It is a progressive step for businesses to move to a private branch exchange (PBX) phone system, but in doing so, there is one crucial decision to be made. Does the business host the PBX solution on its own premises or delegate PBX management to a host provider? The differences between the two options, and the main benefits and drawbacks of each, are explored in the infographic below, which was created by Irish Telecom (www.irishtelecom.com), a company providing secure high-speed connectivity in Ireland.

For company owners who like to have full control over every single aspect of the business, hosting the PBX on-site is usually the preferred option. This enables the company to tailor its PBX solution exactly how it likes and to expand the solution at its own pace. Also, they are not tied down to the specifications of host providers, which can be a defining turn-off for business owners who like to call all of the shots themselves. Another substantial advantage of hosting PBX on-site is that you can make changes to the solution immediately instead of having to wait for external assistance, and managing it yourself will also give you a thorough understanding of how it operates.

However, depending on how much autonomy you like to delegate to others and the expanse of your resources, you may be better off allowing a host provider to manage your PBX. For starters, there will be no maintenance costs incurred, while you will free up a lot of your time for other aspects of the business by allowing the host provider to take care of the PBX solution. Also, as they are experts in that particular field, they can make changes to the solution much easier, and with access to resources that you wouldn’t have. If you decide that you can put your trust in an external provider, it is worth doing so.

The answer as to which is the better option essentially boils down to which one is more suited to the company. Business owners are well advised to take a step back, analyze how suitable either option is to them and then make a calculated decision on who should host their PBX.