Need advice on a small office phone system ?

Edwards Finance > Phones

Q. I am building a new chiropractic office. The building will be 4224 sq. ft., of which I will occupy 2112 sq. ft.. I need a minimum of three phone lines. Three lines that trunk over, the last of which will be used with an analog fax and SBC dsl. I will be looking for a couple of other doctors to be independent contractors, that will need there own phone lines(numbers) to advertize so our businesses can be truely seperate. In addition, if everything works out I may take over the other 2112 sq. ft. with another business, so I would like the possibility of having 8 incoming lines and 16 to 24 extensions. Initially, I would like to start with 3 phone lines and 10 extensions to equip all treatment rooms, so I can page the front desk and ask for a chart and such. I would also like to use a regular digital anwering machine. At this point I do not see the need for voice mail. You don't want to call your doctor and hear a bunch of options. You want to call and quickly talk to someone and set up an appointment. I have looked at Nortel CICS, but I don't think I can have the fax and digital answering machine on the system with out having an expensive analog card. I don't like the idea of a dedicated fax line. We are a small office and currently only have two lines that trunk with DSL and fax on the second line, so I would like to have the possibility of trunking over to that third line on the system.

A. Among many other choices, the Panasonic digital KXTD1232 would be perfect for your needs. The KXTD1232 gives you up to 8 lines and 16 extensions without any expanding. It can expand up to 12 lines and 32 extensions and can actually double that. You can start out with just your three lines and add lines for the other doctors as they join you. The lines can be programmed to ring or be accessible from only certain phones if you wanted. All the usual features such as paging etc. are available. This system can handle analog phones and devices like fax machines and answering machines on any extension without any additional hardware. Although I strongly recommend voicemail, you can get away without it by using answering machines on extensions that need it. You can program certain lines to automatically connect to the answering machine if no one picks up after x number of rings, or at night time. I would like to dispel one myth: having voicemail DOES NOT mean giving a caller a bunch of confusing options (that's what happens to the credit card companies and telephone companies who don't know what they are doing...) Voicemail gives you incredible flexibility with how you handle your phone calls. You still may not need it right now, but you may later on. I run into a lot of people who think of voicemail as some rigid inflexible uncontrollable monster when it really just needs good planning and programming. Some features I've set up for doctor offices include remote access to the system, messages can be auto forwarded to your cell phone, after hours emergency calls can be forwarded to an answering service, you can leave specific messages for office staff that are not available from the main menu. The voicemail for this system also allows you to record phone conversations into your mailbox for later review.

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