In today's world the telephone has become the most essential medium of communication. All over the world, telephones are being used extensively, whether in homes or in offices. When it comes to office phone systems, the system is so designed that it allows its user to share the same external telephone lines, rather than using individual telephones. These telephone systems are mainly designed for several phone users at a single location, like companies and large offices. By using these types of phone systems lots of money can be saved, since it is proven to be more cost-effective than using regular telephone systems.



PBX ? The PBX telephone system, or Private Branch Exchange, are phone systems which are designed specifically for corporate use in offices. The main purpose of a private branch exchange system is to create a private communication network among all those who use and share the external telephone lines. PBX systems are ideal for large and medium-sized companies and businesses. These phone systems are very cost efficient, as users can now share a few external phone lines, as compared to having all individual users having their own external lines.

Using a PBX phone system allows a person to communicate with another user on the telephone network by just dialing a 3 or 4-digit extension number. Plus, PBX systems also have additional features like voicemail, reminders, screen displays, and options to screen all calls. The private branch exchanges for office phone systems are also capable of answering the phones and greet their clients with auto-generated messages, plus live call transferring.

Automated Attendants ? The Automated Attendant is a phone system accessory that can answer the phone calls by way of automatically generating electronic messages. Using this accessory or tool, callers will be allowed to route themselves within the phone system through a series of menu prompts. Office voice mail systems are usually equipped with a basic automated attendant system.

Automated Call Distributor ? Another phone accessory commonly used in office phone systems is the Automated Call Distributor or ACD. This accessory provides an efficient way of routing all incoming calls between programmed extension numbers. The most common locations for Automated Call Distribution systems are call centers, or any other office or location that has to process several incoming calls all at the same time.

Computer Telephony Integration ? The CTIs are used to connect a phone system to a computer or computer network. The CTI retrieves important data from any incoming call and process this data for useful business purposes. There is another tool called the Key System Unit, or KSU, which contains useful features like call forwarding, extension dialing, and options for using voice mail. VOIP systems, or Voice Over Internet Protocol, allows users to communicate with other VOIP systems and use digital data through the Internet.

These office telephone systems are integrated with standard analog telephones, fax machines, cordless and cellular phones, using a traditional telephone network, and also have the option for the Internet by Voice over IP.