Get Ready to Unplug the PBX

Is this a reality? Are we at the point where communications for businesses, small or large, do not need a PBX? Honestly, I think we’ve all dreamt about that day, a day where we no longer have a line item in our budget just for PBX support. That dream is becoming a reality for many organizations. For all of you who have stretched the 5 year life expectancy of your old PBX to 7, 10, or 15 years, consider what you use for your desktop OS before you look to upgrade your PBX. Do you currently run Windows on your desktop? What about your servers? Do you use Exchange for email? Wish you could collaborate securely over instant messaging? I know what you’re thinking… “Why is he asking me questions about my computer infrastructure? This is about my PBX!” This is not just another article about VoIP, this is an article about collaboration, about answering your desk phone anywhere, about being in control of who can call you and when.

Microsoft released Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 in August of 2007. This was not an upgrade of the previously named Live Communications Server 2005; this was a new way of communicating and viewing presence of your colleagues and business partners. This product introduces Enterprise level voice and video integration, the ability to host audio/video Live Meetings on your own infrastructure, and so much more.

This isn’t just a Microsoft solution.   A number of other vendors, including Polycom and Nortel as well as many others, have developed phones that work with Office Communications Server. They plug into your network and connect to the Microsoft OCS, immediately integrating your email and voice systems.

What makes this all possible? A device called a SIP Gateway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_Initiation_Protocol#Commercial_applications).    These devices, manufactured by companies such as AudioCodes, Cisco and Dialogic, talk to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) over most of the industry standards.

I know what you’re thinking, and yes, if your PBX can also talk these languages or even provide TDM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-division_multiplexing) or analog lines out, you can coexist with a SIP Gateway between your PBX and Microsoft Office Communications Server. Companies such as Nortel and Cisco are also working with Microsoft to provide direct SIP into OCS using their flavor of PBXs (TDM and IP).

With the rumors that there are many new features coming in “Wave 14”, including call queuing for call centers, music on hold, administrator consoles for meetings, a conference calling center, it is really time to ask yourself, “do I really need that PBX anymore?”