There's No Denying It: Virtual PBX is Hot

For the enterprise, hosted or virtual PBX phone systems bring simplicity and cost savings. For small businesses, virtual PBX systems deliver sophistication and features previously only available to large firms.

Increasingly, businesses of all sizes are adopting virtual PBX systems instead of on-premises business phone systems.

Eliminating the need to purchase and maintain telephone equipment is one reason why enterprises are moving their phone systems to the cloud. The flexibility to add or reduce the number of calling extensions at will is another.

As with cloud services in every industry, the option to purchase just the right amount of PBX capacity and on an operating expense basis is a compelling benefit, as is the opportunity to stop having to devote company resources to functions secondary to the firm’s core business.

Smaller businesses have the additional benefit of gaining access to many features that were unavailable to them until the emergence of cloud PBX. Even a two-person business can now have a company directory, and one where callers can be served by an automated virtual assistant or forwarded to an agent or partner in another part of the world.

With the cloud, the latest in PBX technology is available to all businesses.

This has solutions providers seeing dollar signs, such as FORETHOUGHT.net.

One of Colorado's largest independent and locally owned Internet, cloud and communications service providers, FORETHOUGHT.net just announced that it has added Grand Junction, Plateau Valley and DeBeque in Colorado to the communities it already services for virtual PBX, broadband and other offerings.

Playing to both parts of the PBX market, FORETHOUGHT.net offers both hosted and on-premise PBX solutions.

FORETHOUGHT.net is just one of the businesses supporting this growing trend, including firms such as Nextiva.

A major player in the virtual PBX market, Nextiva advertises plug and play business phone systems that require no technical support to set up. There are no contracts or startup fees, calls include high definition voice, and plans offer unlimited calling and faxing. More than 30 calling features help make Nextiva’s offerings even more compelling.

Virtual PBX is increasingly drawing attention from both the enterprise and small business—and with good reason.

Edited by Alisen Downey