Virtual PBX (Virtual Telephone System)
What is Virtual PBX?
PBX stands for public branch exchange. It is a machine that handles your telephone calls for you. Its main functions are to transfer calls to different individual phones; play music when somebody is put on hold; to play automatic voice responses when a call is received; to provide an options menu for the caller, etc.
A PBX machine and integrated system is very expensive to buy, install and run. Typical costs for a package can range from £5,000 to £15,000, depending on the size of the network required, plus a yearly maintenance contract ranging from £500 to £8000 per year.
But all these expenses can be cut down to virtually nothing by using a Virtual PBX. It has all the functions of a PBX and more, but removes the need for installed hardware. This eliminates the cost of engineer call out fees if you ever need to make some changes to your system, increases the flexibility of expanding functions, and reduces extra installation fees if you ever move premises.
All this means that you can set up an operation based on a number of offices or a widely distributed set of individuals with a single entry telephone number. Not only can this make your small business look large it can also make your larger widely distributed business easier to deal with for your customers.
Advantages of Virtual PBX?
So, why would you choose to use a Virtual PBX rather than a physical call management system (i.e. a traditional PBX)?
It is much cheaper to set up and in most cases, probably cheaper to run and maintain. It also takes much less time for a Virtual PBX system to be setup because it is "virtual" so there are no cables that need to be laid out or hardware to be installed. It has all the benefits of a PBX system but removes the problems and inconvenience of PBX hardware.
The difference between a Virtual PBX and a traditional PBX system is the absence of the bulky equipment lying in an air-conditioned room as with a traditional PBX. This helps to cut down the cost significantly. Another difference is that you, the customer, can change the features on the system instantly from our web management interface. This helps to increase your business's flexibility.
Unlike traditional PBX systems with the physical telephone lines, our Virtual PBX works with telephone numbers. As long as you provide us a list of telephone numbers and tell us the way you want the calls to be distributed to these numbers, then we can build a Virtual PBX for you remotely as new telephone lines are not involved.
It is possible to link two or more offices (in different locations) together under one system?
Yes you can because Virtual PBX does not use the physical phone lines, but the telephone numbers to build the system. Therefore as long as each individual site has their own telephone numbers, we can link them all together under one system. Your customers no longer need to remember different numbers for different offices; or no longer need to know that you have separate offices in different locations. As for you, you only need to promote ONE contact telephone number instead of 2 or more telephone numbers for different offices.
Service Features
The Virtual PBX service can be split into 2 broad areas:
1 - The Virtual PBX Basic package which comprises:
- Maximum 30 agents - up to 30 telephone numbers can be allocated under the system.
- Maximum 20 agent groups - your 30 extensions can be grouped up to 20 agent groups (the answer group / departments).
- Customised greeting - record your own welcome greeting message over the phone. You can update it anytime you want by simply re-recording it again over the phone.
- Voicemail to email - all voicemails will be sent as a WAV files to your appointed email address
- 30 simultaneous calls on the system - You can have the 30 simultaneous calls (combination of live/queued calls. E.g. 5 live calls and 25 queued calls, or, 10 live calls and 20 queues calls) on the system.
- Linear divert on busy or no answer within agent group - making sure the calls are distributed to available agents.
- Daily report - Statistics updated daily. Standard reports will include: Daily call report with total calls for the day, hourly call report and caller report.
2 - Individual custom features, comprising
- Call Transfer and On Hold - Transfer incoming calls between extensions and put an incoming call on hold.
- Agent Group Announcement - System voice announcement to inform the agents of which option the caller pressed on the options menu. So agents can greet callers accordingly (e.g. This is John from Sales Department how can I help?); or to differentiate calls when the agent has been appointed to answer more than one department's calls.
- Queue Position Announcement - To announce caller's position in queue when all agents are unavailable to take the call. Caller can then estimate the queue time and make a decision to keep queuing or call back later.
- Auto Q&A - You can design a series of questions to collect voice answers from callers. All answers will be sent as a WAV file to your appointed email address. This is particularly useful for product brochure request (i.e. to design a series of questions to collect caller's postal address and the type of brochure requests) or direct debit information collection (i.e. a series of questions to collect caller's updated bank details). This will save a lot of administration time and cost.
- Voice Interactive Menu (Single Level) - One level of options menu.
- Voice Interactive Menu (Multiple Level) - Multi level options menu.
Equipment needed to use a Virtual PBX?
This is a simple section: none.
As long as each of your agents (i.e. users) has the facility to MAKE and RECEIVE phone calls then we can build a Virtual PBX for you.
Virtual PBX Contract Term
There is no minimum contract term, you can cancel the service anytime you want. We calculate your usage on a monthly basis, so you will only have to pay for the month in which you cancel.
Virtual PBX Pricing
The pricining of your Virtual PBX, will depends on what functions you require on your system. Phone Lines 2u offers a highly flexible pricing structure that ensures you only pay for what you need.
The standard Virtual PBX Basic system provides all essential call management features for business. Therefore if you need a simple call management system then Virtual PBX Basic should fulfil your needs.
If you require more advanced functionalities, we supply all additional features in a "Pick & Mix" concept. All additional features are individually priced, so you can just pick what you need to add onto your Virtual PBX Basic system.
The pricing for the pick and mix options are shown in the following table below the standard Virtual PBX Basic option.
| Virtual PBX Package | Setup | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual PBX Basic |
100.00
|
30.00
|
| Call Transfer and On Hold | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Agent Group Announcement | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Queue Position Announcement | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Auto Q & A | 20.00 | 20.00 |
| Voice Interactive (Single Level) | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Voice Interactive (Multi Level) | 250.00 | 50.00 |
* All prices quoted above are in Great Britain Pounds and VAT exclusive.
* Setup fee is a one-off fee which will be charged once the system is built. Monthly rental is an on-going monthly charge that the customer has to pay by direct debit every month.
*Please bear in mind that Virtual PBX is an incoming call management system. To transfer an incoming call to another extension is free, but it becomes a chargeable service if you want to initiate a call from your extension to another extension - you will be charged at standard call rates by your outgoing call service provider.
How do I order a Virtual PBX?
Please fill in a Virtual PBX Customer Data Requirement Form and a Phone Lines 2u Direct Debit mandate, and post them back to Phones Lines 2u.