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Choosing a VoIP PBX: Page 3 of 4

All the vendors that responded to our Buyer's Guide survey say they support analog phones. You will still need some analog phone connections for fax machines or for modems and to support systems that automatically call analog phones or beepers. You will likely be using legacy connections for access to the PSTN as well.

Peter Morrissey is a full-time faculty member of Syracuse University's School of Information Studies, and a contributing editor and columnist for Network Computing. Write to him at [email protected].

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We wouldn't recommend ordering a PBX based solely on our Buyer's Guide charts. You should get a detailed quote and make sure the PBX has all the features you need to support your business and end users. Of course, pricing will vary based on your needs.

Security is also an important consideration. Using a VPN is a common way to ensure that communications going across the Internet are encrypted. When you combine a VPN with IP codecs, it starts to add milliseconds of latency. When this gets into the triple digits, it can seriously impact your call quality. Before you sign on the dotted line, verify that you can put your IP phones and the IP PBX behind a firewall (see "Hold the IP Phone").

Peruse our online survey results. Choose the vendor whose offering most closely matches your price range and requirements. Then issue an RFI (Request for Information) or an RFP (Request for Proposal) and send it to your local resellers. These companies usually sell and install the IP PBXs.