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Buying a Business Phone System

For any business being able to handle phone calls effectively is essential to success and profit. Advanced systems used to be expensive and affordable only by larger organisations but continuous technological advances and reduction in prices means that businesses of all sizes can now benefit from efficient and advanced call handling.

Modern phone systems converge telephone and computer technologies. This convergence is called Computer Telephony Integration or CTI for short and enables all sorts of features that enhance your call handling and enables your business to do much more than simply make and receive calls. Here are some of them:

Enabling callers to be put through to the right person straight away can be achieved with an auto-attendant that offers the caller choices and directs calls based on the callers response, either verbal or by pressing a key.

Direct Dialling In or DDI gives each of your employees a discreet phone number that enables callers to phone them directly without going through an auto-attendant or operator. This feature doesn't require you to have a dedicated line for each employee, just a dedicated number. If the employee is engaged or away from the phone, the caller can be asked to leave a voicemail message.

No business can afford to leave calls unanswered and they won't be when you utilise a hunt group. When a caller dials your main business number, if the first extension is busy the system will automatically search for a free extension. You might want to utilise a different hunt group for each department.

Call queuing is popular with businesses but far less so with callers. No one likes being left holding in a queue listening to muzak or adverts. Every business should strive to answer all calls promptly and if you choose a phone system that is IP ready, you will be able to capture call data to determine how quickly calls are answered and how many callers hang up. This enables you to set appropriate staffing levels so that all calls are answered promptly or make sure the system will quickly send callers to voicemail so that you can call them back as quickly as possible.

Screen popping automatically puts a window on your computer screen containing information about the caller in a similar fashion to a mobile phone. It only works if the caller is in your customer contact database but can provide far more information than just the caller's name. The pop up window also lets you add notes about the call and create action alerts.

Other features include conference calling and paging as well as call barring to prevent users from dialling certain numbers or number ranges that helps prevent employees calling premium priced services.

When it comes to making a purchase be aware that many dealers only offer a limited range and telephone companies will often only offer their own branded products. Many business phone systems are modular in that they can be specified with or without certain features. As additional features often add to the cost, it's worth making a list of those that will bring real benefits to your business and be cautious about letting sales people talk you into ones that sound great but are unlikely to get used. Like much modern technology, some functions are often tedious to set up and so never get used. However, do make sure that what you buy is future proofed so that updates and new features can be added later.

Other considerations when making a purchasing choice include the following. The cost of installation. The cost of training staff to set up and use the equipment. Whether staff will be able to easily set up or amend the behaviour of the various functions or whether you will be reliant on the supplier for ongoing support. The cost of maintaining the equipment. It's worth doing some Internet research to find the systems that will best fit your needs.

Finally don't overlook the virtual alternative that is offered by many telephone companies. These are hosted on a telephone company's own switch in its exchange and have the advantage of offering all the benefits of a modern switchboard without the attendant costs of installation and maintenance.

Article Source: http://articles.directorygold.com

Before you buy a business phone system with CTI consider the virtual alternative.

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