What Are the Best Business Phone Systems?

Business phone systems are calling and information transfer networks utilized to facilitate communications for large or small organizations. Because many businesses have far more complex needs than just your average phone call, office phone systems have a slew of different functional features which allow the business to operate successfully. Things like customer service calls, call forwarding, call routing, auto-attendants and so much more make the difference between business phones and traditional phones.

Some of the most functional capabilities of a business phone service include:

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  Business Phone Systems Westchester County NY

  Multiple lines + adding lines – if you have employees or receive many customer calls at one time you’ll take advantage of the multiple lines.

• Auto-attendant (automated features) – a call directory and extension system along with an auto-attendant which directs callers to the proper department.
• Voicemail – stores messages to be listened to and addressed later when you’re out of the office or occupied.
• Conference & group calls – utilize features that allow multiple personnel to be on the same call for meetings, appointments, training, or conferencing.
• On-hold messages & music – when customers are on hold they shouldn’t experience silence, this system can provide messages regarding sales or just on-hold music.

For small office or business use the best phone systems will be: VoIP, PBX, Cloud-based or multi-line. All of these will be suitable for businesses and organizations of various sizes. The differences will be the costs and functionality that may suit your business better than another phone system. These systems offer comparable services and are easy to switch to should you be looking to make a change to your businesses communication network.

Multiple Lines & Adding Lines

This variety of system is pretty straight forward. Essentially it is when multiple phone lines connect through a centralized unit. This means that personnel can answer the phone lines individually or direct them to the proper extension or even send to voicemail. This is the more basic phone variety which is suitable for the vast majority of small businesses. Hardware includes physical phones with extensions right on them which can be connected with the simple push of a button. These can be used with 2-line, 4-line or multi lined phones to allow employees to make and take calls at the same time. There is more than one phone line in essence.

If you’re shopping for a multi-line business phone system you should be looking for a few things. You should know how many users you will need as this will be crucial as to the size and scope of phone network you’ll need. These are reliable phone networks which typically don’t even go out when the power goes out. This variety of system is the traditional phone we are all used to.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

VoIP business phone systems have fast become one of the most powerful and popular varieties that businesses of various sizes are not utilizing. It offers the same features that traditional multi-line phone systems do with many additional services and options that traditional wired phone lines cannot offer. Services like Skype and Zoom are VoIP systems except they are not suitable for businesses. With proprietary internal VoIP systems you get all the best features at a far more cost effective way than traditional phone lines. Those features include:

• Conference calling
• Video calling + video conferencing
• Working from home availability
• Screen share & screen image capture
• Voicemail
• Multiple Lines (users)
• Scalability (adding users not physical lines)
• Call forwarding
• Call recording
• Local, national and international calling
• Cost effective rates (far cheaper than traditional phones)
• and more

VoIP systems can also offer more features. The benefits are vast. Lower costs, greater functionality, the ability to work from home and so much more. This is usually a perfect fit for any and all business types.

Cloud Phone Systems

Cloud phone systems operate in a decentralized fashion meaning your infrastructure is not set up through the physical office or location you’re business is in. It is cost effective and has a slew of different benefits. Cloud phone systems can either be a VoIP system or a hosted PBX one. Some of the advantages to your small business with the cloud are:

• Completely decentralized (off-site) saving you the cost on equipment and office space, reduces risk of downtime or slow downs due to weather
• Hosted via outside or 3rd party servers removing the need for on-site maintenance or servers that are on-site
• Growth or scalability is built in there are no real limits to how large your network can grow easily
• Far more cost effective for the services compared to traditional multi-line phone systems

With cloud based phone systems you do need to rely on a hosting company that will hold and maintain the cloud network but so to do websites you run. If ever issues arise the hosting company will address them. This is a great system in conjunction with VoIP for the vast majority of businesses.

PBX Phone Systems

PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is more or less a completely private phone system used by your office. It moves internal and external calls through the businesses physical phone lines but adds a variety of useful features that traditional phones do not offer on their own. There are other differences as well. A PBX system is much easier to scale up or add lines to than a traditional phone system. It can be hosted on the Cloud which is called a “virtual PBX” or “host PBX” or even VoIP through what is known as a “IP-PBX”. PBX systems are also incredibly flexible. This can be a great system your business can use which is essentially a merger of traditional and modern business phone communications.

Upgrading Your Business Phone Service

Today there are loads of ways to increase productivity and reduce costs through upgrading your business phone system. As illustrated above there are loads of advantages to using modern technology as opposed to traditional or outdated technology. Nowhere is that more apparent than through the cloud, VoIP and PBX. Be sure you’re getting the best service for the best value all in one place. Upgrade your phone service and see what modern technology can do for your productivity and profits.

For the best Business Phone Systems Westchester County NY, look no further than 30 years of local expertise right here at Top Line Communications. We proudly support the WBC (Westchester Business Counsel) and live right here where we operate. Stay safe from the entire team and we can get through this if we work together! 1-888-426-8647