What is hosted telephony?

Hosted telephony, also known as cloud-based telephony or hosted PBX (Private Branch Exchange), is a communication solution where the infrastructure and services for your business phone system are hosted and managed by a third-party service provider. Instead of having physical phone equipment installed on-site, the telephony system is hosted in the cloud.

With hosted telephony, your business can make and receive calls using internet protocols (IP), transmitting voice data over the internet rather than traditional phone lines. This eliminates the need for complex on-premises hardware and maintenance, as the service provider handles the infrastructure, software updates, and technical support.

Users can access the telephony system through IP phones, softphones (software-based phones installed on computers or mobile devices), or even integrate it with existing communication tools like unified communications platforms.