What to Know About Phone Switchboards

What is a Phone Switchboard?

A switchboard is a centralized system used to connect the various components of a telephone system, to establish a call. Today’s switchboards, regardless of whether the phone system is an on-premise PBX, IP-PBX or Virtual PBX, most likely work off of a set of automated algorithms that hold and direct call traffic, without the assistance of human interaction. Additionally, call center teams who connect callers to the correct phone line within a business, or resource on a customer helpline, may also be known as switchboards. Simply put, a switchboard receives calls and directs them to the appropriate party within an organization.

A Brief History of Switchboards

On January 4, 1894, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company installed the first battery-operated switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts. Early switchboards in large cities usually were mounted floor to ceiling in order to allow the operators to reach all the lines in the exchange. In the early days of telephony, through roughly the 1960s, companies used manual telephone switchboards, and switchboard operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. Side note: If you've ever seen Laugh In's comedy show, you'll remember Lily Tomlin's Ernestine, the telephone operator. But we digress... Today, switchboard operators, for the most part, have been replaced with software and state-of-the-art business phone systems used to connect customers and staff faster and more accurately than ever before. We’ve all made phone calls to an organization and been greeted by a live person, but mostly we’re greeted with automated responses like, “If you know your party’s extension, dial it now. Please listen to the following choices – to reach customer service, press 1, for sales, press 2,” etc…

Using a Switchboard Phone System

Telephone systems have become a lot more sophisticated and automated. In today's world, there are alternatives to using a switchboard phone system within an organization. Gone are the days where a receptionist sits at a desk and transfers calls all day long. We have all been trained to listen for the automated options for reaching the party we’re most interested in speaking with. However, if you know a person's direct dial number, you can still dial that number and reach a specific person directly without having to go through the ordeal of pressing a number to reach random people within an organization. If you only have an organization's primary toll-free number, there may be additional steps to progress through to reach the party with which you wish to speak. Let’s face it, communication between a customer and an organization has become easier as technology like cloud-based telephony has overtaken on-premise hardware that becomes outdated the day it’s installed. Next, let’s discuss the features that make a switchboard telephone system an organization’s (and customer’s) best ally.

Typical Switchboard Features

Auto Attendant – when a call is received, it is answered in a timely manner; the caller has the option to dial by name, play company directory or dial by extension.

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) – in a call center environment, each member of the group has a specific skillset. When a customer calls in, they progress through a few questions by pressing numbers to end up in the queue of the person/people that will be able to assist them with their call.

Call Forwarding – in this mobile world we all live in, the ability to move live calls seamlessly across any handset (desk, softphone or mobile phones) while still keeping active call features is very handy.

Extension-to-Extension Dialing – organizations nowadays are spread across different floors within the same building, dispersed throughout the country and living abroad on other continents. Regardless of where employees conduct business, extensions make it simpler to reach anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Music-On-Hold – as a call is placed in a call-queue, the caller is able to listen to pleasant music or company messages until it’s their turn to be assisted.

Voicemail – if time is an issue, the caller has the option to leave a message and have their call returned.

Auto Call Back – as a queue builds up, it becomes necessary to give callers the option to hang up (so as not to waste their time) and get a call back without losing their place in the queue line.

Learn More About a Phone System for Your Business

If you’re ready to explore more of what VoIP can do for your organization, don’t miss our powerful Cloud PBX offering and PanTerra Streams. What’s even better is that you can try it for FREE today!