Your next business system

An Internet business phone system can help your company achieve a level of communications that you might not have previously realized would have been possible and at a very affordable price.  Not only is the cost low, it's easy to install and the amount of features that you will gain are significant.  In addition, the outlay for new hardware, in most cases, will only be for phones as your Internet connection and router are already part of your existing network.  There will not be a need for a "phone closet" and a full time "phone guy", as the phone's Ethernet cables will plug directly into the network (router) and you should be able to get dial tone after only a few easy steps.  It's a great choice, it's an Internet Business phone system, it's a Hosted PBX.

What can be done with a hosted PBX?

Two of the features that separate a business phone system from a regular phone are an auto attendant and extension dialing.  An attendant is the recorded voice that allows you to get to the person or department that you need to speak to.  When called it will prompt the caller with predetermined choices like press 2 for sales, 3 for customer service or 4 for billing.  It could have a dial by name feature, "thank you for calling XYZ company, if you know your parties' extension you may dial it at anytime, or use our dial by name feature by spelling the first three letters of the person's first name".  It is something we all encounter on a daily basis, and it's usually associated with more established companies and now it can be part of your phone system, as well.  Extension dialing is by dialing an extension number, which can be a two, three or four digit number, will ring through to the phone associated with that extension.  This feature is especially important where workers are not right next to each other and need to speak to one another.

"Communications is my lifeline.  In the real estate business I have to stay in contact with my clients, so  I keep an extension at home.  When a call comes in from an ad, the receptionist can transfer it right to me, as though I was sitting right at my desk at the office."

Another feature that makes a hosted PBX a big time phone system is a Queue.  A Queue is a holding area where inbound calls that are not ready to be answered sit until they are ready to to be answered, at which time they will automatically go to a predetermined  available person.  Queues are generally associated with companies that have a larger volume of incoming calls which might be sales calls or customer service calls.  A queue has preconfigured features that tell a caller what number caller they are and approximately how long they may have to wait. 

What other features should you look for?

Features are the most important part of an Internet Business Phone System.  They will make your workers more productive, they will help increase sales, they will help facilitate communication, and they will make your small business have a big business presence.  Just the feature of music on hold can have an effect on potential customers.  It tells them that they are dealing with a substantial company, one of substance.  Other features like call forwarding or voicemail to email can play a significant role in helping your company's workers stay in contact with their clients, whether they are in the office or out on the road.  Some features are very important, while others may be less important in the near term, but may become important in the future.  Having a phone system that will allow you to adjust as you grow is a big advantage of a hosted PBX.  You get a large system's features at a small price and will not have to make the large investment in equipment that a traditional PBX would require.  You save a lot of money and get the advantage of adding phones for new employees as you need them.

"You will save a lot by choosing a hosted PBX, but also as important you will most likely get more features.  Lower price and better product, not bad at all."

Stressing the importance of features we have put together a list of features that we believe are worth recognition.  Although most users will not need all of them, it will be a good list to familiarize yourself with.  They are as follows:

• Auto Attendant
• Extension Dialing
• Call Waiting
• Advanced Call Forwarding features
• Blast Groups
• Conferencing
• Voicemail to Email
• Virtual Numbers
• Toll Free Numbers
• Web Based Management Control Panel
• E911
• Complete Call Logs
• G729 Codec to save Bandwidth
• Inbound Fax Solution
• Automatic Forward on No Connection
• Included Support
• 411
• Caller ID (inbound and outbound)
• Easy Transfer
• Queue

It seems that most people take certain features like call waiting, 3 way calling or conferencing and voicemail as a given for any legitimate business phone system.  There are many other features that a small or medium sized business phone system should have.  To be able run a SMB today and take advantage of new technology you should get a hosted PBX.  It will make a company more profitable and at the same time be less expensive that what most are already paying