Key telephone systems

Martin Courtney reveals the truth behind Key Telephone Systems

A key telephone system (KTS) is aimed at smaller businesses and features specialised telephones that allow one person to call one or more people within the same organisation simply by pressing a button, rather than dialling a number.

KTSs are similar to analogue PBXs in functionality, but they use the telephone company’s (such as BT’s) switching equipment to make external calls, rather than the central control unit within a PBX at the company’s site. Because all the lines are directly connected to the telephone company equipment, key systems do not require the user to dial a number when dialling on the public switched telephone network.

KTSs are generally cheaper than PBX systems because they require less equipment, but they rarely support more than 100 to 150 users.