A small business in Miami FL definitely requires a professional office and business telephone system and appropriate telephone equipment in order to compete well in its field. Among the various technologies that such office and business telephone system and telephone equipment should incorporate are voicemail, video conferencing and VoIP applications. It would, therefore, be necessary for any small business to get the services of a supplier and service provider in Miami FL for the top office and business telephone systems and telephone equipment, covering telephone cables, telephone wiring and network wiring. Nowadays this means Panasonic and NEC telephone systems or PBX.

What is PBX? Is it different from an office and business telephone system?

PBX is the short name for Private Branch Exchange. It is also often referred to as PABX which in turn means Private Automated Branch Exchange. The two names can be confusing since people think they mean different things. The truth is that PBX and PABX mean one and the same thing.

The earlier name coined was PABX which was used for analogue office and business telephone systems with over 50 analogue telephone extensions. These older analogue telephone handsets used to feature a display with programmable keys. Only the upper echelon of a company, such as the top managers, would have such telephone extensions. The receptionist was equipped with an analogue telephone console that was attached to her handset. Through this console she was able to monitor the status of all the analogue telephone extensions of the system.

The more modern digital office and business telephone systems, which are also referred to as key systems or digital key systems, are actually advanced versions of the PABX. Whereas the old PABX model had fully analogue telephone extensions, a modern office and business telephone system has fully digital handsets and also a few analogue telephone extensions to accommodate cordless telephones and fax machines.

It is evident that with the modern digital office and business telephone systems, there is a combination of analogue and digital components even as the system is basically digital. With the advances in technology, the best of the two systems are being harnessed for the benefit of the business users. Instead of totally eliminating the old PABX system, its most useful features and functions have been integrated into the modern digital office and business telephone system. With this development, it could be said that there is no distinct line separating the old PABX and PBX with modern digital office and business telephone systems.

One example of how the modern digital office and business telephone system has evolved is the Panasonic IP PBX which is actually a combination of digital, analogue and IP telephone extensions. This allows maximum coverage, flexibility and roaming.

In today’s modern office and business setting, there is really no basic difference when people say PBX, PABX, office and business telephone systems or key systems. More often than not, the distinctions are merely in terms of the number of telephone extensions. If there are over 200 telephone extensions involved, the system tends to be called a PABX. If the telephone extensions number less than this, though, it tends to be called an office and business telephone system.

The best suppliers and service providers can offer customized preconfigured and preprogrammed office and business telephone systems based on the particular requirements of each client.

To be able to get the best possible solutions in terms of professional office and business telephone system and appropriate telephone equipment, whether for Panasonic or NEC telephone systems or PBX, a small business in Miami FL should find a reputable supplier and service provider like Pac Systems, Inc.