Choosing a Business Phone System
By Mark Breez
There are more than a dozen services available on the market that provide business phone service. Choosing the right one for your business means considering all of the factors that will affect the corporate needs of the company. Large businesses will have different needs than small businesses, while office bound business requires a different set up than outgoing service contractors. The many factors can make choosing a business phone system challenging. However, if you make a list for consideration, making the right selection will become evident to you.
With increases in available technology, your route of phone service selections has broadened. Whereas at one point, you were forced to sign a contract with a provider who hooked you into a landline, now you can link up to digital service, cellular, Internet service and satellite service. Each one provides a different level of connectivity and mobility. For companies with employees on the go, cellular service is the most appealing. For more sedentary office environments digital or Internet services will suit your needs sufficiently. While for companies that travel to remote locations such a many in the environmental research community, satellite service is the only way to go.
Typical business phone systems are being contracted to the major corporate companies such as AT&T, Verizon, and Quest. These established names have built reputations in the industry for dealing well with individuals and businesses. They are large enough to handle the unique challenges that face the workplace environment and provide services from cellular to landlines. In addition, these large companies can provide Internet services with broadband DSL and the features you need for the age of digital information. Prices vary, often falling into two categories: small business with one to twenty employees or medium business with twenty to ten thousand employees.
Yet, this does not take into consideration that the world of business is changing rapidly. The average company in America has fewer than fifty employees. This kind of company has a blend of needs for their services and often runs on a tight budget-the difference between great success and bankruptcy. Because this is the case, phone providers like Vonage are being utilized more often as an intermediary with Internet providers. The advantage to the symbiotic relationship comes from the invention of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), which keeps international calls inexpensive.
VoIP allows businesses with international dealings to make conference calls around the globe for low, flat fees. Video-voice technology can also be utilized to help companies from vastly different locations get to know their clients and business partners. Trying to effectively copy this feature in other ways proves expensive and time consuming. Between a trusted phone and Internet provider and a VoIP provider, ninety percent of the business community will be well cared for. The other ten percent have to make choices about the specific needs that fuel their work.
Once you have narrowed down your choice to a satellite business phone, you have concluded that your employees spend large sums of time far enough away from phone towers and conventional phone lines that they need something more. The benefits to the satellite telephone is that it can receive and transmit cell service from anywhere on the planet where there is a clear, unobstructed view of the sky. That means you can reach your employee at any time. The disadvantages however, are many. Satellite cell phones are bulky. Service is expensive and calls are easily dropped if a view to the sky is obstructed. However, if there is no other choice, they are a dependable method of communication.
Remember as you shop that the phone service industry is a competitive market. You do not have to make a deal with the first company you communicate with. Compiling a shopping list of sorts, deciding what level of connectivity your employee's need, if you are a call center or a sales agency, these sort of details change the approach. Take your time to select a business that works well for your needs and remember not to sign extensive contracts as they can be changed mid way through leaving you with more expensive costs than you had anticipated.
To compare phone systems, it is best to get quotes from multiple business phone system dealers, if you decide to get a VoIP based system, be sure to compare SIP providers.
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