There are many names for these systems including Cloud Hosted PBX, Hosted Voice, Cloud Calling and so on. These systems will also need a SIP Trunk provider to function. This approach usually requires more up-front spend (capital expenditure) as well as in-house expertise. On-premise refers to the fact that the system is housed or managed internally. Traditional PBXs used analogue connections, whereas IP PBX systems use internet connections and SIP Trunking (or alternative technology) to route calls to and from the traditional phone networks. This also includes mobile apps for business communications, like Slack, Zoom and Microsoft Teams.Īn IP PBX is essentially a phone system that uses VoIP to place and receive calls. These include Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Facetime and any other voice application designed to run primarily on a mobile or tablet device. Typically a business user will come across it in the following ways: VoIP as a technology exists to power calling. This allows you to control your system with a personal online control panel, resulting in instant access to your add-ons and personal features, as well as a real-time overview of your business telecoms. Your PBX can be a physical bit of hardware, run and maintained by you (or your IT department) however, with modern cloud solutions, your VoIP provider can usually run your PBX via the cloud – essentially a phone system combined with Software as a Service (SaaS). Modern PBXs are also called IP PBXs to indicate they use VoIP, rather than analogue connections (although now this is often assumed). When you use VoIP, your voice is converted into digital information which is then transmitted in as data over the internet, unlike the way traditional phone lines work via a local phone provider.įor business phone systems, a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) refers to the main piece of tech that routes all your calls, using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) in SIP trunks to make those connections.

Mobile phones operate calls through connection to the PSTN, maintained via a terrestrial network of base stations. These IP packets are received over the packet-switched network, and ‘de-packetised’ as the voice you hear through your VoIP endpoint – the technical term for a VoIP desktop phone, VoIP mobile phone, soft phone application (VoIP Software), or other receiver.

In terms of landline calls (or ISDN and PSTN), VoIP bypasses the national landline network’s copper wire by using data packets of information (usually audio) transmitted across a network.

How does VoIP differentiate from traditional phone calls? First, we’ll need to debunk some jargon:

Computer phones for voip