How a virtual PBX will benefit your business

Let’s face it: In today’s competitive business world, you need a virtual PBX.

Wait – What? PBX? Virtual? What exactly is that?

Let’s start at the beginning.

A PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. It’s essentially a telephone system with multiple extensions. Each employee has their own extension, or phone number, and can be part of the same system, with access to outside lines and incoming calls. You may have heard a PBX in action when you called a company and heard, “Press 1 for sales…” Its roots date back to the days when switchboard operators would answer the phone and then manually route the call to the correct person.

In the past, each employee had to have their own phone in order for the PBX to work. This could prove costly for big companies; each PBX set could cost between $30 and $70, depending on the system. Also, many companies opted for a receptionist to route calls to the proper extension, which could easily cost $50,000 in salary per year.

That’s where a virtual PBX comes in.

With a virtual PBX, software in the cloud handles all the calls and routes them to the proper extension, based on a user’s keypress. There is no need for a receptionist, and the software can also forward calls to employees’ cell phones, eliminating the need for costly PBX devices. Businesses can save thousands of dollars per year with such a system.

When a customer dials your company’s number, your customized greeting will play, directing them on what buttons to press to reach certain people or departments. You can even customize your greeting based on whether callers reach you during business hours or other times. If a customer calls after business hours, your nighttime greeting will play, and you can decide whether the customer can leave a voicemail or reach someone who is on call.

Each extension can have its own greeting and can be configured to go to voicemail or forwarded to another phone so if you’re away from the office, you can still get phone calls.

Ninja Number offers virtual PBX systems starting at just $9.95 a month. Sign up now for a free trial and see how a virtual PBX can help your business.