As the owner or manager of a medium or small office, you may find yourself looking at a myriad of options for your new or upgrade office phone system.

You have almost certainly heard the debate about the advantages of VoIP vs. PBX systems, and you are tying to make the best decision to fit your business's current and future telephony needs.

You don't have to be an expert to find the best office phone system these days. And, the even better news is that a good solution doesn't have to cost you a fortune as it certainly would have in the not too distant past!

Small to medium sized businesses have struggled for years with the limited options in office phone systems on the market. Larger companies were able to buy and service large PBX systems to handle their calls, while smaller offices struggled finding something that was affordable and effective.

Usually, the solution of the past for these small offices was to gather together many physical phone lines coming into the office space and expensive phones with multiple line capabilities.

Thanks to the advances in VoIP technology, small and medium sized businesses now have great options that are easy to maintain and affordable.

- What is VoIP?

VoIP is an industry acronym which stands for "Voice over Internet Protocol." All that means, is that you can transmit your voice digitally over the internet.

The chief advantage of VoIP is that you do not need a lot of specialized equipment inside your building as you do with a traditional PBX system. Instead, you use your existing computer network to transmit your calls over your Internet connection rather than over telephone landlines.

- PBX vs. VoIP Equipment

Traditional PBX systems work by having "trunk lines" come into your office from the local phone company. From there, the PBX system uses physical lines going to each individual phone to be able to transfer calls within the system.

VoIP doesn't require these expensive trunk lines, and you no longer need to have separate phone and computer network cable installed into each office. VoIP phone systems use your existing computer network to transmit and receive all of your calls.

Essentially, your calls arrive through the same wire as your e-mail messages.

- How does VoIP Save Your Business Money?

VoIP saves your business money because you don't need the multitude of expensive phone lines installed into your building from your local phone company.

In addition, PBX equipment requires telephone cables to each extension which VoIP does not need, saving you money on cable installation within your building.

Lastly, VoIP calls are routed over the internet, not the phone system, and your long distance and local calls are much cheaper to make because of it.

VoIP is a great option for small to medium sized businesses looking for the ability to have an advanced and efficient office phone system with a lower cost and ease of administration.