In order to run your business as smoothly as possible, you need to ensure that have the right telephone system in your office. Before you make a final decision, you should educate yourself about different options currently available in the market. There are many telecommunication solutions available today, but it is important to determine first what will affect your business in a positive way. Digital telephone systems are increasingly popular, but you can find other options too. Here is more about different telecommunications solutions you can use today:
Analog Phone Systems
Introduced in the early 80’s, this phone system was originally designed to facilitate multiple phone lines and multiple users. These phone systems use Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines to function. They utilize copper lines to connect phone and phone systems, and that is the reason why voice quality is flawless. You may certainly opt for this phone system for your office, but keep in mind that it comes with limited features and expandability options. They usually have nothing more than some basic features, such as redial, hold, speed dial, transfer, mute, and speaker. Similarly, their expandability is not that impressive either, but sometimes, it is possible to use an expansion card to growth the phone system on the station side or line side.
Digital Phone Systems
Also called a PBX, a digital phone system helps facilitate phone calls between your employees while letting them to share multiple external phone lines. The good thing is that they have several expandability options and can easily be expanded for large applications. The phone system comes with some basic features, but it is possible to get more as add-ons or upgrades. A digital phone system usually accepts expansion modules, licenses, and cards, so you are less likely to experience any problem in terms of expandability. Some common features include find me, ACD, follow me, voicemail, music on hold, and SMDR.
Hybrid Phone Systems
A hybrid phone system is basically a type of digital phone systems and offers both IP and digital capability. Hybrid phone systems can be extremely versatile and usually accept PRI circuit, SIP trunks, and analog trunks on the line side. At the same time, they accept digital phones or IP phones on the station side.
To save some money, you can also consider using SIP trunks for dial tone while using digital phones for your office. Going for a hybrid phone system is a good idea because it is much likely to support your business’s future needs and expansion. These phone systems support voicemails and you can have email/fax integrated with it. The voice quality is also quite impressive, but it usually depends on the phone service you are using.
In addition to these basic phone systems, you can also find VoIP phone systems that use your internet line to function or even opt for cloud based phone systems. Digital phone systems usually work great for most businesses, but be sure to check the nature of your business before finalizing your decision.