11 Top PBX Features for Improved Business Performance

In this article, 11 top PBX Features will be discussed. These features are very essential for PBX to improve business performance.

The importance of telephony in a business whether small or big cannot be over emphasized. So having a PBX phone system can transform your business communication to a large extent.

Basically we have on premise and cloud based PBX. On premise PBX systems involve having all the hardware and wiring on site. The PBX server is located on premise. Cloud PBX on the other hand does not require all the equipment to be within the company building apart from the VoIP phones.

The features outlined below are 11 top PBX features for improved business performance

1. Auto attendant / Digital receptionist
2. Audio & Video Conferencing
3. Backup / Restore
4. Call Encryption
5. Call Forwarding
6. Call Queues and Call Routing
7. Call Recording
8. Call Reporting
9. Desktop and Mobile Applications
10. Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
11. Voicemail to Email

At, Foppex, we offer PBX and Call Center Installation solutions based on your needs whether on premise or cloud based. We partner with leading industry brands such as 3CX, Xorcom, VitalPBX, Alcatel-Lucent etc. Our experienced engineers and technicians can give you a free consultation on what sort of system is best for you.

PBX stands for private branch exchange. It is a private internal telephone system that allows both internal and external communication. PBX phone systems link a few outside lines as well as a number of internal extensions to one another, thus combining several phone lines into one.

A hosted PBX is a cloud-based or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system that offers companies cost-effective, dependable phone service. Hosted PBX is different from the traditional PBX system because it runs through the Internet and ensures constant connectivity and flexibility.

A hosted PBX phone system employs Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology for calls. What is needed to call and receive calls is an internet connection. The VoIP system transforms audio files into digital sound waves. This transmitted to the end user through the internet, thus all you need to make and receive business calls is an internet connection with appropriate bandwidth.

As the name implies, this feature enables your PBX system to act as a digital receptionist. This feature is very important for a PBX system. Automated messages, call replies and announcements can be delivered by a PBX with this feature. It is beneficial to businesses that usually have a large volume of calls daily.

Audio and video conferencing can be done using a PBX phone system. This feature makes web meeting possible and seamless by creating a virtual meeting room. As long as one has a good internet connection with good bandwidth, you can join the meeting via a link.

With this feature, businesses can easily organize online meetings with team members, existing or prospective customers. A good advantage of this is that call quality doesn’t suffer because VoIP calls are made over the internet.

The backup and restore functionality enables you to create and schedule regular backups. This functionality is important for your PBX system as you can easily rollback to your previous configurations if anything goes wrong.

It is extremely important to maintain data security in your PBX systems. To do this, the call encryption feature is important. This feature ensures safe conversations of your customers and team members.

The two recommended security measures for PBX systems are Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Real-time Transport Protocol. These protocols guarantee that calls are completely secure.

Call forwarding is functionality that enables the redirection of calls from one destination to another. This feature can improve business performance and increase productivity of team members. Calls are easily redirected to appropriate destination without the customer being aware of the redirection. With Call Forwarding, the business appears professional and customer’s loyalty is maintained.

This is another top feature a PBX phone system should have. This functionality allows incoming calls to be routed to a particular person or group of persons according to predefined set of rules. With call routing, caller hold times are reduced and calls are routed to the appropriate channel.

Queues can be created for different departments and calls can be routed to specific departments according to the department the customer wants to communicate with. Inbound callers will be placed in a call queue if agents are unable to answer all of their incoming calls right away rather than having their calls dropped or put on hold.

Call recording is an excellent feature for PBX phone systems. Replaying recordings allows you to examine which sales scripts are most effective and which customer support questions are most frequently asked. Call recordings may also be used to show new hires how to handle uncomfortable circumstances using examples from the real world.

Additionally, having access to call records promotes employee responsibility. You will have a library of recordings to go back on and listen to for up to six months should you need any form of clarity regarding previous conversations.

Call reporting is another top PBX feature that is needed for improved business performance. This functionality gives you real-time insights on your call center performance. Insights on client demands can also be gained with this feature.

Call reporting enables the business to answer questions like; how long do your agents typically talk on the phone? How many calls do they place and receive? Which call center agent is performing well and which is doing poorly?

The call reporting functionality is also useful in determining SLA metrics, abandoned calls, unanswered calls etc. Overall, it can boost customer happiness and enable you in making well-informed business decisions.

PBX systems having desktop and mobile applications are needed to increase productivity of team members. This is important because team members can continue their conversations wherever they go. It is also essential for remote working. Hence, a PBX system having user friendly mobile and desktop applications is recommended for your business needs.

IVR, or interactive voice response, is a telephone technology that enables users to communicate with a company’s host system in real time utilizing DTMF tones and speech menus that may be customized.

Interactive Voice Response is one of the top PBX features, and through its use incoming callers can acquire information via pre-recorded messages without speaking to an agent.

IVR systems can reduce holding time by helping customers get answers on their own during periods of large call volume. With IVR, businesses can reduce operational costs, resolve issues at a faster rate and improve overall customer satisfaction.

In this article, Voicemail to email is listed as the eleventh top PBX feature on our list. It is a function that delivers voicemails to the recipient’s inbox through email. A notice and an email containing the MP3 or Wav file are sent to the recipient when a voicemail is left on their VoIP line.

This feature can assist you in staying on top of your workload and time-sensitive messages in the hectic business environment of today. Simply put, voicemail to email assures that you never again forget to listen to your voicemails by delivering them directly to your email.