Buying Guide

Sizing Office Phone Systems

When buying a office phone system, a primary concern is to make sure that the system is the right size for your firm. Knowing your requirements in advance and understanding the size constraints of a system will help you negotiate with vendors. There are two main factors that will determine the size of the system you need:

Lines - Also called trunks, lines indicate the total number of outside phone lines used by the company.
Extensions - Extensions are needed for every device within the company that connects to the phone system. Most of the extensions will be for telephones. However, fax machines, credit card terminals, modems, and any other equipment that requires a phone connection must also be tallied.

In key systems, system size is usually indicated as a combination of lines and extensions. For example, a 12 x 36 system accommodates up to 12 lines and 36 extensions. In contrast, most PBXs define size in terms of "ports," which indicate the maximum number of connections that can be made to the system. This includes outside lines and inside extensions, as well as phone system accessories such as voicemail or automated attendants.

Even if an office phone system can handle your current phone traffic, you should be sure that it can also handle your future needs. The ideal system should be able to handle expansion in a very cost-effective manner. PBX systems allow you to increase capacity by adding new cards that increase the total number of ports available; some key systems are expandable by simply adding another cabinet identical to the first.

For planning purposes, inquire about how much it will cost to add more extensions, making sure to specify different amounts, e.g., 10 vs. 20 vs. 50 more extensions. Learning the exact method of expansion is not important – what is important is that expansion is easy and affordable.

Features of Business Phone Systems

Office telephone systems can be equipped with literally hundreds of features for switching calls and directing traffic. Dealers estimate, however, that most companies use only 10 percent of their telephone features. Instead of comparing features on a one-to-one basis, you should examine how your phone system is used. Limit your feature search and evaluation to only those options that will improve the workflow in the office.

Some of the most popular features that are standard in many office telephone systems include:

An auto-attendant is the recorded message that answers your phones and instructs callers how to reach the person or department they are looking for. If you have a high volume of calls, this may be important – or you may value having a real person answer every call.
Conferencing features vary widely. Consider how often your staff needs to make conference calls, and how many different people need to call in. If the conferencing features you need aren’t readily available, there are other options for conducting teleconferences that you can purchase separately.
Music-on-hold is fairly self-explanatory – in most systems you simply plug in a source of music.

You can help callers find the people they need with dial by name, dial by extension, or dial from directory services.
Phone sets themselves have more standard features, as well. Display phones have a small screen that shows information such as the name and extension of an internal caller, the duration of call, and in some cases, caller ID. Speaker phones are familiar fixtures in many conference rooms, but are also now standard on most new hand sets. Speaker phones can be half-duplex, which means that only one person on the call can be heard at a time, or full-duplex, which lets both parties talk simultaneously, like a regular phone. Some phones also have a ‘listen only’ mode for speaker phone, which is useful for monitoring a conference call or while on hold.

With more feature-rich office telephone systems, voicemail is sometimes included as part of the package. However, it's a fairly expensive option if not included. If you already have a voicemail system, talk to your vendor about its compatibility with the system you are considering.

Although having the right features is important, even more critical is making sure they are easy to access. Because most employees devote very little time to learning how to use a phone system, you should make sure that using the most common functions is extremely simple and intuitive.

Needing a Phone System? Give us a Call
352-593-5061

Buying Basics

Determine # of outside lines needed.
Identify ALL needed phone extensions, including fax machines, credit card terminals, etc..
Consider future needs when investing in phone system.
Inquire about costs to add extensions on future features.
Auto attendants can be effective and handle potentially lost calls.
Consider the need & cost to manually answer every call - is it important in your industry?
Explore conferencing options, which allow phone conferencing with employees or outside customers.
Consider Music on Hold - prevent dropped calls during heavy call periods.
Study the options and of voicemail systems - are they easy to manage or difficult?

Sizing Office Phone Systems

Features of Business Phone Systems

Needing a Phone System? Give us a Call 352-593-5061

Buying Basics

Needing a Phone System? Give us a Call
352-593-5061