Phone Business Solutions for Small Business

The phone system is a critical piece of equipment when operating a small business. Your phone system needs to meet the needs of your particular business, and needs to be customizable and expandable if you anticipate
changes or growth in your business.

When you select a phone system, you need to evaluate the needs of your business and compare them to the features that are available.

Phone System Size:
The first thing to consider when you choose a phone system is size. When you look at phone systems, it is important to factor in the current and anticipated size of your business. If your business has more than 40 employees, or is growing quickly, you may need a large phone installation such as a PBX phone system. PBX systems can be programmed and customized to accommodate nearly any feature you might want. Smaller businesses may find that a PBX system is the best option for their needs, and is still cost effective, or they may opt for one of the readily available Key or KSU-less phone systems intended for smaller installations.

First, figure out how many extensions your business will need. You will probably need an extension for each employee or work area; in addition, you will need a phone line for each fax machine or other equipment that uses a phone connection. The next factor in phone system size is the number of outside phone lines. The outside phone lines control the number of calls that can take place simultaneously, either coming into or out of your business. If you expect your business to grow, make sure your system can be expanded to the maximum number of lines and extensions you expect your business to need.

Caller ID/ Call Waiting ID:
If it is important to you to know who is calling, you will need a phone system that offers caller ID. If you use plan to use call waiting to alert you to another call that is coming in, you may want caller ID on your call waiting as well. Consider the way the phone displays the caller numbers and how many can be stored in memory for a call history. Remember that use of these services may incur additional charges from the phone company.
Voicemail:

Do you need a phone system that offers integrated voicemail for each extension? Voicemail allows each extension to record outgoing messages for callers and to record messages when the recipients are away from the phone.

Conference calling:
Do you need to host phone meetings by conferencing in multiple people within or out of your office? Look for the number of lines that you may conference into one call.

Speakerphone:
Is it important for you to take calls hands-free? Look for a speakerphone function on your phone system. You will probably want one with adjustable volume control.

Memory and Speed Dial:
Most business phone systems allow you to store frequently called phone numbers in the system. Evaluate how many numbers you will need to store to make sure the phone system will accommodate all of them. Stored numbers may be accessed by programmable speed dial codes on some systems or using the screen menu on other phone systems. Also, look for a phone system with battery backup so that your phone systems will not lose their stored memory in the event of a power outage.