The CallGear Classroom: Virtual PBX 101
Our goal is for you fully understand how certain call tracking features work, and how they can help your business grow.
Let’s get started!
Before we dive too deep, let’s lose the ‘virtual’ for now and define solely what a PBX is.
PBX is short for Private Branch Exchange. This is just a fancy name for a private telephone network used within a company. The network can be used internally for employees to communicate with one another, or externally with returning or potential customers.
The major benefit of PBX is it allows companies to have more phones than physical phone lines, meaning you don’t have to set up an actual phone every time you add a new number for an employee or a department.
Basic but essential features of a PBX include: voicemail, call recording (which we’ll discuss later on), interactive voice menus, call queues, and the ability to transfer calls between phones in the system.
Now that we get the gist of PBX…
While traditional (AKA On-Premise) PBX relies on physical equipment and systems that have to be set up at your company’s location, virtual (AKA cloud) PBX relies on the internet, which means the system lives entirely on the cloud.
1. Setup & Time
Traditional PBX has a long implementation time because it requires major installation and setup at your company’s location. If you do not have an in-house support team, employees must be trained on how to use/maintain the equipment properly.
Virtual PBX on the other hand has an incredibly quick setup time because it mostly depends on software instead of hardware (hardware is not on location, usually at PBX host site) and requires little to no physical maintenance.
2. Cost
Because traditional PBX deals with more hardware, setup, and maintenance (in-house or contracted support teams), the costs are MUCH higher than virtual PBX.
Without expensive maintenance, the only recurring cost of virtual PBX is a monthly fee that is simply based on the number of phones in the system.
3. Quality
Although traditional PBX gives users the flexibility to manage call quality in-house, virtual PBX provides consistent quality as long as the network connection and PBX host does their job. If you hire the right provider, you should never have a quality issue.
The other benefit of virtual PBX in terms of quality is that the service provider is responsible for keeping your system up to date with cloud updates and maintenance, while you focus on your business.
4. Scalability
In order for traditional PBX to scale and increase its bandwidth (more phones, users, reach, etc), your company will need more rigorous installations, maintenance, time, and money.
Virtual PBX on the other hand can scale up in NO TIME since it lives on the cloud and can increase its bandwidth with the click of a button.
Now that we all agree Virtual PBX is more effective than traditional PBX… let’s apply it to call tracking!
With high-quality virtual PBX, you can easily transfer and connect calls between phones around the world. Whether you’re in the office or on vacation, any inbound lead can be converted. Anytime, anywhere.
Virtual PBX also assists in clear and accurate call recordings and transcriptions. Listen to customer conversations as soon as a call ends. Analyze your customer needs, identify your target consumer, and even monitor employees!
Discover which sales scripts are working, which aren’t, and adjust accordingly. You never know what you might learn by listening. And a good phone system allows you to do just that.
Let’s conclude with a quick review.
- PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange – which is just a private phone network
- Traditional PBX relies on in-house hardware and maintenance
- Virtual PBX is a phone network that lives on the cloud
- Virtual PBX has less setup time, is more cost-effective, and way more scalable
- Virtual PBX is essential to call tracking with call recording, transcription, and transferability
We hope you learned something and we look forward to our next lesson!
If you think you can benefit from call tracking software, give ours a try.
CallGear is an online service that shows where the phone leads come from. With CallGear dashboards you monitor and report your performance in real time. It could be any information like call duration, lead type, lead source or even a reason why a call was missed.
Clear and simple real-time reporting, call insight with Speech Analytics, and AI powered SmartTag for Inbound Call Qualification.
No matter what industry you’re in… better understand your customers. Save money on ads. And make money on conversions. Call tracking will make you happy. 100% Guaranteed.
Find a software that allows your business to be there for your customers.
The phone is ringing… are you going to pick it up? (Figuratively speaking of course, I know you will physically pick up the phone if it’s ringing).