If you're business is growing, there comes a point in time when you'll need to consider acquiring a small business telephone system. Get 5 great tips for what you should be evaluating in a new phone system.
Phone System Basics
Most business telephone systems have two parts, the phone server, a piece of hardware that receives inbound calls and routes the calls to the appropriate extension, and the telephones themselves which allow your staff to accept calls, transfer calls and conduct conference calls.
While names like Nortel and Avaya come to mind, there are more cost-effective solutions that do the job just as well, such as the TalkSwitch phone systems. Regardless of the brand, consider the 5 most important criteria when evaluating a business telephone system.
1. Usability:
First and foremost, you want a phone system that is easy to operate. The telephones themselves should have a familiar feel with the ability to complete everyday functions such as placing a call on-hold, muting a call, and increasing and/or decreasing the volume level. You'll also want to ensure that the phones themselves have both a handset as well as a jack for a headset.
2. Rich Feature Set:
Most businesses will require a main menu, call routing, and voicemail. Each member on staff will be equipped with their own extension and voicemail box. Your IT guy or gal should be able to set-up a new phone line or make any adjustments to the system settings by logging into the telephone system software. The software should be mature, and again, easy to use. Read reviews from other business owners or IT people about how the software performs and which features are included.
3. Storage:
Regular business hours are from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. That means that the office is closed for 16 hours per day. If you receive calls from multiple time zones, it's likely a lot of calls will end up going to voicemail. With this knowledge, invest in extra storage for voicemail.
4. Customization:
Give your callers a strong first impression with a customized telephone system greeting. The auto-attendant is the technical name for the voice you hear during the main menu. You should hire a professional to record the auto-attendant and deliver an MP3 or WAV file to you that you'll then upload into the telephone system. While you’re at it, have the voice talent record a general voicemail message, office is closed message, holiday hours message and most importantly on-hold messages.
5. Upgradable / Expandable:
A basic phone system will include two phone lines. Before long, you'll want to expand to four lines. If your business continues to grow, you'll want the flexibility to easily add another four lines.
Be sure that the phone system you select has the ability to expand the number of phone lines. I'd also include the ability to plug in a CD player in your "expandable" requirements. The TalkSwitch lets you either upload on-hold messages or simply play the on-hold messages from a CD player that's plugged in. Having your on-hold messages on CD lets you easily update your messages, play current promotions or share timely news relating to your business. For more research on the power of on-hold marketing, read this document.
Summary
By jotting down your requirements, you'll be armed with a list of specific needs. Your requirements list will also help you avoid getting bogged down in technical specifications and detailed feature lists keeping you focused when you're doing research on which phone system to go with.
If you've found a good phone system for small businesses, add your comments below.
Talkswitch is the leader in the small business phone system market. With features fine tuned for small business, Talkswitch is a small business favorite. Talkswitch was the first to launch a DIY phone system a decade ago. Latest models include, for example: 840VS, 280VS, 284VS, 480VS and 484VS. A true hybrid, the phone system supports analog and VoIP lines, as well as analog and IP phones. Each system supports 16 extensions out of the box! IP phones now offer line appearance, giving you the best of traditional and latest technologies. Whether you're working out of a garage, or have an office in every state, Talkswitch offers a cost-effective solution. Neobits is the #1 Talkswitch Platinum dealer, and offers free support on all Talkswitch systems.
If you have requirements that are not met by Talkswitch, we offer over a dozen other brands. You can submit your requirements here and we'll do all the hard work of figuring out what will work best.
Freedom800 offers a virtual PBX solution that perfect for small and home-based businesses. The service offers a toll-free number, multiple mailboxes each with their own extensions, voicemail and call forwarding settings. Other features include Dial-By-Name directory, email message notification and delivery of messages and web-based control. There's no equipment to buy or maintain and contracts or month-to-month so you can cancel anytime.
You can also customize your greetings with using professional voice talent from Voices.com or any other source you prefer.
Plans range from $9.95 to $29.95 per month + the cost of toll-free usage. We offer a 30-day money back guarantee, so if you try it and feel it's not for you, we'll refund your money.
Head over to http://www.freedom800.com for more information.
A PBX phone system should be considered because it offers cost savings on internal phone calls, and uses internet protocol (IP) to carry telephone calls.