Intermedia, a provider of Microsoft Exchange hosting, has unveiled hosted PBX service, which is VoIP-based and integrates with company’s hosted Exchange email service, that allows customers to access hosted PBX features, and unified communications features.
The company said that the hosted PBX service enables customers to access hosted PBX features including: unlimited domestic calling and extension dialing; and unified communications (UC) features including: ‘voicemail to email’ and ‘click to call’.
In addition, the hosted PBX is managed from the company’s proprietary HostPilot Control Panel, which provides customers a single point of communications control, the company said.
Serguei Sofinski, CEO of Intermedia, said: "We developed hosted PBX in response to feedback from our customers. Just as they use our Exchange service to avoid the cost and complexity of on-premise Exchange servers, they want a hosted PBX service to avoid the cost and complexity of on-premise PBX systems. By connecting email and voice, we are bringing unified communications and all its productivity benefits to small businesses that it was previously inaccessible to."
According to Intermedia, the new hosted PBX service includes; voice menu that greets callers and routes incoming calls; hunt groups to route calls across sales, customer service or other teams; flat-rate, per-user monthly charges with unlimited calling in the US and Canada; online administration through Intermedia’s HostPilot Control Panel; and find me/follow me so employees can set up another phone number, such as a mobile phone or home office phone, that rings when their primary phone isn’t answered.
The company said that the new offering expands into a full unified communications service when customers add hosted Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) and the OCS Calling feature. OCS is a business-class instant messaging service. And, with Intermedia’s service, calls can be placed to any instant messaging contact in OCS or any contact in Outlook just with a click of the mouse.
Further, every hosted PBX account comes with end user features including: a direct phone number, unique extension, E911 Service, caller ID, call waiting, call transfer, call forwarding and 3-way calling, Intermedia said.
