Buying the Right EPABX

The EPABX industry in India is now more than 15 years old, with a CAGR of
18-20%. There are a variety of brands in the market, and from the user’s point
of view, it is difficult to weigh a PBX only on its features.

Most of the companies therefore rely on brand equity to pull in customers.
The customer, most of the time, is not very sure as to what he needs as
"must have" features.

Apart from the basic functionality of a PBX, there are some very critical
points to be kept in mind before deciding on a PBX:

• With data gaining more importance
  in comparison to voice, the PBX should be data compatible as well.

• The small office
  & home (SOHO) segment is further divided into a small office segment and
  a home segment. The home PBX should be very easy to use and configure, and
  with good aesthetics. If you want to access e-mail at 2 or more extensions
  at your home, ISDN is the best option. On one ISDN line you can have both
  voice and data simultaneously.

• For office
  applications, take a close look at the layout of the office. Is it in a
  multi-floor building, one floor of the building or on multi-floors but not
  contiguous? The last layout needs an exchange which offers mobility as well.
  The mobility is provided by the use of Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology
  (DECT) handsets or by interfacing the PBX with an on-site paging system,
  with 2-way speech. DECT offers you seamless mobility in a radius of 500-700
  meters around the base station. One should go for a DECT system, which fully
  integrates with the PBX system, be light, smart and preferably have the same
  set of features as your desk phone.

• On-site paging
  systems today offer 2-way speech, with coverage in a 5-7 km radius from your
  office.

• The international
  market today recognizes ISDN as an established standard for the trunk side
  of PBX. The connection costs the same as analog PSTN.

• BSNL has also
  started releasing high capacity ISDN connections called PRA (Primary Rate
  Access), which offers 30 B or voice channels and the signaling D channel is
  also at 64 Kbps. This ISDN bundle comes out to be
  
  very cost effective, with much more reliability, than an ISDN connection. It
  also demolishes the myth that high-end technology is always expensive.

• With VoIP
  becoming a reality, the EPABX should have direct connectivity with
  voice-over-internet protocol. This is still not allowed by the PTT in India
  but it is a matter of time before we see a very reliable VoIP standard
  emerging and have the clearance of the Indian Telecom Regulator (TRAI)

Finally, you can get a decent Indian EPABX, at half the price
at which you get some foriegn brands.

Abhinav Puri,
product manager, Ascom India Pvt Ltd