It's not been very long since businesses used PABX exchanges, had operators transferring calls, dialling numbers to connect to to people located elsewhere. Businessmen and executives used to go to attend meetings- well all that is history now and the telecommunication industry coupled with IT technology has changed the business telephone system entirely. Fiber optic and PCs have been the two driving forces that have changed the way we do business now. Even diehard businessmen have had to change and adapt to new technologies. Call a meeting in the conference room and everyone will walk in with laptops, not notepads and pens.

The internet has changed the entire perception of business. Emails have taken over from letters, memos and faxes. Online banking has taken over from writing and sending cheques. Companies that used to depend on the normal telephone system have switched over to VoIP.

The present day telephone system is expandable. They are flexible to accommodate the modification according to the needs of the company. Business telephone systems have migrated from the public switched telephone networks to the IP networks. The advanced telephony service is able to connect to the IP network while keeping the connection with the conventional telephone network. The hybrid systems with the SIP standards ensure the system compatibility without any obstruction.

Web cameras have reduced in size and ao has their price, while their picture quality has improved phenomenally. Now with the internet and VoIP, you can do video conferencing quite easily. In fact, this technology has advanced so much that now there are e-conferences that you can attend without stepping out of your office.

The telephone system has been modified to fulfil the demands of both large and small businesses. The advanced systems enable them to develop a private business exchange. This system allows the users to share a system with fewer telephone company lines. The system features ring groups, call cascades, auto-attendants, voicemail and more.

Advanced telephone system offers many stunning features. The traditional system which only worked through the operators has been modified to give an auto-attendant service. The auto- attendant service is a computerised service that provides the caller a list to select among the call designations. On selection, the call is directed to the relevant service provider.

You can scan and send documents over the internet or if you need to send faxes you can hook your fax machine to an ATA (analog telephone adaptor) and use the VoIP to send and receive your faxes. You can also hook your analog phone to it and use the VoIP service for your phone calls.

The business telephone systems mediate a voice mail service. It includes leaving messages for the unavailable employees. They also feature call holding and call forwarding service. It facilitates a music hold service that engages the caller on hold and provides something to listen in the waiting loops.

Their rates are competitive and some even offer free trial. If your business telephone bills are high, its time to consider getting broadband and VoIP and slashing your costs.