Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System ?

Edwards Finance > Phones

Q. My wife and her family are forming a new business and they have the need for a small business phone system and I told her I would try to do some research. They have the need for 4 phone lines on a rotary system, i.e. a call comes in and 3 more can come in until the phone number rings busy. They also need an intercom system built into the phone so the secretary can answer it, and then let each of them know they have a call on hold. Expandability would also be a good feature, i.e. the ability to add more phone lines should the need arise. I'm trying to find some web sites that give an overview of small business phone systems with some reviews of some of the popular models.

A. Centrex is almost never a viable solution in place of a phone system. No real hold feature, you can transfer as long as you explain to each caller that you aren't really hanging up on them, no music on hold or other real features. Try www.panasonic.com/csd as a good starting place. If it were my business, I would look to get a Panasonic or Lucent/Avaya Partner. Both of these systems allow single line telephones as well as multi-line sets so that you don't have to spend a huge sum of money to get into the system. Retail of a Panasonic KXT-A624 carded as 6x16 with a couple of phones would be less than $1500. The 624 maxes out a 6 lines, but the phones can be used on all systems, including the 500 port digital system. Because you tell them to hold on. On a residential line, most people are aware of call waiting, and you tell your current party to hold while you grab the other call. In a business, when you say you are going to transfer the call, it sounds amazingly like you hung up, with a few seconds silence afterward. Many people assume the call was dropped and hang up at that point. I have an ACD doing a centrex transfer, and we had to add a part to the recording explaining what the callers would hear, because a significant number were hanging up, thinking that their call was dropped. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So maybe, in a business environment, it would be good if the person originally answering the phone said in a polite way to the caller, 'please hold on; I will get someone on the line to help you' instead of, as is often the case, the person says nothing at all, or mutters, and flashes the hook. A call waiting hold comes off sounding a lot like a hangup also; the catch is telling the caller what YOU are going to do and what is expected of them (to wait).

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