Choosing a phone system is not hard as long as you follow a plan so that you avoid the mistakes most businesses make and get some help with the big questions.

Here’s how to do it.

First make a list of the main things you know you need. Voice mail, number of phones, number of phone lines, automated attendant, etc.

Now write down what you think would be the best way for your business to answer calls. Do you want them answered live? Do you want to use voice mail?

Are there any particular concerns that you have? For example is there someone who works outside the office that you need to be able to communicate with easily or who needs to be on conference calls or something of that nature.

It is a good idea to briefly interview staff members and get input on what they think is needed.

Once you have all of this written down just you can get a phone system vendor to help you walk through all of it and make sense of what kind of system would fit you and how to get such a system in your current budget.

Here is a phone system checklist to use too.

Here is a checklist for purchasing a new or used phone system. Use this checklist to help communicate with a phone system dealer.

1.) How many phones do I need?

2.) How many lines? (dial tones) This includes voice channels on a T-1

3.) Do you need or currently have a T-1? (if you are not sure make a not to ask a dealer about it.)

4.) Do you need voice mail?

5.) Will you answer the phone live or do you need an automated attendant. Hint: Most businesses should use an auto attendant after hours at least.

6.) Do you need wireless phones. Note: It is not generally a good idea to go with very many wireless phones. They tend to get lost, dropped, accidentally taken home by staff, and don’t have enough buttons to do things quickly and easily. However some staff may need one. It depends on the application.

7.) When will you need the system installed?

8.) Do you have remote workers or telecommuters that you want to provide service for?

9.) How fast is your business growing? Where will you be in 1 year? In three years?

10.) Will you need wiring for the system or do you have existing wiring in your building? If you are not sure just ask a dealer to have someone take a look for you. In most cases there will not be a cost involved for this.

That will get you started. If you have some questions of your own that you would like to get answered then please post your questions here or email us at contact@stargateti.com

The questions above will help you determine what is needed and you can used them when you talk with a phone system provider. They typically will help you answer any remain questions you may have.

You can contact us for an in depth review of your phone system hardware and services. We can help you find the right dial tone service for you and the right phone system hardware and take the stress and strain our of figuring out how to make it all happen. We provide a helping hand to navigate your way from needing to make changes in your telecom solution to having it completed without disruption to your business.

If you have questions on VoIP, T-1′s, Phone System Brands, How to Get it All Done, Headsets, Cordless Solutions For The Office, Voice and Data Cabling, Cell Phones or any number of other matters, just let us know. We can help you figure out how to proceed.

We can provide used phone systems at very competitive pricing and we offer new phone systems for small to medium sized businesses. We offer the Avaya IP Office telephone systems for networked phone systems and advance applications. We also provide the Avaya Partner ACS System for small businesses.

We also offer the NEC DSX phone system which is a great fit for most small to medium sized business. Rock solid and state of the art this system is very powerful and expandable at a compact price. It fits most businesses and can provide analog or VoIP options and can do virtually anything you may need. We can do an on site demo of this system so you can see it in action and ask any questions you may have.

Call Stargate Technologies at 800-553-7021 or email us at contact@stargateti.com