Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Business Telephone System - Robust Voice Over IP Features
A business telephone system that features robust voice over IP features is ideal to meet the specific telecommunication needs of small and medium sized businesses. This phone system is an ideal choice to stand ahead of the prevailing competition in the business world.
Improve Business Productivity
Potential customers play a vital role in ensuring the success of any business enterprise. For attaining this, your company should have effective customer care service. Small business telephone system with VoIP features is an ideal option that delivers all the advanced facilities needed for a business. This phone service offers all the advanced customer care facilities needed for a business enterprise.
The auto attendant feature of this phone system efficiently manages all calls coming to your office in a professional style. The callers will be welcomed with pre-recorded greetings. The auto attendant takes care of all functions such as call forwarding, call routing, voice mail and fax mail services. Music on hold service is also integrated in this business telephone system. All these advanced features will help you present a credible image to your customers, and draw potential customers to your business.
VoIP - An Inexpensive Means of Communication
VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol has become an inexpensive means of communication for small and medium sized businesses. It greatly reduces the telecom bills with its broadband network connection. Long distance, international calls can be made at a fraction of the cost with the help of the web interface of this phone system. You can find a number of VoIP service providers offering business telephone system with local numbers and toll free numbers. This will help your customers make calls at highly reduced rates and build up better customer relationship.
Business telephone system has become an ideal tool for small, medium and large business firms to attract more customers and increase productivity and revenue, as a result.
AccessDirect is a leading provider of
small business hosted PBX systems. Key features of our small business telephone system include find me follow me call forwarding, auto attendant, voicemail, and fax mail.
Labels: business telephone system, robust voice, robust voice over IP, robust voice over IP features, voice over IP, voice over IP features
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Hosted VoIP Telephone System For Small and Medium Businesses
Hosted VoIP telephone system for small and medium businesses can be easily and quickly installed now. Such a system is of immense benefit for businesses since it facilitates seamless communication without businesses having to make big investments. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is an internet based telephone service. Therefore this is also known as broadband phone service or digital phone service. The major advantage of voice over IP service is that it saves up to 90% of the monthly phone bill.
VoIP PBX Systems - Highly Advantageous Options
PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is a business based hosted telephone system that improves both internal and external communication of any small or medium business organization. The hosted telephone system is entirely different from conventional telephone systems. VoIP telephone systems that transfer calls over high speed internet connection are an advantageous option in every business venture. These hosted VoIP telephone systems offer several PBX features without you having to install any hardware or software.
Enhance Your Business Image
The VoIP system consists of an auto attendant option for handling all incoming calls. The system can receive multiple calls simultaneously. The callers are welcomed with recorded greetings and are provided with a dial by directory or dial by name option to route them to the right extensions. If a call is left unattended, the caller will be provided with a voicemail service and the caller can leave messages in the voicemail box. Hosted VoIP telephone system also provides the facility of virtual receptionist for answering your calls; with this, the calls will be attended even during the off-hours and weekends. There are several other VoIP facilities such as fax service, voice to e-mail, delivery of e-mail messages, caller ID, call screening and more. These beneficial features can enhance your business image considerably, raising your profile to that of a big corporate.
There are several hosted VoIP service providers rendering systematic and excellent VoIP PBX systems. With the advent of new advanced technologies, the hosted VoIP telephone system is now affordable for small and medium businesses.
Hosted PBX service provider, AccessDirect in the US offers hosted VoIP telephone system for small and medium businesses. All the functionalities of our PBX telephone system are delivered through a dedicated telephone or high bandwidth Internet connection.
Labels: for small and medium business, for small and medium businesses, hosted VoIP, hosted VoIP telephone system, medium business, medium businesses, VoIP telephone
Thursday, April 1, 2010
What to Look For in Small Business Telephone Systems
While you are good at what you do and pride yourself in keeping customers happy, you can't always be there to answer phones. However, many people use the telephone to contact your business and get information and it is an important part of your service program. Using small business telephone systems is the best way to get in touch with your customer base, even when you are unavailable or away from your desk. There are a few things that are important to consider when setting up your first small business telephone service.
The first thing you need to do is determine exactly what your goal is with your small business telephone systems. Do you need a system that can give out information or take messages when you are frequently unable to answer? Are you more interested in a supplementary system that can handle overflow or keep a caller interested until a receptionist can speak with them? Do you want to automatically dispense answers to frequently asked question, freeing up associates? These are important concerns that should be addressed. With the proper thought, you can project the image of a large company through your phone system, even if you are a one man show.
There are dozens of options that are available on the best small business phone systems. When you are looking at a plan, you need to carefuly assess your needs and select the options that you will use. However, it's a good idea to plan ahead and anticipate future growth. Your small business telephone systems should be flexible and able to grow with you. Also, look into what is offered in the automated answering part of the service. You should be able to check messages anywhere from any phone. You also may want the option to use pre-recorded scripts and add music on hold. Personalizing these are important as well. Why not promote your business when you have the chance?
Phone communication is an important connection between your business and your customer. However, there are plenty of reasons that it isn't effective or affordable to babysit the phones. For this reason, finding the best small business telephone systems can be a valuable tool for your office.
Labels: small business, telephone system, telephone systems, what to look for in small business, what to look for in small business telephone systems
Monday, March 29, 2010
PBX Telephone System For Small Businesses
As good communicators are the masters of the world no one can deny the relevance of an effective communication system. Proper communication is always essential for better service and outcome. This is more relevant in business setups where there is a steady inflow of customer calls. PBX telephone system for small businesses makes both internal and external communications easy and effective without the business owner having to install any expensive hardware or software.
PBX Telephone System - Enhances Business Efficiency
Private Branch Exchange or PBX system is a business based telephone system. This telephone system incorporates several beneficial options for small business enterprises. The PBX system facilitates receiving multiple calls simultaneously and therefore your phone never becomes engaged. The system provides several other facilities such as delivery of e-mail messages, music on hold, voice to email service, fax, caller ID, call screening and more. Besides enhancing business efficiency, the PBX phone system projects a big business image even for your small home based business.
Benefit from Auto Attendant and Virtual Receptionist ServicesThe PBX system comprises an auto attendant facility that is of great help in handling all incoming calls. The callers are welcomed with recorded greetings. Therefore they come to know that your company is a reliable and solid one. Calls are effectively routed to the right extensions. The system provides a number of menu options including dial by directory and dial by name. If a call is left unattended, the callers will be provided with a voicemail option and they can leave messages in the voicemail box. Virtual receptionist provides the facility of answering calls from a place outside the office. With the auto attendant and virtual receptionist features, businesses need not set apart money for maintaining live receptionists in the office.
The major advantage of a PBX telephone system is that it makes small businesses systematic and smooth-functioning through high-quality communication facilities. With the advent of advanced technologies the PBX system is now affordable for small and medium sized businesses as well.
PBX Telephone System - We are AccessDirect, a leading provider of virtual PBX / hosted PBX phone systems. Small business telephone system that we provide can be customized to meet the growing needs of your business.
Article Source:
Armstrong CLabels: PBX, PBX telephone, PBX telephone system, PBX telephone system for small business, PBX telephone system for small businesses, small businesses
Friday, March 26, 2010
What Telephone System Do You Need?
It is virtually impossible to image an enterprise without a robust telephone system. An efficient telephone system is required not only to reach out to the thousands of the customers, but also to communicate between the office members as a part of a meeting or conference, or to facilitate the routine communication between the mangers and the work force. In short, the more robust the telephone system in a business, the better and efficient would be the work coordination and hence the overall performance of its employees. This article discusses a few telephone systems that are usually associated with businesses.
Telephone systems in enterprises can be classified into three types - KSU less phones, preferably for small businesses, Key systems for mid sized enterprises, and the more elaborate Private Branch Exchange (PBX) for larger corporations.
KSU less phone systems are meant for businesses that do not need more than ten extensions. If there is another plus with such small business phone systems, then it is its installation and maintenance cost, which are relatively very low, and yes, the monthly expense in terms of phone tariffs. Also, since KSU less phone systems are temporary connections, moving it to a new location, such as in the case of an office shift, is not a big deal. Simply unplug the telephone system and plug it back in the new office. If yours is a small business or a start up, installing a KSU less telephone system would be the ideal choice. You can upgrade it to a more complex telephone system as the enterprise grows.
As mentioned, Key systems and Private Branch Exchange (PBX) are required for larger businesses. PBX is essential if the employee strength is more than 40 and frequent communication with more than member at a time - conferencing - and enhanced call management is a necessity. By call management, it implies the different communication modes such as call forwarding, call waiting, voice mail and fax, and the telephone system's much needed compatibility with other electronic devices such as the printers, PC, and the web. PBX definitely costs more than the KSU less telephone systems, but, then the phone companies offer different communication packages depending upon the client requirements, and its prices vary with the features that each package includes. If your business wants a feature filled service, you may have to shell out more money.
Key system, on the other hand, is tailor made for medium sized enterprises whose employee strength falls between 10 and 40. The PBX and Key systems are usually installed and maintained by the service provider himself unlike the KSU less ones.
Finally, before choosing a business telephone system, take into consideration, the current size of the company, its future expansion plans, and also the different phone systems available in the market and their costs. Compare the capabilities and features of the telephone systems in the market, its price, and quality of customer support, before making the final call. It is also advisable to seek professional advice in that regard. To know more about telephone systems in vogue, search the World Wide Web.
Labels: telephone system, what telephone system, what telephone system do, you need
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Business Telephone Systems
Small business telephone systems are becoming increasingly more popular as organizations realize the many benefits that come with these integrated communication solutions. As opposed to having a normal phone system, business telephone systems allow you many different features and functions, plus more control and ease of use than ever before. If you think your organization is ready to take its efficiency and power to the next level, than there are several different elements you'll need to look for.
The first piece to the puzzle for small business telephone systems is the integrated product to begin with. There are many different business telephone systems that you may want to consider, including leaders in the industry such as Avaya and Nortel. These can be scaled to nearly any size and can be tailored for basically any intended usage or need.
Whatever your business does or needs to make use of you, you can find high quality business telephone systems to match your needs. For example, you can find highly capable call center management or you can find mobile and wireless phone systems. You can utilize unified communication systems to handle your calls and emails in the same place, and you can handle dozens of phone lines and extensions easily.
Your investment into small business telephone systems doesn't stop with just the products itself however. You will also need to make use of the services that a partner will be able to assist you with. This includes installation, implementation and integration to get started. You don't want to try handling any of this yourself because it's a complex and potentially time consuming process. However, there are professionals that can make the process easy and painless, allowing you to worry about the other areas of your business that you can really control.
In addition to these services you'll also want to make use of support and maintenance for your small business telephone systems. Business telephone systems can't be installed and then ignored. Technology is always being updated and replaced, and your business needs to stay ahead of the curve so you don't fall behind and lose your competitive edge.
Additionally, issues can arise that potentially would leave you harmful downtime or failing services. Ongoing support plans that will deal with maintenance, upgrades and repairs will enable your business to keep going strong without any worries or interruptions. In house IT staff typically won't be trained to handle the specific needs for repair and support that business telephone systems bring. Additionally, outsourcing your support needs is a simple step to save your business money over hiring more staff that you have on a full-time basis.
Business telephone systems make the difference for many organizations between getting by and thriving, and for others it's the difference between success and failure. Small business telephone systems will help your organization operate smoothly and efficiently. Your business will save money and all of your employees will get more done in less time, turning any business into a well oiled machine, ready to capitalize on any opportunities thrown in its path.
Kevin Rubin CTO, Business Development at Converged Systems - Avaya Partner
Working in the telecommunication industry for 10 years. I started when Lucent Technologies was around and manufacturer direct was the premise. Avaya took over around 2001 and the distribution channel arose. Converged was founded in March 2003 to provide a higher level of customer experience to the end user and give companies what they want with a complete solution. We work on the cutting edge of telecommunications including VoIP service, SIP trunking, call center software, contact centers, unified access, Avaya products, and more
http://www.convergedsystems.com/
Labels: business telephone, business telephone systems, telephone systems
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Small Telephone Systems Verses Multi-line Business Phones
Choosing the right telephone system from start is always the best path, but not always the most economical. Before you head down to your local electronic store and pick up the cheapest multi-line business phone you can find, here are few pointers you should keep in mind.
Many multi-line business phones have a pretty decent feature set such as voicemail, caller ID, call waiting ID, 3 way calling and intercom (in multi phone setups). These phones integrate the Key System Unit (or KSU) into the phone itself, which means each individual telephone functions as its own "mini phone system." The term KSU, (Key System Unit, Key Signaling Unit or Key Service Unit) dates back to the early day's phone systems, it's basically "the Brain" of the phone system. All call processing data and telephone line interfacing is carried out by the KSU. For many small offices with less than 4 phones (extensions) and 4 telephone lines, these multi-line phones are adequate and economical. However, as a business grows, the many disadvantages of these phones begin to show their merits.
By comparison, multi-line business phones are sold with the marketing term, "KSU-less design," which translates (in buyers minds) to lower overall costs. Small telephone systems on the other hand include a separate KSU unit or "Brain" in addition to each telephone. A major disadvantage comes to play when you are interfacing your phones with the telephone company lines. The KSU acts as the "line interface," for a phone system, all major system connections terminate at the KSU. Now with each multi-line phone acting as its own "mini phone system," each phone now needs direct connections to each telephone line.
A single telephone line consists of 1 pair of wires. Almost all multi-line phones support up to 4 lines, meaning each multi-line phone needs up to 4 pairs of wires or the equivalent of a standard Cat5e cable. As you begin to add more KSU-less phones to your office you must factor in the cost to install another drop of cat5e (or cat5) cable. You must also account for the additional termination blocks in your telephone closet where all these phones must be "Bridged" (or shared) to the 4 phone lines. As you can imagine, for installations with more than say 4 or 5 phones the wiring aspect can get pretty complex. Anything over 6 or 7 phones will be a wiring mess, if done unprofessionally, which adds to the cost of these low budget systems. However, this bridged connection is how multi-line phones "intercom" one another. By sending a signal over each bridged line, each extension can communicate without actually tying up any of the 4 phone lines. As long as every multi-line phone is connected to all 4 lines (or matching number of lines if less than 4), each phone can intercom each other internally while keeping the phone lines free for external calls.
Small Telephones Systems on the other hand, which come equipped with a separate, dedicated KSU unit, are at a distinct advantage in both areas. Having a single KSU unit means a single interface point for the telephone line connections. Many small telephone systems need only a single pair of wire to connect each extension telephone. What this means is if you are deploying a number of phones in one particular area, you can save dramatically on cabling costs by having your contractor "split" the single Cat5e cable into, at most, 4 single telephone jacks! - This becomes very cost effective as you deploy additional phones. (However, many pros will only split single Cat5 cable once for 2 telephone jacks leaving the remaining wires as spare pairs). Cable management becomes much easier (and neater) as you need not worry about bridging 10 phones to 4 telephone lines. One single pair of wires (to connect to a telephone) of the 3 or 4 pairs in a standard telephone cable is enough for as many lines as the small telephone system can handle since the actual line connections are at the dedicated KSU unit and not at the individual telephone.
Another plus for the small telephone system is the ease of transitioning to a larger phone system. The wiring scheme for the most part will remain the same albeit installing more cable drops to new areas. Not so much the same for the multi-line business phones. Depending on how each phone was "bridged" to interface to those 4 telephone lines, this entire wiring scheme may need to be undone as most small (and large) telephone systems require individual (not bridged or shared) connections to the KSU.
Programming wise there is one disadvantage when comparing small business telephone systems to multi-line business phones, which can be viewed as multiple disadvantages. Since each individual telephone functions as its own KSU it also functions as its own Voicemail unit (if equipped). Which means if you want to enable an Auto Attendant feature (where your callers are greeted by a company recording instructing them to press 1 for Joe Boss, 2 for Sales Manager etc...) you will have to record this greeting for as many times as you have voicemail enabled phones (up to 4). Here's why, with most multi-line business phones, the voicemail feature includes a personal voicemail box for the extension and an optional auto attendant feature. The auto attendant feature can only handle one call at a time; ergo if you want the system to answer up to 4 incoming calls simultaneously you need at least 4 auto attendant enabled phones. So technically speaking you must record the same auto attendant greeting 4 times, 1 on each phone. You must also enable the system mailbox for each of the 4 phones to accept general messages. You now have 4 different phones/voicemail boxes in your office where you must check for general messages. This is known as a general mailbox, which is a default destination for callers who do not press a menu option or dial an extension. This scenario is not efficient for larger setups but may work for smaller ones.
With a small business telephone system, there is just one central voicemail unit which can handle multiple calls at once. Storage times are much greater and there is just one mailbox for general messages. You can also take advantage of advanced features (if equipped) such as voicemail to email (where the system sends the voicemail in a standard wav format to your email address), which in this fast paced world can be a BIG time saver and added convenience.
One last point on this topic to cover quickly; with the advent of the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) continually proving its cost effective existence, many businesses find themselves wanting to take advantage of these savings. Many small business telephone systems on the market today are equipped to handle VoIP telephone lines through either a simple hardware or software upgrade. An upgrade may include adding an Ethernet (or media) port to the system or if already equipped, simply enabling this port through software activation. Simply plugging this unit into your company LAN and perhaps minor firewall configuration you can now start saving on land line costs by calling out over less expensive VoIP lines.
Multi-line business telephone can benefit as well but through a 3rd party VoIP gateway. This gateway converts a VoIP line (sometimes called a "Trunk") to a standard telephone port. You will need as many gateways as you want lines, (or opt for a multi-port unit). However you may have to plan on spending some time configuring and adjusting the settings of the unit to obtain the proper volume levels while minimizing echo and other artifacts that may be induced when converting the signal from a standard Analog telephone line to SIP or other VoIP protocol. Many high end units come with built in (hardware or software) echo cancellers and noise suppressors which minimize these adjustments (and work very well) but increase the cost of the gateway dramatically.
To conclude, although it may seem like great savings early in your start up phase, for needs of 4 or less external lines and extension phones, the multi-line business phone can actually prove to be a cost effective solution. In my humble opinion these multi-line phones are better suited for a home office (or SOHO) situation. If you have big plans to expand exponentially (and don't we all!) I recommend you at least consider a small business telephone system. Although a bit more initial investment is required, the benefits far out way the cost disadvantage if not cancel it out completely.
Copyright © 2009 Damian Parkins for PBX Interactive, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
If you're looking for a great small telephone system to start out with that's not too advanced and bloated with "bells and whistles," I recommend the XBlue Networks X16 small office telephone system. This system is priced right smack in the middle of a decent multi-line business phone setup and an advanced small business telephone system. XBlue Networks hit the nail on the head with this model by stripping off only the advanced telephone features most small business may not have a need for, or are rarely used; allowing the X16 small office phone system to fill a niche in the market left primarily untouched. This compact, stylish phone system offers some nice designer phones to choose from (for those wishing to be unique) and a great feature set.
If you're local to the New York City metro area, PBX Interactive, LLC currently has a great promotion going on for these small telephone systems. Feel free to give us a call at 718-272-0206 or just click the following link to take advantage this nice starter telephone system:
http://www.pbxinteractive.net/promo/x16
Labels: multi-line business, multi-line business phones, small telephone systems verses multi-line business phones, telephone, telephone systems

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