1. What is a Hosted PBX?

A Hosted PBX is a VoIP-enabled office telephone switch that is provided on a subscription (per extension per month) basis. Housed in resilient data centers, hosted PBX services tend to offer greater flexibility and scalability at lower overall cost when compared to their traditional in-house counterparts.

Services are delivered directly to the customer from the platform provider who maintains direct management of the PBX, or, via authorized partners and resellers. In either case the central components of the solution – the PBX, management support and upgrade to the PBX, and external call termination services, come bundled as part of an all-inclusive packaged offering.

How to pick a communications software supplier

To integrate a cloud-based communications platform into your business, you can follow these steps:

Research and compare different cloud-based communications platforms to find the one that best fits your business needs and budget. Consider factors such as the features and capabilities of the platform, the pricing and contract terms, and the reputation and customer support of the provider.

Sign up for the cloud-based communications platform of your choice, and set up your account. This may involve providing your business information, such as your name and contact details, as well as setting up your payment and billing information.

Configure the cloud-based communications platform to match your business’s needs and preferences. This may involve setting up and organizing your contacts, creating and assigning roles and permissions, and configuring settings such as call routing and voicemail.

Train your employees on how to use the cloud-based communications platform, and provide them with the necessary support and resources. This may involve providing written instructions or tutorials, as well as offering in-person training and support.

Monitor and manage the performance and usage of the cloud-based communications platform, and make any necessary adjustments or improvements. This may involve tracking key metrics, such as call volume and response time, and using the data and insights to optimize and improve your use of the platform.

Overall, integrating a cloud-based communications platform into your business can help you improve your communication and collaboration, and can also provide you with the flexibility and scalability that you need to support your growth and success.

A sample of benefits often associated with hosted PBXs is presented below

Upfront Cost Savings: No need to acquire specialized in house PBX hardware. With a Hosted PBX the office telephone system is configured, operated and maintained remotely by your PBX provider.

Ongoing Cost Savings: In most cases the Hosted PBX will prove more cost-effective over the long run when compared to a traditional PBX. Savings here are in addition to the initial savings on capital outlay and come by way of eliminating call out charges, reduced line charges, lower call costs.

Geographical Flexibility: Employees can work from virtually anywhere! Softphones running on PCs, apps running on smartphones, remote desktop phone units offer tremendous flexibility and ensure that employees can remain ‘at their extension’ while being off site.

Scalability: Traditional in-house systems tend to be limited in terms of how many users they can handle. Many are also limited in supporting lines from local telephone providers. By contrast a native IP solution can readily expand in line with business growth and broadband availability.

Quick Setup: a Hosted PBX solution is quick to set up – typically a new service can be provisioned within 1-2 days

2. How does the Amiba Hosted PBX platform work?
Other than our recommended desktop phones our service requires the installation of no customer premise (in house) equipment. For each new customer we initiate a unique cloud instance PBX and configure it to individual requirements. Connections are made via broadband and all calls are made via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) – a method for transmitting voice in digital packets along IP networks. Packet switching and industry standard codecs ensure the most appropriate allocation of bandwidth in order to support high quality voice calls.

3 Why should I chose Amiba over hosted PBX services from another supplier?
Our hosted PBX provides all the features that users will expect from a modern, well-engineered PBX platform. We have not simply taken an open source (asterisk based) engine and developed our own front end branding and functions around it. Rather, we have applied our many years’ experience in developing in house SMB PBX systems in order to create a truly unique, feature rich cloud offering. There really is no substitute for experience! Single button functions, user defined keys, user-friendly interfaces all contribute to user appeal when operating an office phone system and Amiba has this down… Fact!

4. Can I keep my existing phone numbers when I switch to Amiba?
Yes. We can port your existing numbers to the Amiba platform. Inbound and outbound calls will be routed over your Hosted PBX service and our sign up and support teams will provide assistance to ensure a smooth transition.

5. How much does the Amiba service cost?
Monthly subscriptions vary depending upon the number of users you require. Our services are available for as little as $20 per extension (user) per month, which includes unlimited land line calls. Price information is available on our website but it can be helpful to speak with one of our representatives to get a further qualified figure based upon your individual requirements. Call today!

6. Do you provide a trial?
Yes, customers can trial our services before subscribing to them but this is limited to 10 working days. Please contact us to arrange your trial today!

7. How long does it take to get our Amiba service up and running once we’ve placed our order?
Typically customers are up and running within 2-20 working days of placing their orders with Amiba. There are times when it can take longer than this (e.g should a LAN upgrade be necessary) Equally, it can be as short as a matter of days. We work conscientiously with you to help identify causes of delay, to mitigate these and to get you up and running as quickly as possible.

8. Do you provide training?
Amiba provides web based training, user manuals and a customer support / helpline. Our system is exceptionally user friendly and most people tend to find it very easy to perform the range of functions typically required of any modern, connected worker.

9. How are Bandwidth, VOIP and call quality related? How can I be assured of call quality?
Voice Over IP (VOIP) calls require a certain amount of bandwidth in order to ensure conversations that are intelligible by both parties. Bandwidth relates to the amount of data that can be transmitted in a certain time period and so it is important that you have a good Internet connection if you intend to run VoIP calls.

Internet connections are measured in KiloBits Per Second (kbps) and it is not uncommon to have a higher rate of connection coming in (download) than the rate by which data leaves (upload). All data (including voice signals that have been digitized and are being transmitted as data) will pass through many different connection points and it is important for conversations that latency is minimized. For this reason we recommend that customers ensure the use of modern business grade routers and switches on their LANs.

Provided there is sufficient bandwidth to allow for the transmission of voice data in real time, then there is no reason to be concerned about VoIP calls. VOIP will tend to require anything from 24 to 88 kbps per call and as a rule of thumb, it is best to assume that you will need at least 90 kbps per concurrent call to use VoIP reliably.

10. What hardware do I require in my office?
All that is required in order to use our service is a broadband connection and a calling device (PC softphone, smartphone, desktop phone). The Amiba PBX is hosted in the cloud so once your device has access to the Internet it will register with the switch and will become your connected extension.

For larger office environments we recommend the following network components

Network Router
VoIP requires routers that are capable of supporting classes of service and GRE tunnels in order to operate at maximum voice quality and at highest degrees of protection. Your router must be capable of distributing IP addresses to network devices via DHCP. The quality of your router will be determined somewhat by the number of connected IP peripherals you have on your LAN.

IP Phones / Handsets
Amiba IP desktop phones come pre-configured with your company user and extension information, they must be powered up and can then be plugged in to your LAN.

Firewall
Many routers include a firewall which protects your network from malicious Internet traffic. Your firewall should allow your handsets to access HTTP, HTTPS, and UDP traffic on your network.

Switches
We recommend that customers use only business-class switches capable of QoS (Quality of Service). A QoS capable switch ensures high-quality audio during calls as it places priority on voice packets from your Amiba IP phones. As with the router the switch quality depends upon the number of connected IP peripherals on your LAN.

11. After I receive my phones, how do I get them to work?
Our system phones come preconfigured and simply require power and Ethernet connection (“Plug and Play”). All Amiba system phones have an integrated 2-port bridge which enables two devices (e.g the IP phone and a desktop computer) to work simultaneously together without requiring separate Ethernet connections. Once your phone is powered up and connected to your network it will automatically register with your PBX and you will be able to make and receive calls.

12. I have multiple office locations and some are overseas. Can we still use Amiba?
Absolutely! And better still all inter-office and internal call transfers will be completely free. Furthermore, because Amiba provides an enterprise PBX with smartphone apps and PC softphones, this means that no matter where your employees are – whether they are out on site, on the road or working from home – they can use different devices (desktop phone, smartphone, PC) to connect to your company and be available at their extension. This means that they can be contacted at any time just as they would be if they were in the office.

13. How does maintenance and support work & how much will it cost me?
With the Amiba hosted PBX all system support, maintenance and upgrading is included as part of the monthly subscription.

14. Do you have a support desk that my users can call?
Yes. Amiba support is available 5 days a week (Mon-Fri) from 9am to 6pm. Our highly experienced customer support personnel are always more than happy to provide input and answers to user questions. Furthermore and because we manage your PBX, we can ensure that any configuration changes or user preferences are immediately applied to your system.

15. Do I need an IT person in order to properly administer our Amiba phone system?
No. The Amiba platform has been designed to ensure ease of use for you, our customer. System administration is managed by the Amiba team (simply call us and we will make any configuration changes that you may require), it can also be managed by use of a web accessible central control panel. Amiba is about simplicity! All technical requirements are taken care of by Amiba and are included in the subscription fee.