Paper? Check. Pens? Check. Hosted PBX? Check.

Small business owners deserve only the very best solutions for their business needs, and one of the best investments a company can make is in VoIP phone service. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is the technology that uses the Internet to transfer phone calls.

One of the most useful VoIP solutions is a hosted PBX. A hosted PBX (private branch exchange) works as the central part of a business's phone system that directs internal and external calls to the correct extensions. Hosted PBXs are hosted off-site by the business VoIP provider. Since it is hosted off-site, small business owners don’t have to worry about the cost and hassle of maintaining the PBX hardware themselves.

Hosted PBX phone systems offer small businesses a wealth of business features, which is why Hosted PBXs are such popular IP solutions for businesses.

Some companies still use in-house analog PBXs, which are called legacy PBXs. Legacy PBXs require regular in-house maintenance, which comes at a price to the company. Companies also have to pay extra fees whenever they need to make an extension change, since the company must hire a technician to manually change out extension lines.

A hosted PBX is a much more cost effective option for small businesses. With a hosted PBX,

• Companies usually pay an average price of $20/month per extension.

• Extension plans are scalable and easily adjustable.

• Most business VoIP providers offer unlimited nationwide calling, which is a good fit for small businesses that make a high volume of calls each month.

With a hosted PBX, both internal and external calls are converted into cheap Internet calls.

Office real estate is too valuable a thing to waste, especially for a small business. A hosted PBX is maintained completely off-site by the business VoIP provider, so the company is free to use more space in the building. In addition to this, since the hosted PBX is housed off-site, the small business is not responsibility for any routine upkeep fees of the hardware.

Small businesses need the freedom to make changes as the company grows. A hosted PBX is perfect for companies that need scalable extensions. Whenever the small business owner needs to make a change to one of the company’s extensions, all he or she has to do is sign into their VoIP account and make the change online, and then plug-in or unplug the phone. With a legacy PBX, a company must hire a technician to manually move, remove, or change extensions whenever the company needs to make a change.

Utilizing a remote workforce is a good strategy for small businesses. Companies can hire the best employees no matter where the employee lives. Some small businesses can eliminate the cost of a brick and mortar building completely if they only use remote workers.

A hosted PBX provides wire-free capabilities that allow remote employees to stay connected to their office extensions from just about anywhere. Employees can program their office calls to ring on their smartphones, home phones, laptops,tablets, or any other Internet-enabled devices.

Jennifer Cuellar is a writer based out of San Diego, California. She covers the latest news about VoIP  and IP solutions for small businesses.