It is a telephone exchange that provide services for a business or office as opposed to one that a common carrier or telephone company operates for many businesses or for the public.

They are also referred as PABX which is a branch exchange and EPABX.

The electronic private automatic branch exchange has made day to day working in the offices much simpler especially in the area of communication. The EPABX may be defined as a switching system that makes available both internal and external stitching functions of any organisation. The selection of an EPABX both the internal and external needs of the organisation are thoroughly served. The EPABX can boast of versatile features.

There is a feature of a call transferring and forwarding is another area enabling  mobility of the users.

The other advancements are call transferring and forwarding is another area enabling mobility of users.

The selection of an EPABX must be done by a thorough study of the needs of the office.

The exchange supports features like voice DISA-n-auto attendant . This feature helps in doing away with a receptionist or an attendant. The specification ensure inbuilt paging , auto fax homing , hot outward failing , remote MIS provides all kinds of IVR Solutions.   

 Before fixing EPABX System:                                                          

• The area should be well protected from rain conditions.
• The area should be air conditioned.
• Power back, power connections and earthing issues must be checked and verified properly.
• The room must be dust free.
• Connection diagram mentioning the places to fix EPABX machines and computer for programming.
• Wiring must be planned having the future enhancements in mind.

After fixing EPABX System:

• The number plan and the list of extension should be documented.
• Every extension should be numbered based on MDF( Main Distribution Frame) and stored for future references.
• The configuration should be done based on the guidance of the service provider.
• After configuring the extension lines , they should be checked and verified.
• A back up of the program file will help you for future reference.

Pros and cons of EPABX:

Pros:

• Cost Reduction:

There is no need to buy extra boards or expensive add ons while sharing this system.

It can easygoing scale and it’s easier to add more lines or increase severe capacity.

You can also opt for different vendors by eliminating the need to buy from a single vendor and reducing the cost on moves and changes to the system.

• Choice:

There are various options to choose from the Internet server to the vendors.

You can choose which server or device to use your system z

You can choose the operating system and also a variety of phones from different manufacturers.

• Flexibility:

Expand the network when there is a need. Even when you move premises or expand to different places., they can easily shift without a change in the number.

It can easily connect employees who work from home to the office network. This also helps employees connect to the IP phone while travelling.

• Sharing of resources:

Within the office , the employees can share phone lines. Several extensions may be connected to a single phone line , this reducing the overall phone expenses.

In case of external calls , they may be routed from a single incoming mode and directed to the clients extension number.

• Easy programming:

It is totally programmable. It facilitated complex installation procedures and other integrated requirements for communication.

Cons:

• Customer service is handicapped:

It doesn’t not provide other necessary features and it’s time consuming when it comes to install a new feature.

• Constant power supply:

It requires proper planning and designing of your infrastructure to minimise power consumption and proper cabling to avoid power outages due to improper wiring .

• Does not provide communication connectivity to a mobile workforce:

This limits the capacity of businesses with a considerable amount of travelling employees.

A solution to this is to upgrade to this system with integrated gateways installed.

• Installation and configuration of the standard system incurs a huge investment cost:

The initial set up and configuring of the devices take a considerable amount of time and money . This can be mitigated by the use of virtual applications or by installing a optimal network that avoids unnecessary equipments.

• Upgrades and maintenance downtime:

During this time , the system is shut down resulting to considerable loss for a company.

A solution to this would be to implement upgrades.

A back up system or server could also be implemented so it doesn’t yield downtime but requires a large investment for additional equipment.

Limitations:

Network devices usually have a life up to 5 years before it requires replacement. It also takes 3 years before a business requires line expansions .

This entails the purchase and installation of additional equipments to get new users which requires considerable budget.

To avoid maintenance costs , you can adopt a virtue or cloud PBX system.

Guidelines :

Use your telephone system connected with EPABX system to dial another extension. Internal office communication will have four digit number of other extension to make your office communication process easier .

You can also dial outside number by pressing 0 or 1 form your office communication telephone system . EPABX system will get you the dial tone which you dialled upon the configuration by the technician.

You can transfer your office communication calls to different extensions after pressing “trans” key .

You can place your office communication telephone system calls on hold by pressing “hold” button in the EPABX system.

You can log on to your administrator web page or refer the user manual for other usage related instructions .

Telephone system connected with EPABX system are a boon for all industries.

Analog versus digital phone system:

Analog phones transfer sound through continuous waves. These signals are easily disturbed by external interference such as noise and weather conditions which turns fuzzy in analog phones.

The quality of sound is much better in this system .

This system is a great gateway with which it can incorporate the traditional telephone lines to this advanced voice and data growth.

This changing scenario has boosted up organisations to great flexibility , better connectivity and more benefits.