Guest Author: Darren Wilson
When you are running a small business, you need to have a reliable telephone system to keep an open line with your staff, customers, and suppliers. While there are other communication tools like mobile phones, emails, and chat messaging apps nowadays, the telephone remains one of the most convenient ways to communicate. But choosing the right phone systems for small business needs thorough consideration. Picking the wrong one can result in significant financial and operational losses. To make sure that you will make the right decision, here are several guidelines for choosing the best telephone system for your company:
Consider the Size of your Team
To determine the right phone systems for small business, you must consult your business team first and then decide how many people in your team will need a telephone for operation. You may opt to get a simple two-line business phone from your local electronics store. It can serve at least four to five staff members. But if you need to expand your team in the future, you must find a different telephone system that can accommodate more people inside the company.
Analyze the Essential Features that you need
Most telephone systems for businesses offer unique features that can help in smoother transactions. If you do not hire a receptionist to answer all the calls, you should look for a phone that has an auto-attendant that can direct the call to a specific person. Other essential features that can be useful for your small business include call forwarding, conference calling, and voice mail recording, among others.
Look at your Company’s Geographic Location
If you plan to expand your small business to other locations, you need to consider getting more than one telephone system for each branch. It may cost you some amount of money. But installing a different phone system for each location can help you communicate faster and more precisely.
Choose the Right Telecommunications Technologies
Nowadays, different telecommunications technologies can help you communicate better within and outside the company. One of the latest technologies is the Private Branch Exchange (PBX). It is a phone system made and designed for businesses to provide effective voice communications between each member of the company. When someone dials the number of your business, the PBX system will automatically direct the call to the right department.
Another useful business telecommunication technology is the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Compared to other phone systems, VoIP does not use phone lines or an actual telephone unit. Instead, the handset comes as a small computer that you need to connect to the internet. You can use this in different locations.
Test before Purchase
With regard to the right phone systems for small business, you need to have a dry run first before buying them. You must understand how to add new lines, add new features, or reprogram the system in case you need to remove an old employee’s details. By testing the phone system first, you will save up a lot of money from buying something that will eventually become unused in the future.
Installing a new telephone system for your small business may be overwhelming at first. So make sure that you study all the options before deciding on the system that you plan to use. You may ask for references from other companies that already used the kind of telephone system that you want to buy to get proper feedback. A new telephone system can become an investment that could help your business grow, as long as you choose the right one.