There is sometimes confusion regarding the various terms within corporate telephony.
Often you come across terms like VoIP, cloud telephony, hosted telephony, virtual pbx. Actually, they all mean more or less the same thing, with a few nuances.
Below is a brief summary of the most important terms.
VoIP telephony
VoIP telephony means that you call through your Internet connection rather than through a separate phone line.
This allows you to make calls a lot cheaper and enjoy numerous benefits. For example, VoIP telephony allows you to call your fixed business number via computer or via your smartphone.
You can make VoIP calls in the cloud or with an on-premises PBX.
More info about VoIP telephony
Cloud telephony
Cloud telephony means that your telephone system is no longer local, but is located in the cloud.
As a result, you no longer need an outdated telephone system in your office. A big advantage of cloud telephony is that it is a lot cheaper and you can work location independent.
If your PBX is in the cloud you are always calling VoIP.
Learn more about cloud telephony
Other popular designations
Hosted telephony and virtual PBX are the same thing as cloud telephony. Your PBX is "hosted" in the cloud, hence the name hosted telephony.
Like hosted telephony, a virtual PBX is a telephone system in the cloud. The PBX is virtual because it no longer resides physically in your office but as software in the cloud.
