3 Questions To Ask When Purchasing A Commercial Phone System

Communication between your business and your customers is critical for ongoing success. A lot of communication occurs via telephone. It's important that you have the right commercial phone system in place to help facilitate this type of communication.

Business owners can become overwhelmed with the many phone systems available on the market today. Here are three simple questions that you can ask yourself to help narrow your options and identify the phone system that will best meet your communication needs over time.

1. What Type of Phones Do You Need?

The first thing you want to do when investing in a commercial phone system is identify the type of phones that your business will need to access each day.

Some phone systems are designed to accommodate both stationary desk phones and mobile devices, while others can service only one type of phone.

If your employees are out of the office throughout the day, then a phone system that is designed to maximize the efficiency of mobile phones will work best. A traditional landline or a VoIP system may be your best option if you want to maintain a network of desk phones in an office setting.

2, Which Service Type Is Best?

The type of service that you think will best accommodate the needs of your phones will help determine the type of phone system you should install in your business.

Traditional landlines rely on hardwired copper cables to transmit sound. A landline gives you access to a proven method of communication, but the hardwired nature of landlines makes them inflexible and difficult to integrate with emerging technology.

A VoIP service transmits sound as data packets via an Internet connection. You can access VoIP service from many different providers, which helps you reduce your communication costs over time.

3. Do You Prefer In-House or Cloud Management?

Another important factor that will influence which type of commercial phone system will best meet your needs is whether you want to manage your phone system in-house or house the system in a cloud-based platform.

In-house phone systems require that you invest in the hardware required for the system to function properly. You will be responsible for maintaining this equipment and performing routine software updates to keep your in-house phone system current.

Many phone service providers offer cloud-based management services. If you choose this option, your service provider will update all the hardware and software used by your phone system.

Contact a company like American Telcom Inc to learn more.