Traditional phone lines which have been a mainstay for many years from traditional carriers like AT&T or one of the old Bell companies for small businesses, are copper lines or what is also known as CO lines. This type of phone service has one pair of copper wires for each phone line and each phone line will have its own distinct phone number associated with it. These lines will probably be set up in a rollover sequence, where the main number of the business is set as line one. If a call is placed when line one is busy, then that call will automatically roll to the second line, and so forth. This roll over is set with the carrier. If a business has for example three lines and all three of those lines are in use, then the next caller will receive a busy tone.
Business phone systems have changed drastically in the last few years thanks to VoIP. Whether you place your voice communications all in the cloud or use a PBX to connect through VoIP, costs can be reduced.
VoIP
(Voice over IP) can be used with an in-house IP-PBX using SIP trunks or
by subscribing to hosted VoIP or cloud based phone service. The
advantages of Internet communications can be leveraged to increase
sales, employee productivity, and bottom line profitability. As more
and more services are moving to the cloud statistics show a large
increase in moving voice services, as well. Using customer relationship
software apps integrated with office phones works to unify
communications, the best strategy for increased productivity.
When keeping a business's traditional service, but reducing the size of the package (number of lines and other services, like carrier voicemail) an overall savings can be accomplished, without having to completely change carriers.
Cloud Based Phone Service or Hosted Business VoIP
Costs of 3 Top Rated Asterisk PBX Systems
Several manufacturers are making IP-PBX systems, some capable of connecting right up to traditional CO phone lines with built in FXO ports, that are better and lower in cost than the best PBXs from just a few years past. Using Asterisk with Linux has cut costs dramatically and has made in-house management of the phone system easy. Many of these systems are are now the top choice of all but the biggest companies. Here you can see examples of costs for three top rated Asterisk based PBX appliances with a suggestion of phones and a PoE switch for a 15 phone office.
Not all small business customers have the same needs and not everyone desires the same types of services and features. While some phone system choices make more sense due to circumstances, such as getting a new, first phone system or replacing an aged, failing key system, some customers just want a good sound basic phone system at a reasonable price. Here are three basic types of possibilities:
These are the prime customers for either a cloud based phone service (hosted VoIP) or an Asterisk PBX appliance.
In this scenario it would be best to either add a VoIP service or to change to a small VoIP PBX system that would be able to easily connect to a few existing phone lines.
An exceptionally good, easy to install, low cost business phone system should offer everything that this customer would want. like a NEC DSX-40 phone system.
Our definition of a small business is less than 11 phones. These companies are the ones that we focus on and are generally ideal candidates for business hosted VoIP services, a small Asterisk based in premise phone system and for those wanting to remain with a more traditional system a NEC DSX-40.
1FB(s)- This terminology refers to Flat Business line (1FB) and is a plain old telephone service (POTS) providing
dial tone. A 1FB line(s) has limited features and a custom calling feature package will require additional charges.
CO lines- A CO (Central Office) line refers to an incoming line provided to you by your local phone company.
T1- T1 service can be provided as channelized or un-channelized. (1.544 Mb)
As a business owner looking to replace an older phone system, the amount of obtainable information can be daunting. Perhaps the most efficient and most convenient solution is to review a few competitive quotes for an on-premise phone system that best meets your needs. Professional advice can serve you well and contribute in making your next phone system just right.
Take a minute to respond to a few straightforward
questions and
find the ideal telephone system
for your business. (No cost and no
obligation.)