Office Telephone Consumers Guide

Office phone systems are a must have for any business. It is used for internal communications as wells as external communication. Businesses that have a good and reliable system are able to carry out their sales and support processes effectively. Thus, the market for office telephone systems continually grows and more and more providers are opening each year. However, the reality is not all service providers out there are capable of delivering a good service and as a business you need to be careful to avoid being ripped off. To guide you in this important decision below are some important general consumer guide points in purchasing a phone system.

General Consumers Guide

The price – The first thing will come to almost every business owner’s mind is the price. Office telephone systems aren’t cheap as hotcakes. However, this does not imply either that you need to spend a fortune. Business owners are advised to collect as many quotes or as many price sheets as possible for comparison purposes and then on, you can create a baseline data on the average price. The baseline data will let you know if a provider is overcharging you or if it is at a reasonable level.

Quality of hardware – Whether you opt for a traditional phone system or favor the newer cloud PBX office telephone system a hardware will still be present. General notes of checking hardware are relatively easy. Inspect the PBX and or the handsets thoroughly, make sure that the build quality and materials are of high grade. Apart from physical inspection you might also want to look into the firmware that it is running on and make sure that it is compatible with the provider’s network.

Quality of calls and lines – This is where it starts to get tricky, lines or calls is not something you can inspect physically. You can check this by calling the company several times and grade the call quality accordingly. If possible, ask for a trail period, so you will experience firsthand what the call quality is.

Quality of service – Apart from the actual phone system, business owners should also consider the overall service of a provider. A good customer support and process suggest a well managed company and thus can imply that it is safe to sign with that provider. Additionally, office phone systems are no magic so problems will surface from time to time and you would want to be able to call your provider and report the issue.

Level of flexibility – more often than not, business owners tend to neglect this point thinking that they everything place already. However, would you want a phone system that will require an upgrade every time you wish to add a handset or perhaps a feature? It’s costly and time consuming system and cannot be called a solution if that is the case. It is advisable to opt for a communication solution that is flexible enough to increase the capacity and or modify it without any upgrades or overhaul. This will not only save you business money but also save your precious time.