Do you remember the days when you were stuck to a landline or office desk phone? How the ‘telephone’restricted your physical ability to get out of the house or office at any time in case you missed an important call? Those were the days when fixed phone systems were the norm. Before the days of internet.

Offices had a PABX (Private Automatic Branch Exchange) system which required a receptionist to receive calls on a main company phone number from a box on the desk with switches attached. They had to physically transferred the call to an extension, by flicking a switch that was wired to the specific desk of the extension. There was no voice mail, and no mobile phones. Every company had phone lines wired throughout the building to everyone’s desk. The receptionist used a pen (A REAL pen!) to record an message on a paper memo pad.

For residential houses, a landline, maybe with an extension so you could answer the phone from more than one room, was physically wired into the house from the street, and internally to the plug/s on a wall.

We were tied to physical locations where ever the phone was located. At best, we could use a portable phone (when these became available), to communicate within a limited range near the phone line.

Then came the internet, wifi, the cloud, PCs, laptops, tablets and mobile phones! Not only could we access information (now we ‘Google it’) about almost anything we wanted to know from the click of a mouse, we could do it from anywhere when laptops were finally available. These new technologies and devices enabled us all to not only work remotely, but to get out of the office or house and still keep working. And to be able to communicate without a fixed wired phone line or system. We made phone calls from mobile phones with very expensive call rates.

The internet was available first as a connection through our phone lines with very slow access. We called it ‘Dial-Up’ and sometimes waited for over 10 minutes or more to search or load a page on the internet. To download or upload any files was extremely slow and frustrating.

With the incredible advances in technologies related to communication systems, ‘Dial-Up’ was replaced by ADSL (Asymmetric digital subscriber line). This fastened up the internet speed, but many still had fixed phones in their houses and offices, with wires everywhere you looked to connect to the phone cables on the street. The internet connection (ADSL) still needed a fixed phone line to connect with from the street and into the building.

How fabulous that broadband, cloud PBX and VoIP are now available, with very cheap mobile phone plans and wi-fi accessible from almost anywhere in the world, often for free. And we don’t need a fixed landline on the street or in the office building any more! We can even record and share the content of a phone call.

VDSL, Broadband, VoIP and GUI – We have VDSL (Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line) and Naked Broadband internet connections available to let us not only access the internet, but to communicate using phone systems called VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), and data is quickly transferred and retained using GUI (Graphical User Interface) systems.

Fast internet – We are now able to enjoy extremely fast speed internet interaction, searching, download and uploads, and we can even play games at very fast speeds, online, from anywhere, using any device.

The Cloud – With external servers now part of our daily life and work, commonly called the Cloud, we can also access and store all our financial information, documents and data from a server that is not fixed to a specific location or building, or other device. No more being stuck to the PC or laptop that the application is installed on, or the documents or other data is restricted to. Backups and disaster recoveries are simple and can happen within seconds or minutes. Your data is also far less at risk if your PC or other device has a melt-down or is damaged.

Cloud PBX – PBX is the acronym for Public Branch Exchange. PBX is the technology that is used by a telephone provider to route calls over the internet. So if you are using a VoIP phone system in your business, PBX is the required technology. And Cloud PBX needs no wires! So you can now remove all those ghastly looking wires that used to be connected to your telephone or PC!

VoIP – VoIP phone systems now replace the old fashioned fixed phone systems. They required PABX systems, a receptionist, lots of wires in your building or house, and physical restrictions to communicate from one location. VoIP uses data to communicate over the internet, and many companies and residential customers are now enjoying remote working and communication from anywhere in the world. Maybe even from an island under a palm tree that is within range of wi-fi and/or a mobile phone tower! You can divert calls to another phone number, mobile or otherwise from anywhere you are connected to the Cloud. If the internet is down for some reason, you can also still make, receive, divert and record phone calls.

Find out more

We hope you have enjoyed travelling this journey with us. We look forward to sharing more as the future reveals other amazing technologies and systems that provide further benefits to us all, for easier and cost effective communication, data transfer, accessibility and security.

To learn more about anything related to the above subjects, click on the following related topics or contact us at any time.

• Residential internet
• Business internet
• VoIP Phone Systems
• Broadband
• Cloud PBX