PBX phone system
My brother is in between jobs right now and is thinking of maybe starting a business instead of getting another job. We were discussing everything from the business name, target customer group, pricing, and location. One thing we realized was how many costs there were to a business that we hadn't thought about before. We started to look for ways to cut costs and improve efficiency. My brother's a big web and tech guy, and he wanted to use the internet as much as possible. We were talking about advertising primarily online, conducting the majority of the communication via email, and maybe even using webcams to minimize the need to come into the store in person to get minor things done. As for the phone lines, we decided that if he ever starts the business, he won't use phone lines. The best phone system is VoIP (voice over internet protocol), which uses your internet line to transfer voice data. I can't give away details of my brother's possible business (he'll probably get upset!), but I can say that it will involve talking to clients from many different places, some of which are really far away. VoIP would be the ideal phone system for that since it could be a lot cheaper. Later, when his business grows, he may use a PBX (private branch exchange) or PABX (private automatic branch exchange) phone system, which is just a fancy way of saying that he will have several office phones that need to be networked together and be able to communicate with one another within the office. This PBX or PABX will connect to the phone network in general, so it'll be great! Plus, he will be able to combine his VoIP service with internet, cable, and whatever data services he's using. Maybe he can get a discount and save more money, which is really important for a starting business. Of course, all this might be irrelevant if he gets another job. But the good thing is that we discussed VoIP, which is not only useful for businesses, but maybe useful for your home as well.