Tips on Choosing The Right Telephone Systems For Your Business

1. Tips on Choosing The Right Telephone Systems For Your Business

2. Synopsis

3. Understanding the Basics of PBX, IP PBX, VOIP Phone PBX  PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. PBX describes the system within an organisation or company that is used to forward calls to the correct person or department.  In the past, PBX was done manually by staff physically connecting two phones with a cable (referred to as switching). An operator would answer, ask the caller who they needed to speak to, and then connect the call. IP PBX  With the invention of the Internet, IP (Internet Protocol) PBX became possible. This involves using a computer on the Internet to transmit calls and using a serial connected (usually USB) phone or headset to listen and talk. The signal is converted from analogue to digital in order to transmit over the IP network and then converted back to be played as audio on the other end. VoIP  VoIP (Voice over IP) is very similar to IP PBX in that it uses networked devices with IP addresses. However, VoIP systems are usually cloud-based as opposed to having a locally hosted server. While this provides greater mobility at lower cost, it requires very fast, reliable Internet. In the event of a power outage or loss of Internet, no communication is possible.   

4. Top 10 Benefits of PBX Phone System Automated Answering  With PBX you can set recorded audio to answer calls, and provide a menu for callers to select where they would like to be routed. Frequent callers also have the option to skip the recording by entering the extension of the person they are trying to reach. Central Control  A PBX system can receive a large number of calls on one single number and route them to the relevant person or department. You don't need to provide a list of different departmental numbers to the telephone directory, instead just having one single number for the entire company. Call Routing  PBX phones can be programmed to reroute calls in the event that you can't answer or are away from your desk. With this method, you can ensure a call never goes unanswered, as it is forwarded to a number of phones until somebody is available to take the call. A specific message can also be recorded for the customer to hear while awaiting an answer.   

5. Top 10 Benefits of PBX Phone System  Improve Company Image  A PBX system allows you to give the impression of a large, professional organization - even if you are just a small business. With automated call answering and forwarding, customers will always feel they are getting the best possible service from the correct member of staff.  Call Monitoring  Usage reports allow you to see exactly which numbers are making and receiving the most calls. You can see exactly how much each number is costing the company, and also which phone numbers have too many calls waiting. This way you can make the system cost effective and ensure customers get the best possible service.  Variable Access  PBX allows you to restrict certain access from specific phones within the company. For example, phones can be restricted from making international calls or from calling externally. This gives you greater control over how your staff use the phone system.

6. Top 10 Benefits of PBX Phone System  Internet Integration  Using Voice Over IP (VoIP) technology, you can further reduce costs by hosting your entire system in the cloud. This removes the need to host systems locally and have costly on-site staff to maintain it. VoIP also offers advanced interconnectivity with computer applications and software, allowing you to further improve your interactions with customers. Maintenance Free   Hosting your services in the cloud further reduces the need for physical equipment on-site. With virtual phone software, you can provide a system that mimics a full private telephone exchange with almost no initial expense. Hosted PBX Features   Hosted PBX Features or 'Cloud Services' provide a long list of additional services. Calls can be received by staff on their private phones through a company number, without the customer on the end knowing the difference. This gives staff the ability to work remotely without needing an additional company phone and without infringing on their privacy by giving out their own number.

7. Benefits of a Hosted PBX Solution  Cost Efficiency  Without the need for expensive on-site telephony equipment, hosted PBX removes a large amount of the initial installation cost. Furthermore, with all technical maintenance and upgrades managed by the external provider, costs are reduced even more. A good hosted PBX solution will also experience little-to- no downtime, which can be costly to a company. Since calls can be made over the Internet, you no longer need to worry about expensive international call costs.  Customer Experience  International customers from anywhere in the world can be supported outside of normal office hours. Calls can be rerouted to a 24-hour Support Centre or to a staff member’s mobile device, without any interruption to the customer. Furthermore, staff can contact customers via their personal mobiles with the appearance of the call coming from within the office.

8. Benefits of a Hosted PBX Solution Scalability  Hosted systems provide virtual phone numbers, meaning there is no physical limitation to the number of extensions provided. Extra extensions and additional services, such as voicemail and call forwarding, can be added with very little effort as your business expands. Outsourced Maintenance  As maintenance is managed by the third-party provider, there is no need to hire technical staff at an additional cost to look after the system. Uptime is also improved as no onsite repairs are required that may bring the system down. Call Logging  Hosted PBX provides a wealth of information in the form of call logging and cost allocation. Real-time fraud detection, misused asset analysis, trend reporting and performance indicators are all available in detailed monthly reports. Mobile spend management and data provided in multiple different currencies are also additional features that are often available.   

9. Benefits of a Hosted PBX Solution Reliability  With modern advancements in VoIP, hosted PBX systems are now often more reliable and of a higher quality than traditional PBX systems. Calls can be trusted to connect without drops or delays. Disaster Recovery  In the event of power outages or loss of comms at your local office, the hosted PBX system can continue to receive calls. Calls can be recorded to voicemail or forwarded to mobile phones or other sites. For certain industries such as healthcare or financial trading, the redundancy provided by Hosted PBX is vital to business continuity. Advanced Features  The full unified communications packages provided by a Hosted PBX often include features which are considered critical to modern-day business. Email transcriptions, voicemail to email, video calls, auto attendants and remote call management are just some of the advanced features a Hosted PBX solution can provide.   

10. Hosted PBX vs. On-Premise PBX Hosted PBX Pros:  Greater mobility - the phone system can easily be moved to new premises.  In the event of power or Internet outage at the office, calls can be rerouted to mobile phones.  Patches and upgrades are handled by the external provider.  It's easy to add or remove phone numbers, as they are only virtual on the system.  Installation of new features is handled by the external provider. Cons  Call quality can be affected by a slow or bad Internet connection.  Loss of Internet connection will bring down the phone system.  Flexibility is limited to the constraints of the external provider.  New features are reliant on the external provider.  Fees are mandated by the external provider and can be increased unexpectedly.  

11. Hosted PBX vs. On-Premise PBX On-Premise PBX Pros  Provides a greater element of control over the entire system.  New features can be added without incurring additional licence fees.  The system can be implemented with your current communications carrier.  While initial costs are more, server ownership will reduce costs over time.  All hardware will be installed and configured by the provider.  The provider will give your staff all the training that is required. Cons  Expansions can involve complicated projects that affect the running of the business.  Technicians need to be called in to do upgrades and patches.  Server failure can result in a loss of communications.  Requires a reliable provider for long-term management of the bespoke equipment.  

12. Voice over IP (VoIP) ATA  The most common form of VoIP is ATA, which stands for Analogue Telephone Adaptor. This involves connecting a standard telephone to the computer via a small piece of equipment. Once connected, you make calls in the normal way but the Internet connection is used to transmit the call. A service provider supplies the ATA box which converts the signal from analogue to digital. You simply plug the telephone into the box, as you would into the wall socket, and then plug the box into the PC. In some implementations, software is also supplied to add advanced features. An IP Phone  An IP Phone is like a normal telephone but with the addition of an Ethernet (RJ45) plug instead of the usual RJ11 plugs found on a normal phone. Using an RJ45 plug, an IP phone can be connected directly to the Internet as you would a PC. IP Phones have network cards built into them and can be configured with IP addresses in the same way computers are. Many new IP phones come with wifi capabilities and can connect to any wireless network in the same way as a laptop or mobile phone. Computer-to-computer  Computer-to-computer connections don’t require any additional hardware. In this scenario, one would simply use the microphone and speaker on their PC or laptop and make phone calls that way. In fact, these days any networked device can make and receive VoIP calls in this way via a number of different apps. The most commonly-used is the popular video calling software Skype.   

13. How Voice over IP (VoIP) Works  Voice over IP, or VoIP for short, is a new technology that enables the transmission of voice calls over the Internet. It doesn’t use the traditional telephone cables that have been in place for decades, but rather makes use of the various types of modern Internet infrastructure.  VoIP technology converts the audio into small, separate packets and sends each one individually. Think of them like envelopes, with small parts of the message inside each one. Once reaching the destination, these individual packets are put back together and played in sequence to recreate the audio. This happens so fast that the listener doesn’t notice any gap in the sound, and hears the other person’s voice just as if they were talking normally. Live video calls are sent in the same way but require a much larger amount of bandwidth.

14. PBX vs. VoIP Cost  VoIP can be entirely hosted in the cloud, requiring none of the expensive, physical hardware of PBX. VoIP also doesn't require the ongoing maintenance costs of PBX and the monthly costs of a leased-line. However, VoIP does require a pre-installed LAN network and computer infrastructure. Reliability  PBX is often more reliable than VoIP as it doesn't require a permanent, fast Internet connection. In the event of a power outage, PBX can continue operation, whereas a VoIP system will entirely lose connectivity. A VoIP system will, however, forward calls to a message centre and store voicemails until the system comes back up. Most companies using VoIP will also have at least one backup PBX line so they can continue some business in the event of an outage. Traditional PBX lines are also useful in the event of an emergency as they more readily support emergency numbers like ‘911’. Quality  PBX systems can offer a higher and more consistent voice quality, as opposed to VoIP call quality which can suffer from low internet speed. To have a truly functional, quality VoIP system you would usually need to be in a city with a relatively fast, advanced Internet service. Companies in small, rural areas might find VoIP struggles to maintain quality audio over a slow connection.   

15. PBX vs. VoIP  Flexibility  With a traditional PBX system, the number of lines you receive depends on the size of the package you purchase. To expand your operation you would need to buy more connections or upgrade your package. With VoIP, the number of phone numbers you have is only limited by your bandwidth (Internet speed).  Functionality  An IP PBX system can provide some VoIP functions while maintaining the advantages of a standard landline. However, a pure VoIP system has a large number of additional services not available on PBX. With VoIP, specific phone numbers can be programmed to reroute to voicemail or to the private cell phones of staff members. While PBX calls can be programmed to some extent, they are still restricted to operating within the limitations of the standard telephone network. VoIP calls can also be transcribed into an email and integrated into a CRM system which can then be used by customer service assistants to keep track of customer issues.

16. Reasons VoIP Phones Make Sense for Small Businesses No Physical Phone Switches Required On-site  In the past, companies would need to dedicate entire rooms to their phone switching equipment, with large cabinets covering walls and cables running everywhere. Multiple staff members were required to ensure everything ran effectively. Even in these modern times, automated phone switches are relatively complex systems and involve messy cabling and expensive hardware. Improved Customer Support  New technology means the service providers have young, recently-qualified staff with a fresh perspective on the technology and the customer’s needs. Old phone companies have slow, antiquated hardware to support that takes a long time to fix and change. With new VoIP technology, upgrades and patches can be implemented quickly and efficiently, with no downtime or loss of service. Better User Experience  VoIP systems provide online interfaces that are familiar to web users, providing quick and easy ways to manage and automate their telephony services. Features like voicemail, call forwarding and contact management can be quickly and easily configured through an online portal.   

17. Available Samsung PBX/PABX Telephone Systems  Samsung DCS 408 Digital PBX System  Samsungs DCS 408 is ideal for small to medium businesses. It delivers features similar to that of a large telephone system but at a far lower cost.  Samsung OfficeServ 7030 PBX System  Ideal for small businesses that require up to to 20 extensions, the 7030 offers a broad range of features and flexibility at a low cost. It can be configured with a full range of analogue and digital trunks and extensions, including IP and wireless devices.  Samsung OfficeServ 7070 PBX System  Optimized for small and medium businesses with up to 50 employees. The OfficeServ 7070 supports both VoIP and existing communication infrastructures.

18. Available Samsung PBX/PABX Telephone Systems  It’s very easy to install and includes all the call functions of the existing PBX. It’s fully compatible with the OfficeServ 7000 series using identical S/W and terminals.  Samsung OfficeServ 7200 PBX System  The OfficeServ 7200 provides wired and wireless communications and supports both traditional voice communication, voice over IP (VoIP) and wireless LAN. It comes with WAN and LAN modules pre-installed, so no extra equipment is required for data transfer over 10/100 base ethernet.  Samsung OfficeServ 7400 PBX System  The OfficeServ 7400 is an upgrade of the 7200 system. It has twice as many interfaces and includes all the features of the 7200 system with some additions.

19. Samsung Phone Systems for Small-Medium Sized Business Samsung SMT-i6010 IP Phone  The SMT-i6010 is a functional and user-friendly entry-level IP phone for small and medium-size offices. Samsung SMT-i6020 IP Phone  The SMT-i6020 desk phone offers an upgrade of the i6010, with twice as many progammable buttons, HD voice quality. Samsung SMT-i6021 IP Phone  The SMT-i6021 come with crystal clear voice quality and new features including Call sharing via Bluetooth. It is designed to connect with executive smartphones. Samsung SMT-i5343 IP Phone  The Samsung SMT-i5343 takes IP connectivity to the next level. It includes a wealth of additional features including Near Field Communication, seamless mobile phone connectivity, advanced wireless capabilities and a 4.3" colour display.    

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