Which phone system is right for my business?
For businesses, a phone is not just a phone. Different phone systems have features and capabilities that others do not. Determining what is a right fit for your business requires some preceding work and depends on what your business needs are.
Use these 5 preliminary questions to determine which phone system will work for your business.
- What is your budget for a business phone system?
- Voicemail to email, video calls, call encryption, whisper to agent, what features and capabilities are relevant to your business?
- What is your staff’s primary method of communication amongst each other as well as clients? How many staff members are remote workers?
- Do you have enough internet bandwidth to host a VoIP network? What types of phone systems can your business support?
- What are your medium and long-term plans for growth?
Now that you have assessed your business communication needs, we can delve into which phone systems are right for your businesses.
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Traditional Analog Phones
Traditional analog phone systems are basic systems that have many benefits for small businesses. They are dependable, low priced and time-tested systems to handle your business’s communication.
However, analog phone systems cost increases significantly when it’s time to scale your business. Companies that have expansion plans will find analog systems impractical as the need arises for new lines and opening new offices. During stages of business growth, managing a growing analog network becomes costly and laborious. If your business currently has an analog phone system it will be useful but comes at the additional cost associated with downtime and scaling. Today’s phone systems are more scalable as no business operates without growth plans.
Voice-over IP Phone Systems
Voice-over IP (VoIP) Phone Systems are perfect for businesses that have strong growth plans, as well as those with remote workers because it allows for businesses to scale with ease. In comparison to traditional phone systems, there is no requirement for hardware and all data and voice packets are transmitted over existing Internet connections.
VoIP phone systems rely completely on your business’s internet connection. Therefore, it is recommended that your internet service provider issues a dedicated device/link to support your VoIP system; should the internet experience any downtime your phones will still work. Always ensure that your Internet service bandwidth can handle your phone lines.
If you have a growth-oriented business and have the available budget for an advanced phone system, VoIP is certainly the best choice. The upfront cost will be more than analog phone systems but VoIP systems are scalable, require less maintenance and have much more capabilities than traditional phone systems.
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Hybrid Phone Lines
Hybrid PBX phone lines is a PBX phone system integrated with Cloud technology that helps businesses transition their communications to the Cloud with existing phone systems. This integrated system allows businesses to scale without completely replacing existing phone systems.
On the other hand, a partial VoIP solution is only capable of a portion of the functionality that complete VoIP phone systems provide. As “hybrid” connotes, it is a fusion between VoIP and analog phone systems that offer basic VoIP capabilities. This system will not have advanced features in comparison to a complete VoIP system, but it eases the transition phase from analog phone systems to cloud-based phone systems.
Choosing the right phone system is dependent on your business’ needs. It is recommended that you ask the five preceding questions before purchasing a phone system. Based on the analysis of the results, an informed decision can be made as to which system is a right fit for your business.
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The article is written by Gillian Murray. She is the Marketing Officer at tTech Limited. She can be contacted at 656-8467/656-8448 or by email at gillian.murray@ttech.com.jm