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List of features |
Operating Cost Reductions
Call charges are drastically reduced for IP based traffic to and from remote offices. Our VoIP PBX solution will use a reliable VoIP connection if it is available or it will fall back to a PSTN connection. A major operating cost of legacy telephony systems is the required intervention by IT managers or technicians when staff moves around the organization. With our VoIP PBX solution each user in the IP network is immediately recognized by handset or log on.
Minimum Investment Risk
Minimum investment is required to get started since our VoIP PBX solution technology is embedded in your existing corporate data network. Your company can invest in a single PBX installation and just a few SIP handsets to begin with. Subsequent telephony system expansion is as simple as plugging extra handsets into your existing LAN connections.
Installation Cost Reductions
Our PBXpress models are among the least expensive on the market and hardware installation is so simple that there is no need to employ technicians or specialists. Just three cable connections are needed for most installations. Software configuration is done via your corporate intranet and this is also a simple procedure that does not require specialist staff. All of this adds up to significantly reduced installation, upgrade and operating costs compared with legacy PSTN-based PBXs.
Improved Employee Productivity and Control of Telephony Traffic
The wealth of enhanced telephony user features that arrive with our VoIP PBX solution can increase employee productivity while the comprehensive pack of built-in call recording and archiving features can facilitate control of telephony traffic.
Flexibility and Upgradeability
To upgrade legacy PBXs, a technician would need to physically visit the site and make wiring changes or even replace the unit. Our VoIP PBX solution is software based, so upgrades can be performed remotely via the internet.
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Call Features |
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When a certain extension is not available or not answering, the caller can be given the option of leaving a message instead of the call simply being dropped. The party being called will be informed that a new message is waiting and he or she can retrieve the message and take appropriate action. | | |
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Using Video Calls Feature you are able to have face-to-face communication.
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It is the SIP servers responsibility to know that if John dials 304, this is the abbreviated number for David, and so the call should go there. Thus, the list of number extensions (abbreviated dialing) is maintained in only one place, inside PBXpress there is no need to enter it into every individual IP phone. | | |
Someone tries to call Prague in the Czech Republic. Should the call go over IP to Packet8 or to iConnectHere; or is it better to just use your existing PSTN line?
This will be decided by the SIP server, based on your connection settings.
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In the modern telephony world, the same phone number may be dialed differently depending on the customers habits or the carrier being used. For example, when dialing a phone number within the Czech Republic, the number dialed will be 0016041234567. But the same number will be dialed as 16041234567 from the United States. PBXpress dialing rules allow users to easily describe which numbering format should be used by specifying important parameters such as international dialing prefixes. After that, PBXpress will be able to automatically convert a phone number to the correct format. | | |
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Connections define how the PBXpress system is connected to other telephone networks. There are two types of connections, depending on which protocol is used to carry the call: VoIP and PSTN. For instance, if PBXpress sends some calls via FXO ports to the local telco, and some other calls over IP to a VoIP carrier, there should be two connections in the configuration, with the PSTN and VoIP type, respectively. | | |
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Since different carriers may require phone numbers to be sent to them in a different format (e.g., a call to Seattle going via PSTN to Qwest should be dialed as 123-4567, but a call to the same number going via SuperPacket VoIP should be dialed as 206-123-4567). Dialing rules must be used to ensure that PBXpress converts the number properly. | | |
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This defines which calls should be dialed via a particular connection. For example, calls to the USA and Canada should be routed to the local telco via a PSTN connection, while all international calls will be routed to a low-cost VoIP carrier. | | |
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You can configure PBXpress to play music when one party places the other on hold during a call. You can upload your own music files to provide entertainment for the waiting caller instead of silence. | | |
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A queue is a logical group of extensions (IP phones) for the purpose of automatic call distribution (ACD). For example, if there are five persons working in the sales department and each one of them has an IP phone, it is highly desirable to transparently route incoming calls to any available phone(s) in sales. In addition to specifying which phones are included in a queue, you should also specify the manner in which PBXpress should ring the available extensions. | | |
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The attendant feature allows users to easily design and customize the IVR menus that will be launched when a call is made to a certain phone number (e.g., Press 1 for sales, Press 2 for technical support). | | |
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The administrator may limit a certain extensions ability to make outgoing calls to certain destinations, e.g., it will allow local and toll-free calls, but disable long-distance and international calls. | | |
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The follow me functionality allows callers to transparently forward a call to another destination if the called partys IP phone is not available. For instance, you may choose to forward calls from your SIP phone to your mobile phone. In this case, you will never miss an incoming call if you are not at your desk.
PBXpress flexible follow me allows every extension owner to stipulate his own set of multiple follow me numbers with a validity period assigned to each phone number (e.g., in order to prevent nighttime calls to a home phone number). | | |
DISA (Direct Inward System Access) allows someone from outside the IP PBX to obtain an internal system dialtone and place calls as if they were using one of the phones connected to the switch.
A user calls a number that connects to the DISA application and provides his extension number and password. If the password information is correct and the extension is allowed to use the DISA service, the user receives a system dialtone and a call can be placed. | | |
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Call parking allows the operator to put a conversation on hold via the operator console. Later the call can be resumed from a different IP phone. | | |
Call pickup allows a user to answer the call coming in on some other extension by dialing a pickup code. Two modes are supported for pickup:
- Group pickup, when the user simply dials a pickup code (e.g., *8). In this case he can answer an incoming call on another extension without even knowing its number.
- Directed pickup, when the user dials the pickup code followed by a specific extension number (e.g., *8103). This would answer a specific call coming in on that extension (103 in this example).
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Every call which passes through PBXpress is recorded as a sound file on the internal hard drive. Later, you can browse your call records and listen to conversations online. | | |
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This feature allows arranging three way conference calls so you will be able to have a simultaneous conversation with at least two parties. | | |
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Unlike most other VoIP PBXs PBXpress transparently supports emergency 911 dialing through a backup PSTN connection in case of main VoIP providers` refusal. | | |
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This feature allows you to transfer calls to other extensions in case of need. | | |
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System Maintenance |
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There is the possibility for autoconfiguring and autoprovisioning of IP Phones and Gateways. | | |
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User's interface is available in English, French, Italian, Russian, Czech, Spanish, Norwegian, and Swedish. | | |
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Example: When Peter dials Davids number, Davids phone should start ringing and when David answers, they should be connected. It is easy to do this with an analog PBX: some time ago it was entered into the PBX configuration that Peters phone is connected to the cable via slot #25, while Davids phone is attached via slot #46. So when Peter calls David, it is just a question of connecting these wires. If David decides to move to another office, or there is some other change, this requires PBX reprogramming and perhaps, re-installing the physical phone wires in his office.
With IP there is no physical connection between the users IP phone and PBXpress. David can connect his phone in another office or in a meeting room. Or tomorrow, due to re-organization, he could completely redesign his office network. None of this matters so long as there is a working IP network between the users IP phones and the SIP server. When Davids IP phone goes online, it connects to the SIP server, informing it of the phones current location (IP address). The SIP server remembers this information and knows where a call should be routed to when someone calls David. | | |
An extension is an abbreviated number which can be dialed to reach:
- A specific phone number provisioned on an IP phone
- A queue
- An attendant
PBXpress ensures the uniqueness of extensions. Thus, if extension 121 has been created for use on an IP phone, you cannot assign this number to any queue or attendant. Similarly, if the Sales queue has been assigned extension 201, then you cannot assign 201 to any individual phone.
For improved management of a large number of IP phone extensions, you may define extension classes, each of which describes a set of generic parameters (e.g., preferred dialing format or whether long-distance calls are allowed). Next, a class may be applied to multiple extensions that will automatically alter their dialing parameters.
You may define a list of extensions (short numbers for dialing within your office environment) and assign a real phone number for every
extension so it can be reached from the outside world. If your company has multiple sites, departments, or other independently managed sets of extensions, each can be represented in PBXpress as an admin group. This even allows you to provide outsourcing of IP PBX features, e.g., you can manage a set of phone extensions for your partners or resellers in your own PBXpress.
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Each call attempt is stored so that later you can see who made the call, when the call was made, and to which destination. | | |
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There are predefined templates for e-mail notifications which can be easily modified. | | |
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You may connect several PBXpress instances into a dynamic cluster. This is very useful in case of a multi-branch enterprise with several offices. Each location should have its own PBX for performing local administration tasks and, at the same time, the companys system should work as a single entity (e.g,. when a new person joins the company at location A and the local administrator assigns his phone there should be no need for an administrator at location B, C or D to program the same information again into their systems). | | |
In case of any kind of unexpected failover you can make a backup configuration to any CD and than restore your working version on any PC in no time. PBXpress can also easily be configured to make a periodic backup of all conversations onto CD or DVD media.
CD-R/RW and DVD±R/RW formats are supported.
You can create a CD or DVD archive of all phone conversations within your organization and with the outside world using just a few mouse clicks. Each CD or DVD is given a unique label. This allows you to easily find the conversation you need. You can access your archived data using the PBXpress device or any PC.
Suggested Configurations
You can assemble a PBXpress machine to match your own requirements. The following sample configurations demonstrate what you can get with different hardware from low-end to hi-end.
| Configuration |
Phone Connections |
Recording Time |
Optical Drive |
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Hours |
Business Days |
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| Intel PC with 1024MB RAM and 20GB HDD |
4 FXO |
1020 |
5.8 months |
CD Writer |
| Intel PC with 1024MB RAM and 60GB HDD |
Single T1/E1 |
17000 |
8 years |
DVD Writer |
| Intel PC with 2048MB RAM and 160GB HDD |
Dual T1/E1 |
39100 |
18.5 years |
DVD Writer |
* Assumptions:
- One business day is 8 hours long.
- There are 5 business days per week.
- 1 month is approximately 176 hours
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Each extension has its own end-user self-care interface for the maintaining of its account. | | |
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There is the possibility for creating a backup connection, so all outgoing calls will be automatically routed to this connection in case of all lines failover. | | |
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PBXpress can act as a bridge across the firewall for VoIP calls, eliminating Firewall/NAT problems. | | |
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All the call history is saved to PBXpress` database. | | |
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Even if the storage capacity of PBXpress is large, it is still limited. The solution is to periodically move old records onto external media, such as CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, thus freeing up space for recording new calls. Each backup set is assigned its own unique ID. Thus, you can still listen to a call which was made several months ago, although it is no longer available on PBXpress’ internal storage. You will be prompted to insert the CD or DVD with the required ID into the drive, and PBXpress will retrieve the necessary file automatically.
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Traditional Telephony Interoperability |
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If a call cannot be delivered over the internet, PBXpress can use your existing PSTN lines to complete it. Since a SIP server is an IP-based solution, additional hardware modules must be installed into PBXpress so that they can interface with the PSTN network. | | |
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When the incoming call is connected to voicemail or auto-attendant, the caller can initiate a fax transmission at any time and PBXpress will automatically switch to fax mode, causing the received fax to be stored as a new message with a PDF attachment in the mailbox. | | |
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| Other Soft Interaction |
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This allows an operator or secretary to easily manage all traffic in the IP PBX environment – and see individual extensions and call status, answer calls, transfer calls, and so on. | | |
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PBXpress may connect to an external RADIUS server for call authorization and accounting. | | |
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The XML-RPC interface allows easy integration of external applications (such as customized operator console or CRM) with PBXpress. This application can obtain information such as a list of extensions or the status of current calls in real time and display it to an end user. | |
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When a new voice message arrives, either a short notification or a complete voice message (a .WAV sound file in an e-mail attachment) can be forwarded to the user's external e-mail (e.g., on your company's e-mail server). | | |
The user can listen to his/her voice messages by:
- Dialing a voice-mail access number from his/her IP phone.
- Logging into the voicemail web interface from his/her PC.
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