There are three major types of phone system available: KSU-Less phones, Key systems and Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems. Which type of phone system you choose will depend on the amount of extensions you require and the features your telephone system needs to have installed.
KSU-Less systems
Most small telephone systems connect the phones in an office to a central control box called the key service unit, or KSU. This arrangement allows the system to offer many features, since the KSU can monitor the status and needs of each phone. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that the KSU requires professional installation, raising the cost and complexity of the system. A side benefit of such an installation is that KSU-Less phones do not require the costly wiring of more advanced phone systems. These phones can easily be unplugged and moved to a new location, or sold. This flexibility allows you to treat a KSU-less system much like any other business machine, rather than as a permanent investment in your premises. As you might have already deduced, KSU-less phone systems do not require a central cabinet. Instead, each telephone contains the circuitry necessary to offer various features. Installation can simply be a matter of installing the phones into existing phone jacks.The last thing any business needs is to be concerned with the reliability and maintenance of its phone system. Another drawback of KSU-Less systems is that they are more prone to something known as “crosstalk”. This is where separate conversations may blend into each other. With PBX, Key systems and Hybrid systems falling in price, it sometimes makes more sense to invest in a full business phone system, rather than become susceptible to the risks of a KSU-Less system.
Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems
A PBX is a private telephone switch that provides switching (including a full set of switching features) for an office or campus. PBXs often use proprietary digital-line protocols, although some are analog-based.If your business typically requires more than forty extensions, or your needs dictate you need advanced functions from your business phone system, then PBX systems are often the solution. PBX systems used to be extremely expensive and only affordable by huge corporations with hundreds of extensions. Though this is still the case for larger installations, the development of the technology required has progressed to the point where a powerful, fully functional PBX office phone system for a small business is able to fit on the top of a desk’s.Nearly all these compact PBX ACD phone systems come with all the features you might want as standard. You pay a premium for the programmability and flexibility that a PBX offers, but in most cases the price difference is not as much as you may imagine between that of a less flexible phone system.
Key Systems
Key phone systems are more typical in businesses that require five to forty extensions. This type of phone system uses a central control unit called the Key System Unit (KSU) to provide features and functions that are not available using ordinary phones. An example of this is: key systems using a KSU allow one extension to call another in house extension, and prevents any other users from picking up a line that is already in use. Key systems usually come as standard with most features any business would expect, but in some cases they are often less flexible than a PBX phone system.
PBX & Key Systems (hybrids)
Though Key and PBX systems have some different technical features, these differences have become somewhat blurred over the past couple of years. Many Key systems now offer features that were once only available to those who chose to install a full PBX phone system. Some systems also operate internally as either a PBX or Key system depending on the software installed. Sometime these systems are often referred to as “Hybrid” phone systems.
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