Advice on Choosing a Business Telephone System
Making the right choice when choosing a telephone system is a big decision for your business.
There are some important considerations to keep in mind as you shop for a new system.
System Capacity - The majority of business telephone systems can handle about 24 telephone extensions in addition to about 12 incoming lines.
In most cases, the components of smaller telephone systems may not be transferable to a larger system if you choose to upgrade in the future.
If your business is expanding quickly and you think you will be hiring additional personnel in the coming months or years, it is a good idea to make the investment in a system that can handle your growing business needs.
Direct Lines - For any business that will need direct lines for their staff you will need to make sure you get an ISDN compatible system.
This allows you to use direct dialing and see caller ID, the primary number will be shown no matter what line is picked up or for transferred calls.
ISDN is available in almost every country.
Voicemail - You need to decide if you want a voicemail function for your telephones, applicable to each individual handset.
A voicemail option will often be available if you have direct lines but you will need to decide on certain aspects of it, such as the amount of messages that can be stored and whether you want the ability to forward messages to other phones or as emails.
The Handset - The telephone handset is an important consideration in the purchase of a new telephone system since you use it every day, and it needs to be comfortable and easy to use.
Some telephone system salesmen will sell you on a lower priced basic handset model.
Although it may be difficult to spend more on a higher priced model, you may find that it is well worth the investment.
More use-friendly telephone handsets might offer better sound quality, may come with more features and may last longer than a cheaper version.
Installation - The final thing to consider is the installation process.
The company from which you purchase the system upgrade will likely install the system as part of their package, although you can hire a different company to do it for you if you wish.
This is not an area to scrimp on because no matter how good the system is you purchase if it is installed in an amateurish fashion it will not work as you need it.
The best option is to make sure whoever installs the system will carry out a good job and provide your business with exactly what you need.
There are some important considerations to keep in mind as you shop for a new system.
System Capacity - The majority of business telephone systems can handle about 24 telephone extensions in addition to about 12 incoming lines.
In most cases, the components of smaller telephone systems may not be transferable to a larger system if you choose to upgrade in the future.
If your business is expanding quickly and you think you will be hiring additional personnel in the coming months or years, it is a good idea to make the investment in a system that can handle your growing business needs.
Direct Lines - For any business that will need direct lines for their staff you will need to make sure you get an ISDN compatible system.
This allows you to use direct dialing and see caller ID, the primary number will be shown no matter what line is picked up or for transferred calls.
ISDN is available in almost every country.
Voicemail - You need to decide if you want a voicemail function for your telephones, applicable to each individual handset.
A voicemail option will often be available if you have direct lines but you will need to decide on certain aspects of it, such as the amount of messages that can be stored and whether you want the ability to forward messages to other phones or as emails.
The Handset - The telephone handset is an important consideration in the purchase of a new telephone system since you use it every day, and it needs to be comfortable and easy to use.
Some telephone system salesmen will sell you on a lower priced basic handset model.
Although it may be difficult to spend more on a higher priced model, you may find that it is well worth the investment.
More use-friendly telephone handsets might offer better sound quality, may come with more features and may last longer than a cheaper version.
Installation - The final thing to consider is the installation process.
The company from which you purchase the system upgrade will likely install the system as part of their package, although you can hire a different company to do it for you if you wish.
This is not an area to scrimp on because no matter how good the system is you purchase if it is installed in an amateurish fashion it will not work as you need it.
The best option is to make sure whoever installs the system will carry out a good job and provide your business with exactly what you need.
