Q: What is the current state of the legacy PBX market?
A: Gartner Group reports that at the end of 2004, sales of new IP-PBX systems surpassed those of conventional PBXs. By 2010, Gartner also predicts that IP-telephony products will represent 90 percent of new phone system sales. Traditional PBX systems are clearly in decline as customers opt for more open, feature rich, hybrid IP-PBX solutions.
Q: Why is the legacy PBX market in decline?
A: The emergence of open standards and protocols has created a new paradigm in telephony where customers are increasingly in control. More recently, open source technology, such as Asterisk, has driven real technology innovation and parity between vendor and buyer when it comes to economic relationships. In the legacy market, PBX phone system vendors thrived in a world where they could sell proprietary systems, drive customers to single vendor environments, create customer lock-in via proprietary call control and endpoints, and force high margin phone and system deals on to customers.
Q: What is IP-PBX?
A: IP-PBX systems provide PBX functionality such as call holding, conference calling, and auto attendant over IP-based networks instead of traditional circuit-switched networks. From a technology perspective, an IP-PBX is a telephone switch that supports VoIP by converting IP phone calls into TDM connections for the PSTN. Many IP-PBXs also support hybrid environments, allowing businesses to route analog and digital calls as well.
Q: What are the advantages of IP-PBX?
A: One advantage to IP-PBX is the use of open protocols that reduce the cost of network and systems management, as well as the legacy PBX problem of vendor lock-in. IP-PBX also uses the IP network to receive and send voice traffic, the same network used for data. Reduced tolls can also be a benefit for companies making lots of international calls. Many businesses also cite improved conferencing features at greatly reduced costs. These benefits are driving a market that IDC estimated to be a $4.3B market in 2004.
Q: How is an IP-PBX typically deployed?
A: The IP-PBX often resides on the customer premises and connects to an Ethernet switch on the WAN or LAN. It relays traffic to and from the outside world via a T1 line that connects directly to Telco Central Office.
