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Have a question about setting up a phone system in an office. I'm just a helper, not a telecommunications expert, please bare with me. I'm hoping to get some basic guidance or places I could go. We currently have one VoIP phone line, and we are going to get 2 analog lines. But the office space will probably require more than 2 actual phones - break room, conference room, etc. Small business, less than 2,000 sq ft.
We're looking into a phone system that is simple - be able to transfer calls, put on hold, speaker. Are there any features we should be looking for, that perhaps I'm not thinking about? The business owner is wanting to get an affordable phone system from Costco, but not sure if this is the correct way to go. We do get requests for appointments online, and also with our established VoIP line. The analog lines is to be able to pick up a phone and call out throughout the office.
Is there a reason you can't expand the VOIP systems?
Voicemail - If and how it is handled
Incoming calls - Do people just call one phone number
Paging - if someone is in the break room, how do they notify someone in the conference room etc, there is a call
for them.
On hold music
Called ID - How is it controlled
A place to start would be your phone company and see what they offer for businesses.
Many years ago, it was not unheard of for a small business to spend thousands on a "digital" phone system. I've seen those systems last for over 15 years.
Depending on your VoIP system or provider, you might encounter challenges.
The VOIP we have is Line2, it's all based on mobile or computer app. This was perfect for our scenario since we were moving the office from one location to another. But we want to have that number forwarded to a actual phone instead of working out of computers or mobile devices.
Currently voicemail is handled with this Line2 phone. We receive an e-mail whenever a voicemail is left so that's positive.
Incoming calls - yes people only call one number.
Paging - yes we would be interested in being able to page from one space to another. Just opening the new office space so guidance of what phone system would work (old office space was only a shared space, one-office operation).
Caller ID: Since Line 2 is based on mobile device/computer caller ID is integrated.
There are so many options these days, the easiest thing may be to just reach out to a few providers. This can be your cable provider (e.g. Comcast), telecomm company (Verizon), or even a pure VoIP service like Vonage. All of these should have business class services that you can look into.
What works best will depend on your requirements. How do you use your phones as part of your business? Do you have a business continuity plan? If your business relies heavily on phones, you may first need to do a impact analysis so you have a better understanding on the type of service that will work for you.
Based on what you indicated - you can likely find something that works on Amazon. But this is assuming your data is complete.
If you have a solid internet connection, you might want to look into a cloud-based PBX system. RingCentral is one, there are others. All office phones would then just be VoIP handsets. No need for an in-house PBX anymore.
They usually have a per user/per month charge, but have all of the features you're looking for and they are responsible for managing things. Because they're business-class they will also have good quality of service. Most also have a "fallback" option where in case the system goes down all calls go to a cell phone.
I don't know why'd you be mixing and matching analog and VoIP lines. The only reason people typically keep an analog line these days for business is for faxing, but even that can be done through online fax services and scanning nowadays.
Thanks for your comments. We are talking with our internet provider about phone options. The owner seems to think about something and 2 hours later regret and push back. So I don't want to incur in a huge expense on a phone system that will later not work or is not what she wants to pay. The current VOIP phone will continue to work for now.
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