Centrex

Typical Applications: Small business start-ups, banks & financial institutions, professional offices, local government, hotels, colleges & universities, temporary placements where PBX is not practical (i.e., campaign offices)

 

To understand Centrex, you must first know what a PBX is.  Short for Private Branch eXchange, a private telephone network used within an enterprise.  Users of the PBX share a certain number of outside phone lines for making telephone calls external to the PBX.  Most medium-sized and larger companies use a PBX because it's much less expensive than connecting an external telephone line to every telephone in the organization.  In addition, it's easier to call someone within a PBX because the number you need to dial is typically just 3 or 4 digits.

Centrex is a PBX-like service providing switching at the central office instead of at the customer's premises.  Typically, the telephone company owns and manages all the necessary communications equipment and software, and then sells various services to the customer.  As with a PBX, stations inside the group can call each other with 3, 4 or 5 digits, depending on how large the group, instead of an entire telephone number.

The Centrex customer is not restricted to using the features available to POTS customers and can choose from a wide variety of special services and features.  In fact, telecommunications companies generally offer numerous Centrex packages.

Centrex has recently become increasingly popular as it requires a service agreement with the provider that in essence guarantees your rates over the life of the contract.  Many providers frequently increase the rates of typical POTS lines, so locking in the rate via a Centrex solution is often beneficial to your bottom line.

Centrex lines should always be considered when looking at POTS lines as they can sometimes be much more cost effective.  For details on what can be included in these packages and when they would be appropriate for your business, contact a TelecomMedic voice consultant today.