Better Communication

Invention of telephone is considered to be one of the greatest achievements of the modern age. The invention completely changed the way the people communicated with each other. Further, developments in the field of telecommunications led to more advanced and hi-tech communication devices and equipments. Now, telephones have become an indispensable part in the life of people, whether personal or professional. Business phone systems have become a major means of communication in most of the companies and organization. These systems play a vital role in the effective communication of businesses because of their high performance, security and more number of features than any other ordinary communication devices. Almost all the advanced phone systems have the basic features of call transferring and call holding. However, some additional features can be listed as:

•Auto attendant: This feature provides automatic answering of calls and can provide routing to the desired department, so that, the caller can be routed to the correct person as quickly as possible. Since, this feature is completely automatic, answering of incoming calls and routing the calls to the desired department can be done even if the operator has gone for lunch break or is outside the office premises.

•Conferencing: Conferencing facility allows communication with multiple people simultaneously at one time. A number of callers can be added to a single conference call by transferring the incoming calls to the specific extensions.

•Call Forwarding: Business telephone system with call forwarding feature allows forwarding of calls from one extension to another. This feature also enables the forwarding of a single call to multiple users within the office premises.

•On hold Music: Music on hold feature allows playing of music when the caller is on hold. This feature can also be customized and many companies and organizations put some informative and educational tips about their products and services for listening while the call is on hold.

•Voice Mail: This feature allows the callers to leave a message in the voice mail box that provides users with save and delete options. This feature is meant for tapping incoming calls, in case, the person has out or is unable to pick the call on time. Voice mail when used with DDI (direct dial in) numbers allows the calls to be directed straight to the extension without making the caller to wait for the operator or reception attending service.

•Battery Back Up: Battery back up allows the phone systems to operate even in power-cuts and failures for about an hour. The battery back-up depends upon the type of phone system, the more advanced and expensive phone system would have the better battery back-up power.

•Caller Identification: The telephone system with caller identification feature helps in tracking the calls from identified and un-identified phone numbers.

•Mobile Extension: This advanced feature helps the employees and staff of any company or organization to use their mobile phones as extension of these phone systems. The mobile phone can be used for transferring calls to other extension numbers and even dial to the other phone numbers, using the mobile with business phone line number.

Benefits of VoIP Phone System

Telephone systems have become an indispensable part of businesses. For efficient communication in the business environment, business phone systems offer enhanced features and services that only make the communication easy, but also, make it more professional and secure. Advanced business phones have more features and functions than ordinary phones that include voicemail with e-mail integration, call handling, Computer telephony Integration (CTI), WiFi, VoIP multi-site networking, paging, intercom, advanced data networking and many other advanced features.

Data cabling for setting up new business telephone systems, upgradation of existing phone system or relocation of phones system at some other place is done by professional technicians. Some of the companies dealing in business phone systems also offer free site inspection and consultation to optimize performance and minimize costs of installing phone systems.

The growing popularity of VoIP phone system lies in its functionality, multiple features like caller ID, call forwarding, web mobility, voice mail management, conference calling facility and several other advantages including cost-savings. The VoIP system converts the analog voice signals into digital data packets to facilitate voice transmission in real time using the internet. VoIP system does not require any complex hardware set-up and its services can be used for making long distance calls and that too at cheaper rates. The key features of VoIP phone system are:

•Voice commands: Voice command activation enables dialing, transferring and retrieving of calls.

•Voice dialing: Instead of using phone keypad, voice dialing can be done verbally.

•VoIP gateway device: Configuration of VoIP service either through internet or through on-premise gateway device helps in imporoving the service quality.

•Management applications: Using of Response Point Administrator for setting-up and monitoring the entire phone system as per individual preferences, click-to-call contacts and veiw call status.

•Cost-effective technology: Long distance calls can be send and received over the internet using VoIP services at cheaper call rates.

•Direct dialing facility: Configuration of direct dialing numbers enables multiple business phone numbers to be operated through one line, instead of setting up new phone lines.

•VPN access: Virtual Private Network access allows people to use the phone system from remote networks.

•Digital Service: Configuration of voice service with digital service provider allows access in different regions.

•Automated receptionist: Enabling of automated voice service helps in answering and directing calls when the office is closed or when the operator can not take the calls. Customization of automated responses, greetings and prompts can also be done.

•Intercom: Intercom facility allows sending 2-way and 1-way calls for individuals or groups.

•Call Routing: VoIP phone system enables automated receptionist or official operator to route calls.

•Call history log: It helps in monitoring incoming and outgoing call activity by storing and filtering data collected by call log.

•Other important features include checking call status by viewing status indicators, incoming call notifications, call forwarding messaging, voicemail retrieval by phone or e-mail, parking music, importing of business and personal contacts from Microsoft Office Outlook, Windows Address Book (Windows XP), or Windows Contacts (Windows Vista).

Better Business Communication

Business telephone systems play a vital role in effective communication of businesses because of their high performance, security and more number of features than any other ordinary communication devices. One-time investment done by the companies or organizations for these advanced phone systems can not only make the communication easier, but also, more professional among the staff or with the customers of the company. Different types of telephone system are available to cater the needs and fulfill the demands of small, medium and large enterprises. A business telephone system often provides additional features related to call handling, Computer telephony Integration (CTI), VoIP multi-site networking, WiFi, paging, intercom, voicemail with e-mail integration, advanced data networking and many other advanced features.

Computer telephony Integration (CTI) technology allows integration of interactions on a telephone and a computer system. CTI has a number of common desktop and server based features like computer controlled automatic dailing (preview dialing, power dialing and predictive dialing), call information display, phone control system (phone answering, phone hang up, phone conferencing, phone holding and call forwarding), coordinated phone and data transfering, allowing users to login as call center agents for call handling, automatic call routing, advanced call reporting and voice recording.

These advanced phone system can be installed at offices, buildings and within the company or organization. Easy communication, security, reduced expenditures, easy installation and handling are some of the advantages of using these phone systems over other ordinary phones. These telephone systems can be classified into three categories:

•Key Pad systems: These systems allows the used to see and control the calls directly and manually. The modern versions of these phones systemhave advanced features like answering machine funcations, speed dailing, automatic call accounting, caller ID, remote supervision and station specific limitations.

•Hybrid systems: These systems work on the lines of traditional phone systems with the integration of VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) technology. The features of hybrid systems include intercom functionality, integrated voice mail services like remote notification and text message alerts, caller identification, call forwarding, call transferring, call routing and remote connectivity.

•Private Branch Systems (PBX): Private branch systems are telephone exchange systems that are used in big business enterprises and makes the users (staff or employees) share a common phone line for communicating with each-other and for making the calls outside the company or organization as well. They are relatively cost-effective and easy to use phone systems. This system connects employees or staff people of an organization through extension code numbers for any particular department within the organization and eliminates the need of installing individual phone lines for each employee.

It is important to access the needs and requirement of your business model while selecting the perfect phone system for your company. For a small business model, too many features in a phone system can prove to be a costly affair. And for a large enterprise level business model, less featured phone system would not be able to fulfill the requirements. Therefore, expert advice from a professional person can guide you in making the right choice for the perfect business phone system.