Business phone systems come in all sizes, quality ranges and prices. Since a business phone system is a very important part of your office and an important communication device you have to research all of the phone systems available to be sure that you will purchase the right telephone system for your current needs and especially your future needs that your company will grow into.
Not only will the right telephone system save you time and money it will also improve productivity. With the voicemail feature you will never miss a phone call whether it is day or night. Your company will sound very professional and the business phone system will make your communications simpler.
Before purchasing a phone system you will need to identify the main communication challenges that need to be met. If you do not determine the features you need, looking for a business phone system will become confusing and may land you with an overly expensive system that will never be fully utilised.
Below are 10 points to consider before a purchase:
Voicemail – This is a feature that will save you time and money. Voicemail will be of help to users in order to prioritize callbacks. The entire system could be set to allow any of your employees to receive a voicemail. You could also limit this feature so that only the key staff can receive voicemail.
Day and night greetings -This feature might be one of the most important features you would use. Your business will never have a missed a call which is very important to make an impression on your customers and clients. If every one of your employees is too busy and there is no one who could pick up the phone, the voicemail will automatically pick it up after 5 rings and put the customer on hold or just take a message. The business phone system has also other options that come together with this feature. In example, the system could answer more calls at a time with many options to choose from like “press 1 for technical support, press 2 for sales, press 3 for operator”, etc.
VoIP Compatible – “Voice over IP” is the latest in the technology and definitely a good way to cut down your costs. With this feature one could conduct a phone call across the networks that are IP based. Any phone system can actually integrate with VoIP calls but not all of the systems can offer VoIP features. The features like these are used to link remote workers and also to link multiple sites.
Music on hold and custom messages – When your customers or clients call usually if the line is busy they would be put on hold. To make the time they need to wait on hold easier for them, they can listen to the music or a customized message that is premade in this purpose to present or advertise your company.
Transferring calls – This is the feature that a good business phone system needs to offer. With this feature you will be sure that all of the calls that need to be transferred get to the adequate person.
Speed dialing – most of the phone systems will offer this feature free of charge, but some may not, so investigate the phone systems before you buy.
Speakerphone – this allows you to dial or talk without having to hold the phone handset. Although seemingly a common feature, some phone systems don’t have this feature.
Warranties and guarantees – One of the most important things is to check the manufacturer’s guarantees and warranties, what they will cover, the period of time for which the guarantee is valid, etc. The length of the guarantee and covered items vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.
Conference calls -if you regularly need to include more than one person on a phone call this feature may be something you will want to look for. Check the specifics of the phone system to make sure that they include this feature.
Headset compatible – if it’s good enough for Jerry McGuire, it’s good enough for you.
About the author: Kirby Whitehall is a telecommunications specialist from Infiniti Telecommunications, who are market leaders in phone systems and phone system services.
Tags: corporate phone systems, introduction to phone systems, phone systems, VoIP