Clear FAQs.

• What does "iPBeX" stand for?

  Short answer: An acronym we mashed together (in cool Camel case) for Internet Private Branch eXchange or Internet PBX.
  A Private Branch Exchange (PBX) provides Telephone access only to a particular Business. Its term is derived from the Public Telephone Exchange (a large Telephone System / Switch) that provides the general public Telephone access; (ex: your home phone).

• What does "VoiP" stand for?

  Short answer: An acronym (in cool Camel case) for Voice Over Internet Protocol.
  The term VoiP as a whole refers to the concept and technical aspects of transporting real-time voice media over a traditional Internet connection.

• Do I need Internet access to use your service?

  Absolutely! Broadband Internet is required to utilize our Cloud PBXs. The faster, more stable and reliable your connection the better. Contact us if you need help locating an Internet provider. (Note: Our geeks can also help ensure all other components of your Network are configured correctly, such the QOS (Quality of Service) feature in your Router).

• Equipment wise, what exactly would I need to purchase?

  Ideally, just the phones! For most installations, a phone is usually placed near a computer. This setup would net you a true "plug-and-play" install, as the computer and phone would "share" the existing Network connection. Locations without jacks nearby would require new cabling. (Note: VoIP phones cannot use traditional Telephone wiring. Cat-5e or better Network cabling is recommended). Other factors such as feature support could result in equipment upgrades. (Ex: Larger installations could benefit from a Network Switch that supports POE (Power over Ethernet) to supply power for the phones over the Network cables).

• I have another office located across town. Will I need a separate Cloud PBX for that location?

  Nope! You can co-locate multiple office locations within a single Cloud PBX. Location wise, the site needs to have Broadband Internet. Equipment wise, you will only need additional VoiP phones (in most cases). Calling between offices can be achieved by simply dialing a 2 or 3 digit extension. No fancy dial plans or prefixes necessary. (Note: The Paging feature currently does not work across multiple locations. You will also need a separate DID number for e911 purposes.)

• What is e911 and how is it different from a regular 911 call?

  Traditionally, when you dial 911, the street address where your phone service is located is transmitted to the 911 operator. As VoiP lines are virtual, your street address could be different from the listed service address. (Ex: Your Cloud PBX serves a New York City office with a (212) number and a few remote phones in a Satellite warehouse in New Jersey). Enhanced 911 (e911) is a service that maps street addresses to VoiP Telephone numbers. For each location under your Cloud PBX, a separate DID / e911 phone number will be required. This will allow us to transmit the correct phone number and street address to the 911 operators.
  Click here for important e911 information.

• How do you compare to other landline and VoIP services (like Verizon or Vonage)?

  Quality wise, we implement an HD (high definition) codec wherever possible, such as when calling extension to extension. In most cases you will observe equal or better quality than a typical landline or VoIP service. Feature wise, we are not simply a landline replacement (ie. Vonage). iPBeX is a true business phone system and business phone service replacement. Features such as extension dialing, music on hold, high definition voice, automated attendant menus, and call center queuing; all while using fancy Android VoiP Desk Phones are unheard of on a typical landline or VoiP Service.

• I'd like to avoid any installation charges. Can I setup the phones myself?

  Yes! We'll even offer up one of our geeks to help via phone / email. Each phone you order will be manually configured in advance for a true plug and play setup. (Note: If you require new Network cabling or Networking equipment installation / re-configuration, a site visit may be required by one of our technicians or any 3rd party vendor).

• What happens if my Internet connection goes down?

  Good question! If your Internet connection is lost for any reason, you will not be able to place or receive calls. In most cases, inbound calls will be sent directly to voicemail. If the outage will be ongoing, and you have access to an alternate Internet connection (Cell phone or other) you can log on to your Cloud PBX portal and redirect your DIDs or enable Forwarding to an external number (such as a Cell phone). Otherwise, simply call us up (on a Cell phone!) and we'll handle the re-routing for you.

• How reliable is your VoiP Network and your Cloud PBXs?

  Our fully redundant VoIP infrastructure is monitored 24/7 by a team of very capable geeks. Our Cloud nodes are spread out in key geographic locations across the country, and the globe; milliseconds away from major Internet backbones. Quality, reliability, and stability are a real priority for us. With that said, things happen. A quiet day could end in a massive DDOS attack against our infrastructure. For this reason we offer an SLA of 99.99%. Beyond that, we'll credit your account for Network outages or downtime on our dime. (Note: Regardless of how reliable and stable our Network is, it is a mute point if your Internet connection isn't. We recommend at least a Cable or FiOS Internet connection with a capable QOS based router).

• Can I fully manage my Cloud PBX from the web portal?

  Somewhat. Our target audience is those whom rather just plug the phones in and have them "work" while not worrying about setting up Extensions, Automated Menus or Call Center Queues on their own. Through a simple support ticket, our geeks can handle the configuration of any Telephony feature you need; quickly and efficiently. With that said we do offer basic management through our Cloud portal. You can have multiple admin / basic users, access to call logs, manage voicemail boxes, enable / disable forwarding, redirect inbound calls, block callers, manage recorded calls, manage fax messages, send fax messages, and more. (Note: We do plan to implement more advanced management through our portal so stay tuned!)

• I already have a few VoIP phones, can I use them with my Cloud PBX?

  That depends. If the phone is one of our currently offered models from our store, then yes! There will be a $25 provisioning fee per phone to set them up on our Network. You can either send the phone(s) to us, or we can work with you to remotely provision each phone. If the phone model is not currently offered, you'll need to send the phone to us for compatibility testing. (Note: For security reasons, we lock the admin and user sections of all phones on our Network. You can request user level access through a support ticket).