Search “PABX price in Bangladesh” and you will find pages of hardware: Panasonic and Grandstream boxes from roughly ৳15,000 for a small unit to ৳70,000 and up for mid-range systems, before phones, cabling, and the technician. Search “Cloud PBX” and you get monthly plans from a few hundred taka. They solve the same problem, one number, many desks, in very different ways. Here is how to choose.
The short version
- PABX is a box you buy, install, and own. Good if you have one fixed office, want no monthly fee, and have someone who can maintain it.
- Cloud PBX is the same switchboard running on a provider’s servers. Good if your team is spread out, you want IVR and recording without hardware, and you prefer a small monthly cost over a large upfront one.
For most Bangladeshi SMEs (e-commerce, clinics, coaching centres, agencies) Cloud PBX wins on cost and flexibility. PABX still makes sense for some factories and single-site offices with heavy internal calling and unreliable internet.
What a PABX actually involves
A PABX (private automatic branch exchange) connects a few outside lines (BTCL landlines, GSM gateways, or SIP trunks) to many internal extensions. To set one up you need:
- The PABX unit itself (৳15,000–৳70,000+ depending on capacity and brand)
- Desk phones for each extension (৳3,500–৳25,000 each for IP phones; analogue phones are cheaper)
- Cabling to every desk
- A technician to install and program it, and to come back when something changes
- Outside lines: either BTCL lines (which still bill per minute) or a SIP trunk from an IPTSP
Running costs look low because there is no platform fee, but every change (a new extension, a new IVR option, a moved desk) costs a technician visit. If the unit fails, your phones are down until it is repaired or replaced.
What a Cloud PBX involves
With a Cloud PBX the switchboard runs in a data centre. You need:
- An internet connection (1 Mbps is enough; allow about 100 Kbps per simultaneous call)
- Something to make calls on: the free Zoiper app on phones and laptops, or IP phones if you want handsets
- A monthly plan
That’s it. Your 096 number, extensions, IVR, call transfer, and reports are configured by the provider and managed from a web portal. Adding an extension is a message to support, not a site visit.
Cost comparison for a 10-person office
Let’s price both for a 10-desk office in Dhaka making about 2,000 minutes of outgoing calls a month.
| Hardware PABX | IPCallBD Cloud PBX (Pro) | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront hardware | ৳30,000–৳50,000 (unit) + ৳35,000+ (10 basic IP phones) + cabling | ৳0 if staff use Zoiper; IP phones optional |
| Installation | Technician fee, typically a few thousand taka | ৳500 one-time setup |
| Monthly platform | ৳0 | ৳750 |
| Call charges | Depends on the lines; BTCL/mobile per-minute billing | 40 paisa + VAT per minute, billed per second |
| IVR menu | Extra module or not available on small units | Included |
| Call recording | Extra hardware/storage | Add-on ৳199/month, 90 days stored |
| Remote staff | Not possible without extra setup | Included: any extension works anywhere |
| Maintenance | You arrange it | Included |
Over the first year the PABX route typically costs ৳70,000–৳100,000 before calls; the Cloud PBX route costs ৳9,500 before calls (৳500 + 12 × ৳750). Even after three years the cloud plan is cheaper, and you never paid for a repair.
Use the bill calculator to plug in your own minutes.
Feature comparison
| Feature | PABX | Cloud PBX |
|---|---|---|
| Extensions | Limited by the unit’s ports | Change plan to add more |
| IVR (“press 1 for sales”) | Model-dependent | Standard |
| Call recording | Add-on card + storage you manage | Switch on, stored 90 days |
| Call history and reports | Basic, on the unit | Full portal, searchable |
| Agent monitoring | Rare on SME units | Built in |
| Bulk voice campaigns | No | Add Bulk Voice Call for ৳250/month |
| Works during a power cut at the office | Only with a UPS on the unit | Yes: staff answer on mobile |
| Works if the office internet drops | Yes, for internal calls | Staff switch to mobile data |
When a PABX is still the right call
Be honest about these situations:
- Internal calling is the main use. A factory where floor-to-office calls matter more than customer calls, with no reliable internet on the floor.
- No dependable internet. If your area has frequent, long outages and mobile data is weak, a hardware unit on BTCL lines keeps ringing.
- You already own one that works. Don’t replace a working PABX for its own sake. You can, however, add a SIP trunk from an IPTSP to cut per-minute costs, or run a Cloud PBX for the customer-facing hotline alongside it.
When Cloud PBX is the right call
- Your team is in more than one place, or anyone works from home.
- You want a professional IVR and call recording without buying modules.
- You want to start small (5 extensions) and grow without re-buying hardware.
- You would rather pay ৳500–৳1,000 a month than ৳50,000 up front.
- You don’t have: and don’t want, a phone technician on call.
Making the switch from a PABX
If you already have a PABX and want to move:
- Get a corporate IP number: or ask whether your existing IPTSP number can be moved.
- Start the Cloud PBX alongside the old system for a week. Put the IP number on the website and ads first.
- Move staff to Zoiper or IP phones one department at a time.
- Retire the PABX when the old number’s calls drop off, or forward it to the new number.
We do the configuration; your part is sending the extension list and the IVR script.
FAQ
Is Cloud PBX the same as hosted PBX or virtual PBX?
Yes. “Cloud PBX”, “hosted PBX”, “virtual PBX”, and “IP PBX service” are the same idea: the PBX runs on the provider’s servers and you connect over the internet.
Can I use my existing desk phones with a Cloud PBX?
If they are SIP IP phones (Yealink, Grandstream, Fanvil, Cisco SPA), usually yes; we send you the SIP settings. Old analogue PABX handsets need an ATA adapter or replacing.
What happens to calls if my office internet goes down?
Staff open Zoiper on their phones using mobile data; the number keeps working. Incoming calls can also be forwarded to a mobile number as a fallback.
Does a Cloud PBX need a BTRC license?
You don’t need one. The number is issued by a BTRC-licensed IPTSP operator through the provider.
Related Articles
- IP phone number in Bangladesh: how to get a 096 number
- What does IP calling cost per month?
- Call center solutions in Bangladesh
Written by the IPCallBD team
We have run cloud PBX and IP calling infrastructure for businesses in Bangladesh since 2011. Questions about anything in this article? Ask us on WhatsApp.