Purchasing a New Office Telephone System

The cost of a new office telephone system may be surprisingly modest, however, not even the largest companies typically regard it as something to be taken lightly.

Its sometimes useful to think about the purchase in a number of different ways:

what new capabilities are you hoping to get out of it – in other words, what do you hope to do in future that you cannot do today;what problems are you trying to fix by installing a new office telephone system;is your business fixed in scope or do you have ambitions to grow;how critical is it (will it be) to your business – i.e., how long could you survive without serious business damage, if your phone system was unavailable to you;do you wish it to integrate with other forms of technology you are considering (e.g. video conferencing, VOIP etc);is it essentially to be used for external communications or will it play a large part in your own internal operations (switching between sites, voice mail, call re-routing and follow-me etc)?

This list is not, of course, comprehensive. There is a well-defined process behind the analysis of requirements of an office telephone system, which should be conducted before you start to focus on a perceived solution.

If you do not feel well equipped to perform this yourself, it may be advisable to find a telecoms solution provider who can help you with it.

Of course, there has been no mention in the above of budgets and costs.

Thats intentional because thinking too quickly about cost may incline you to lose sight of what youre seeking to achieve.

Nobody doubts that budgets today are tight and cost is an important consideration. However, the system that appears to be the cheapest in price tag terms may not prove to be the cheapest for you in the medium term if it fails to deliver against your expectations.

The cost of your system will inevitably prove to be a factor in your decision. Making an informed decision, however, to compromise against your stated requirements for cost reasons is one thing – unintentionally doing so just because you were seeking the cheapest solution may be something else and something that is far more prejudicial to your chances of achieving a successful outcome.

So, when selecting a new office telephone system, start first with your requirements and a list of things you simply must have and then think about prices!

Lisa Settle is a Director of Telcare ( http://www.telcare.co.uk ) a customer-focused telecoms provider that can take care of all your business telephone system needs, from giving advice through to installation and ongoing care and maintenance.

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