Private Branch Exchange

What Does Private Branch Exchange Mean?

A private branch exchange (PBX) is a private telephone network used within an enterprise. It is a business-oriented phone system designed to supply efficient voice communications between the users of an organization. Acting as the phone company’s central office within an organization, a PBX works as the exchange point and point for routing calls.

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Techopedia Explains Private Branch Exchange

The word private refers to its use in the private sector, as opposed to a public telecommunications company. Branch indicates a remote subsystem, and exchange points to its switching functionality. Most medium-sized and larger companies used a PBX because it is less expensive than connecting an external phone line to every phone line in an organization.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…