Small businesses today have many options for choosing a professional phone system, especially now that VoIP systems are so common in the market. To help you get started more easily and choose the best Business Phone Systems for your business, we’ve gathered the key information you need for your selection process.
Contents
How Does the Professional Telephone System Work?
Before moving quickly to the options available and the things to consider, it is important to understand how business phone systems work. Without this basic understanding, you will be hard-pressed to see the difference between the different options in the phone system.
A professional telephone system often works with a PBX (private branch exchange), a telephone system within a company that manages call flows and automatically routes calls according to pre-configured rules. This means that with a private branch exchange (PBX) when a caller arrives at your company, he can be automatically directed to the extension of his choice without your staff having to intervene, which considerably improves the efficiency of your company.
From Analog to Digital
In the past, traditional business telephone systems were based on analog technology. They fulfilled the main function: to serve a maximum of aircraft with a minimum of lines. Most of these systems also offered an automated receptionist service, in order to optimize the management and costs of voice communications. After seven to ten years, they had to be replaced. These systems have gradually given way to digital technologies.
The components of the PBX telephone system have evolved over time. However, the emergence of Internet telephony (VoIP) technology has changed the situation. The ability to use an Internet phone service has spawned the next generation of VoIP phone systems that allow you to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection. These robust VoIP systems for small businesses have made advanced telephony services possible.
Type of Telephone System for Small Businesses Explained
Telephony systems for small businesses generally come in 3 types: Below is a quick description of each type of system.
- Traditional fixed telephony systems
- Hosted PBXs or cloud telephony systems
- VoIP telephony systems
Traditional Fixed Telephone System
Generally supported by a local or regional telephone company, traditional fixed telephone systems are analog and use physical PBX hardware boxes. They operate on the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and physically connect the telephones via the telephone company’s copper cabling. The key to an analog PBX is that it connects to POTS lines prior to the Internet. And although these systems have the longest history, they are not capable of many of the features of modern telephone systems, such as voicemail to email, and cannot make high definition calls.
Hosted Pbxs or Cloud Telephone System
If you want to enjoy the best of maintenance-free VoIP for small businesses and have a bright future, the cloud phone system are the perfect choice. They take the form of software or a web application and operate over an Internet connection. They don’t really have a physical PBX system. Instead, a virtual PBX hosted on the CLOUD keeps its engine running. The service provider manages all maintenance operations and virtual PBX updates, freeing you from numerous IT concerns.
Cloud phone systems are considered scalable. They provide the functionality of a complete telephone system and allow growing businesses to easily add telephone lines and users.
VOIP Telephone System
Voice over IP, or VOIP, is likely the most common business phone solution for today’s small to midsize business. This is because it’s cheaper and more flexible, and better able to integrate with software so that you can more easily build and customize workflows.
VOIP is cheaper because most such solutions are delivered as cloud services. This lets you access advanced features, like custom call attendance, voicemail routing,
An on-premises VoIP business phone system is a system in which PBX equipment is kept on-site in your server cabinet. Instead of physically connecting to the PBX with copper cabling, phones connect to the PBX via the office local area network, often using the same Internet connectivity as the computers in your office. Peripherals such as gateways and softphones normally interact directly with the PBX. In addition, in addition to VoIP line media, some on-site VoIP telephone systems can even integrate traditional telephone lines (ISDN, PSTN, GSM) without using other devices, thus offering greater flexibility and an increased economy.
Premium VoIP systems for small businesses allow you to take advantage of all the benefits of modern VoIP technology: reduced call rates, free internal calls, enhanced VoIP functionality, increased mobility, scalability, etc. call recording and teleconferencing come with ease of use.
VOIP IDEAL FOR: small businesses who want the functionality of a sophisticated telephone system at a reasonable price and who want to take control of their system and access equipment at any time.
