Small Business Phone Systems

Choices In Small Business Phone Systems

Telecommunication plays an important role in the success of any business. The small businesses are no exception to this. They use services provided by small business phone systems.

Further in the article, we will discuss the various phone systems available. The new phone systems developed for the small business market sector can be divided into three categories. These are key systems, LAN based phone systems and mini-PBXs.

Key SystemsThese low cost intercom systems are the best developments for small businesses of 12 or fewer users. The small businesses were largely ignored in the past by telecom industry. Now, small business phone systems have changed the scenario.

The new KSU-less system provides advanced features of expensive phones to enjoy. These systems are quite cost effective.

The most benefited systems in this category are hybrid corded and cordless systems. They allow users to integrate corded and cordless phones within intercom systems. Office based employees can have corded phones and mobile employees can have cordless systems.

Mini-PBXsMini PBX systems are best suited to organizations that have more than 12 employees but less than 100. Features like voice mail, intercom, automated attendant, call distribution and computer integration can be accessed by these systems.

Mini PBX systems are further divided into two categories. These are self contained devices and computer based phone systems. The self contained systems are very easy to install and require minimum networking and computer knowledge. They provide features like intercom, voice mail, automatic attendant and a few more.

The other type is the computer based systems. These are ideal for more technically advanced people and offer a wide range of features. The best part is that it is customizable according to the business requirements. An example of an advanced feature is IVR script. It allows the systems to route calls to particular groups based on how the caller responds to prompts.

LAN (IP)-based phone systemsCompanies that install a high speed local area network or LAN to connect the computers can also use the same network to support their office phone system. This kind of approach is often used by many phone system suppliers.

There are already several LAN based phone systems that use Ethernet data network of a company to transfer phone calls and data. When introduced, LAN based systems were quite experimental. They did not offer features, which the users of conventional phones take for granted. They also possessed unpredictable audio quality. However, all this has changed since the vendors now use data networks to support business phone systems.

All these categories of the small business phone systems have eased the communication process with the advanced features. Today, they are the preferred choice of small business owners.