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Choosing a telephone system is often a nightmare for many businesses. There are so many features, so many manufacturers, so many vendors and outlets from which to purchase equipment! How do you decide what to do and not make a mistake? This guide should help. For your convenience, we have italicized features that are identified in this guide. 1. Don't let anyone outside your office tell you what you need in a phone system. For the most part - although you may not realize it and even if you've never shopped for a telephone system before - you already know the things you need a telephone system to do to allow your office to run smoothly. All you have to do is put those things on paper and organize them. 1a. First, decide what you want to happen when a call comes into your office. Do you want just one person to answer the call, or anyone of several people? Or, do you want the telephone system to answer it (Automated Attendant)? If no one picks up the call immediately (within 4 rings is the generally accepted standard), then what do you want to happen? Do you want another part of the office to be alerted (Delayed Ringing), or do you wish to have the system pick it up? (Automated Attendant)? 2. Now that the call has been picked up, how do you plan to get the caller to where he/she needs to go? Do you want the call quickly transferred to the correct extension, or do you wish to have the call handled by an operator who can then determine whether the person is at their desk and available to take the call (Voice Intercom). Or, do you want the option to have calls screened via automation or passed onto voice mail (Automated Attendant/Voice Mail)? 3. If no one answers the call, what do you want to happen? The person the caller is trying to reach may be in a meeting, in another part of the office altogether (paging), or out of the office. (voice mail feature often referred to as "outdialing to pager" or mobile phone). What do you want to happen now? Possibilities include returning the call to a receptionist or operator (delayed or timed - after 4 rings or less- sometimes referred to as "ringback"), having the call go into a voice mail box, or having an automated system provide the caller with choices. These choices often include transfer to another extension , return to the operator, hold, or the option to leave a message in a voice mailbox 4. What about interoffice communications? Do you have areas where - while you don't necessarily want to have a phone - you do need to alert people that they have a call or have visitors etc. (paging)? Along similar lines, do you have a Warehouse, Lunchroom or outside facilities where personnel might be found (again paging)? 5. What do you want your callers to hear when you put them on hold? Your options include nothing, music (note that in the United States and most of North America, it is illegal not to use a licensed music source for "music on hold") or information/advertising to which your callers may listen (message on hold). 6. Now, think about what you would like to occur when you make an outgoing call? Do you want all of your staff to have access to all of your telephone lines, or are certain individuals allowed access to some lines but not others (Flexible Line Assignment)? Do you want ALL of your staff to be able to make calls anywhere or would you like to have limits on calling outside the office for some employees (Toll Restriction)? This feature, in particular, is not only a question of controlling long distance costs but one of improving productivity. Are you interested in giving individual staff members the capability of speaking on the phone without lifting the handset (Hands-free speakerphone)? Would a headset be useful to any of your people? You may also want to track these calls for, among other things, billing purposes (attorneys for instance bill for the time they spend on the phone), individual productivity (how much time do employees spend on business calls versus personal ones ) or to asses the progress of a given marketing campaign. If the answer is "yes" to any of these questions, you may want to consider adding a "Call Accounting System" to your telephone system. 7. What type of phone does each person in your office need? In item #6, we talk about considering the use of the "hands-free feature" and the use of headsets. Please keep in mind that the less sophisticated the phone, the less it costs. Consider the possibility of a phone system that allows you to save money by combining single line "home type" phones along with full featured sets. Persons in your office who either take very few incoming calls or who (separately) make nothing but outgoing calls are very good candidates for "home type" phones. Also, consider the possibility of a system that allows you to use cordless phones. If you have staff members who are in the office but rarely at their desk, a cordless phone might benefit them greatly. Such assets will allow employees to make or take calls anytime no matter where they are in the office. This is often especially beneficial for medical professionals who spend a lot of their time going from room to room. 8. Does your office need now, or plan to get in the near future, any "special telephone lines" from your local or long distance phone company? For instance, do you have a direct line to another office or company (OPX - Off Premise Extension or TIE Line)? Do you have a dedicated line from either your long distance carrier or local phone company that gives you special rates for long distance calls (T-1). If your office has, or plans to acquire, any other special phone lines, you need to make sure your system can accommodate them. 9. Now we're getting near the end of the process so its time to consider what some call "Luxury Features" or "Bell and Whistle Features". These are features that, while they may often enhance productivity and are desirable, are not essential to the operation of the office. Included are such features as speed dial, auto redial, display capabilities, and alarms that among other things, are designed to remind you of a meeting. Caller I. D. is increasingly going from a luxury to a serious productivity and management tool!! Finally you need to decide which manufacturers you prefer and whether you want to buy New or Used Refurbished. As far as manufacturers go, you'll find below a list of manufacturers we recommend. While we can help you with products made by just about anyone, these are the manufacturers whose products we feel stand up to the demands of the marketplace. As for New Equipment versus Used/Refurbished, THIS is the way we see it:
Our phone number is 813-276-1666. Fax is 813-276-1736. E-mail: sales@jhbtele.com List of Recommended Manufacturers AT&T/Lucent (Merlin, Partner, Merlin Legend), Northern Telecom (Norstar), TIE/Nitsuko, Toshiba, Telrad, Comdial, Panasonic, Rolm , Mitel, and Vodavi. Special Mention for larger systems (over 80 phones): Tadiran !! - great products, great support, not so great marketing department. (Hey no one's perfect!!)
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