS messaging, team chat, and video conferencing into one streamlined package. Enhanced with real-time AI and conversation intelligence, this unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platform transforms how teams collaborate, making every interaction smarter and more efficient.
You can set up a custom-built phone system with ease and invite users via email. You also get features like voicemail transcription, call recording, and adaptive Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menus to enhance self-service routing. Beyond core functions, RingEx offers over 300 app integrations, seamlessly fitting into your existing communication workflow.
Its HD video meetings require no downloads to join and are supported by AI tools like live captioning and in-meeting transcriptions. Smart features also reduce background noise and keep the camera focused on the speaker.
According to Emma Grotluschen, Senior Manager of Customer Service at Swanson, RingEX Contact Center enables their entire team "to improve [their] customer service operation." She adds, "The reporting capabilities help us continually monitor and improve our performance, and [with] the automatic call recording, our supervisors tripled the calls they can review."
Why we chose RingCentral: You can tailor phone settings like automatic call recording for individual agents and even customize phone numbers, business hours, and caller IDs. Another standout feature is the ability to set basic or advanced call routing rules. Plus, you can adjust ring durations and forward calls with a pre-recorded phone menu. This ensures that customers always connect to the right person without any hassle.
Our experience: When we tested out RingEx, the setup process was remarkably smooth. We appreciated the ability to port both our existing numbers and shared lines without issues. Our agents found it quick and easy to establish new business lines on their personal mobiles, laptops, and desk phones. The RingEx app made syncing everything a breeze, allowing for a hassle-free transition across all devices.
RingCentral Pros & Cons
PROS
Unlimited domestic calling in the US and CanadaUltra plan offers unlimited storage for files and recordingsOffers whiteboard and annotation video meeting capabilitiesCONS
Multi-site admin and management features not available on Core planNo unlimited international calling options - 3Reveal hidden call patterns and user behaviors i...
- No. of users - Unlimited
- Pricing - From $10/month per user
- Best for - Businesses looking for an advanced phone-only solution
Reveal hidden call patterns and user behaviors in...Read Zoom Phone ReviewZoom Phone - Bring your own carrier functionality
Zoom Phone offers a solid VoIP option for small businesses on a budget. It balances cost with various features, making team collaboration easier through messaging, file sharing, and searchable conversations. It also works well with major third-party apps like Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce, which help reduce workflow friction and boost productivity.
For more demanding needs, Zoom Phone offers comprehensive call center capabilities. These include unlimited queues, advanced call distribution, voicemail transcription, and intelligent IVR routing. The system allows effortless call switching between devices, ensuring you stay connected regardless of platform.
Plus, the Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC) feature offers flexibility. It lets you keep your current PSTN provider while leveraging Zoom's advanced features. This means you can maintain existing contracts and phone numbers while upgrading your setup.
Why we chose Zoom Phone: Zoom's new analytics tools provide deep insights into call performance and usage patterns. You can monitor detailed metrics for call queues, including SLAs, volume, wait times, and call outcomes. The system also offers Mean Opinion Scores for inbound and outbound calls, allowing you to assess quality across individual sites or your entire network.
Our experience: We've been using Zoom Phone's AI Companion to streamline our meetings and it's transformed how we handle follow-ups. Instead of scrambling to take notes, we now receive concise post-call summaries that capture key points and actions. The voicemail task extraction feature also organizes our call-back priorities directly from our voicemails, ensuring we never miss a beat.
Zoom Phone Pros & Cons
PROS
Offers 24/7 phone and chat supportFeatures add-ons for unlimited calling in 19 countriesSwitch between any advice with multi-device callsCONS
Power Pack analytics are an extra $25 a monthHD video with noise cancellation limited to Business Plus plan
