Understanding TODAY… what you should know about the history of business telephone exchanges

PBX Systems (Private Branch ANDxchange) have evolved through three different eras: manual telephone switchboard, automatic switchboard, and IP (Internet Protocol). As part of the new “unified communications” trend, PBX has continued to evolve and merge with other technologies. After the Great Depression, companies grew larger and had multiple departments. As a result, they began to place a large number of internal calls from one department to another or from one employee to another whose office was down the hall. Until the 1960s, most companies relied on the public telephone company to connect their in-office calls. Each individual phone in the business required a public telephone line, so every call initiated from within the company cost money to install and maintain. Calling your coworker was no different than calling a neighbor. Business owners needed a way to handle internal and external calls more cost-effectively.   Early Era: Beginning of PBX systems Businesses soon had the idea of investing in switchboard hardware and hiring their own operators. These private switchboards were the first PBX systems. The concept was simple: share a small number of phone lines across a large number of telephones. They could save money by reducing the number of public phone lines (each had an initial installation cost) and by not having to pay for every phone call within the office. Law firms were among the first users of PBXs, as they were receiving and making a great many phone calls and could afford the entire system. By 1882, a law firm in Richmond, Virginia, installed the first private switchboard system, an archaic version of what is now known as a PBX. In the early 1900s, businesses, factories, hospitals, schools, and others made space for their own PBX equipment. The equipment took up a lot of space and money, but with long-term savings in mind, PBX systems were slowly growing in popularity. Second Era: Automatic PBX Automatic switching When Strowger's automatic switchboards appeared as we told in the previous post, public telephone companies migrated to the PBX world. The police began making large investments in automated PBXs around 1910. Automated PBXs eliminated the need for human operators when making a call to a coworker down the hall. Even so, most businesses avoided the expensive electromechanical switchboards. They were ingenious, automatic, but weren't practical or profitable for all businesses for another 60 years. So while automatic switching was being used by public telephone companies, most businesses using PBX systems still relied on manual call-transfer operators. Electronic switching and the PBX renaissance In 1972, semiconductors were introduced to the exchange, enabling faster and more reliable automation. In the years that followed, fully electronic automation of telephone call switching was at its peak. The price to produce these electronic switches was significantly lower than mechanical ones. This made PBXs more attractive. More companies purchased and installed their own equipment. To distinguish between the different systems used, automated systems were called PABXs while traditional manual systems became PMBXs. Since manual systems no longer exist today, PABX has dropped the redundant “A”. PABX systems were gradually improved and changed over the following decades until the technology known as TDM was developed. TDM PBX A TDM (Time Division Multiplexers) PBX is one of the most common types of voice infrastructures, as it has been around in the market for a long time. A TDM PBX consists of proprietary, self-contained systems. They were designed before contemporary server technology was invented. TDM telephone companies enabled the transition from analog to digital transmission, which paved the way for TDM PBX systems. They consist of a cabinet with numerous boards that can perform specific functions, for example, boards that provide intercom functionality or analog extension boards., TDM PBX is reaching the end of its life cycle. TDM PBX boards are only compatible with systems from the same manufacturer as part of a complete architecture, forcing users to stick with the same manufacturer for everything, even telephones had to be from the same company. A TDM PBX requires dedicated personnel to manage it, as well as extensive maintenance. It is mostly used by companies that still need to update their network cabling. The biggest difference between a TDM PBX and an IP PBX is that an IP PBX uses the Internet Protocol (IP) to route calls, while a TDM PBX uses physical keys. Additionally, an IP PBX is scalable, allows for the use of different brands of peripheral devices, and can dramatically reduce call costs. Third Era: IP PBX IP PBX In 1990, the internet as we know it was still in its infancy. It was not common in homes or businesses, and its potential applications were clear to only a few. When the Internet Protocol merged with PBX, the next generation of business communications was born. It was in 1997 that the first IP PBX service became available. Within a few years, this new technology would be offered with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to provide multimedia transmission while reducing data usage. The greatest benefit of an IP-based system is virtual hosting. You no longer need to maintain and update your own computerized switchboards. Instead, you can simply use an internet connection to transmit that data to a computer hosted and managed by the IP PBX provider. Hybrid IP PBX Given that IP technology doesn't utilize the vast majority of hardware that companies have acquired, owners often resist jumping on the IP PBX bandwagon. Since all the equipment they had spent time and money maintaining and improving is rendered useless. So for those who wanted the best of both worlds, the hybrid PBX was introduced. With a hybrid system, you can use your current hardware, which was already installed, while using IP technology to add very useful features. You can also add a second branch or office without having to buy a second set of expensive PBX hardware. For some companies, the ability to retain old TDM-based phones and headsets made the hybrid model a good upgrade and cost-saving option.

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In SimpleTECHWe are a company made up of professionals in the areas of Telecommunications, Electronics and Software. We specialize in helping companies and institutions of all sizes communicate effectively and efficiently based on the industry best practices and technologies. That's why we recommend the 3CX Hybrid IP Phone System for medium and large companies looking to obtain the highest return on their investment through a scalable, flexible and efficient tool. We advise and implement projects throughout Latin America. We are the only Spanish-speaking 3CX Platinum and Support Partner in Latin America. Throughout the following posts we will expand on 3CX, the hybrid telephone system that we offer you to try, so that you know the different benefits that it can bring to your company. By: The team of SimpleTECH© Sources: http://bebusinessed.com/history/history-of-pbx/ http://www.guiadelturistafriki.es/museo-las-tele http://www.museocienciaupna.com/colecciones/central-telefonica-de-barras-cruzadas-pentaconta-pc-32/comunicaciones/ http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Telephone_exchange# http://www.wikiwand.com/fr/Autocommutateur_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9phonique_priv%C3%A9#/Principaux_fabricants