Buying Guide for NC Business Telephone Systems 

It is important to consider these points before making a decision to purchase a new or refurbished business telephone system.

1. Size- What is the minimum size system you can start with? A start up company will usually go with the minimum requirement. Most basic startup systems are 4 outside lines and capable of 8 to 12 telephones. Many small systems are designed to stop at 6 lines and go to 12 phones.

A larger cabinet would need to be purchased later on to grow larger. This would cost more money down the road. A system with 6 lines means 6 people can be using the phones for outside calls at the same time.

No more calls can come into the business while this is taking place. Key point is: Can the main cabinet be expanded for growth and how large?

2. Easy to Understand- Are the user guides and procedures easy to grasp and understand? How much lost time from work will it take to understand the features and functions of the system?

There are easy to use and understand business telephone systems available. Is a live demo system available?

3. Easy to Program - Make Changes- Does it take a programmer to make simple changes on your system? How many features are accessible to the user and is it easy for the office manager to change things?

Voicemail passwords, speed dial numbers, feature buttons on the phones, undelete messages, change the company greeting, go into an employee's mailbox and retrieve sales info [ extended absence ]

4. Features and Future Features - The system must be feature rich and have the ability to add features in the future. Even if the features don't apply right now, it will save money down the road if a feature is needed.

Find me is one feature I can think of that may not be needed when you buy, but would be valuable in the future. If you are away from the office, it is possible for the system to forward the urgent calls to your cell phone.

Or add ACD to your system in the future. ACD is a application that puts your caller in a holding pattern until to next representative becomes available.

Some additional    current features are integration into your desktop computer . Messages get delivered to your email, calls get stored on your pc, manage your phone from your pc, allow callers to find you if you are out of the office.

Live recording of any call, ability to store speed dial numbers, and the list goes on. The object is to save time, get organised and let the phone system work for you.

5. Serviceability and Remote Services- Typically a technician is needed to change greetings or profiles in the system. Can this be done remote? Does the system have remote capacity to let a technician make changes from their office? This can save time and money.

6. Cost- Is that price really that good? If the above details are compared and factored in, that should give you an idea what it will cost now and if there will be ongoing cost factors.

Many companies require additional money for additional features. Some Business Telephone systems have all the bells and whistles already built in. Thus saving a boat load of money in the future.

7. Protection- Brown outs, power fluctuation, surges and lightning are enimies to your system. Every time the power fluctuates hard, it stresses the components and shortens the life of the circuit. A good Uninterruptable Power Supply should be put on the power source of your equipment.

8. Design- Is the voice mail and phone system separate? A unified system , everything on the same circuit board is a much better design. On a Telephone system with separate control boxes, the timing parameters and synchronization has to be a match.

Delays receiving messages, wrong time stamp on delivery and not even getting messages is part of having separate systems. When it is integrated, message light turn on immediately and things work faster, without problems.

9. Quality- How does it sound? 64 kbs is very good sound quality of audio on a phone system. Some systems sound garbled and scratchy. People sometimes are hard to understand when playing back messages. If the audio quality is bad or marginal, it will be that much harder to understand a fast talker or muffled voice.

10. VOIP- Voip is the latest craze and buzz word in telecommunications. Consider VOIP if you have more than one location, have sales people in different cities or employees that work from home.

It is more expensive to put in, but if the above requirements are needed it will save you money. Think of VOIP like having remote extensions of your system online.

Also with the recent competition of providers, a new VOIP service has made it possible to have a local business number for $60 a month! With that service unlimited US and  Canada calling is included!

Call 919-359-1800 for Prompt and Courtious Telephone Service!