Small Business Phone Systems
What You Need To Know

By the way, see my other great articles on phone systems that include a deeper dive into Virtual phone system (for highly mobile employees) and Using A Hosted Phone System To Save Money.

There are also turn-key provider based VoIP phone service whereby you can keep your old "non-VoIP" small business phone system called integrated services. These are business VoIP phone and Internet packages that save money too.

Premised Based Business Phone System PBX

• Premise based small business phone systems – here we have phone systems such as PBX or a Key System (a small phone system), basically a box (computer really, I mean all this stuff is merging together, it's hard to tell what's what anymore) that we're going to install at our business location.
• This option is for VoIP phone service decision makers that desire to own their small business phone systems equipment, want to be able to see it and touch it (and have it get hit by lighting, or stolen or burned up in a fire … also we have to pay for maintenance contracts and a bunch of other stuff that can be avoided in some other flavors of VoIP – read on).

  • So this business phone system PBX will be "IP enabled" or "IP ready" one of the advantages of an IP PBX is if we want SIP trunks, with Direct Inward Dial numbers. DID is a big advantage that allows callers calling INTO your business to call people or departments DIRECTLY without having to go through an attendant.

    For more info on SIP AKA Internet Phone Lines - click here.

  • We can generally do DID with an IP ready business phone system PBX without having to buy some of the T1 card stuff we'd have to with a "non-IP PBX". Saves a little money and at the same time, lets us leverage VoIP phone service if it makes sense for us.

By the way, some business service providers will actually give you UP-FRONT money to buy a new phone system if you sign up with their service, this is for larger companies, so if you're spending at least $1,000 monthly or so on your services and need a new phone system, click here to contact E-Dude and I'll point you in the right direction.

Maybe you have a view or experience as either an end user or service provider you'd like to share? If so, click here to jump to the form that will let us know

Want a to buy a good premise based phone system? I've personally worked with a lot of these folks from all over the country. Click below and follow the bouncing ball...

Hosted Small Business
PBX Phone Systems

• Hosted PBX – Well I have a couple of articles on Small Business Phone Systems of this type, see Virtual Office Phone System and Hosted VoIP, but if you must know right now, then here it is <;-)

  • Hosted PBX (not to be confused with a virtual office phone system AKA Virtual PBX) is a set of features and phone lines if you will that are "in the cloud" meaning INSIDE the network (Internet)
  • We don't have a box on premise, just IP handsets and maybe a "magic black box" that sits in front of our router on our Internet pipe to do traffic shaping and make sure the Voice over IP packets get priority to and from the internet so we sound good.
  • So the service, your dial tone, all features and voice mail, etc are delivered through your internet connection.
    

    Great stuff if you'd like to avoid having to pay up front for equipment ("The new Normal - let's turn Cap-X into Op-X, shall we?), avoid having to maintain it, and assure your small business phone systems basically never become obsolete.
    Super TCO and ROI, so check out the links above or below to read more for this kind of business phone system PBX.
    If you want a customized proposal for this type of thing, check out my contact E-Dude page, I've helped many firms choose the best hosted VoIP providers

So how about hosted VoIP? Maybe you have a view or experience as either an end user or service provider you'd like to share? If so, click here and let me know!

A couple of good "one size fits all" hosted deals are below (I've kicked the tires and driven them around the block) , but get a hold of me if you have a more complex need.

Alternately you can use this "VoIP best rates" finder to find the best plans for your personal or SOHO business needs. Click here to jump to the rate finder.

Example of A Hosted PBX Deployment

Makes It Seem Simple, Huh?

Now, I really have simplified it here – gee, small business phone systems at your location, or out on the internet (virtual PBX). But unless you're a really small business, and only going to have a couple of phones, this is basically the extent of it.

Are you a Small Business less than 4 lines? Visit my SOHO corner for lots of great ideas. My personal picks for a few lines and IP phones are here

Let me say here that if you're not going to be using VoIP right now, then you'll be buying wire line service from a "phone company" whereas if you ARE going to be using VoIP, then you'll need a good internet connection and want to avoid VoIP problems, click here to understand the issues. .

To test an existing internet connection to see if it will support VoIP, check out my Broadband Connection Test page here.

If you're doing a premise based phone system, you'll also be using SIP trunking to bring the calls into your business phone system PBX. Imagine SIP trunks as virtual phone lines coming across your internet pipe and connecting your business to the rest of the world. Providers of SIP trunking many times also sell the internet service, it is generally wise to buy it this way, as you only have "one throat to choke" if it's not working.

Read my article on SIP Trunking and then comparison shop for SIP below.

Well, that's basically it for the types of small business phone systems, although I'm sure many would argue otherwise, especially the folks who make this stuff, as they sometimes seem to complicate it as well.

E-Dude's Short List Of "Gotta Haves"
When choosing Phone Systems For Business

Main thing when buying small business phone systems is to remember that you want it IP Ready, even if you're not going to use VoIP phone service right now. You also would prefer most likely to stay away from the need for proprietary handsets and so forth if you are buying hardware. This means the questions to ask in this area are:

• Is this an IP ready PBX?
• Can I work remotely, either by taking my IP phone home with me, or some other feature such as a VoIP softphone on my PC that allows me to make & receive calls as if I am at the office?
• Will the handsets work with any hardware, or only your system? We're looking for standard IP handsets here.
• Does it have an auto attendant so a live person doesn’t have to answer all calls?
• Can I use this PBX to connect my smaller branch locations together without (much) additional hardware at other locations? (in other words with an internet connection and IP phones only)
• Can I do Direct Inward Dial (DID) with this equipment, or do I have to buy a bunch of additional "cards" and so forth?
• Can the system converge video and instant messaging, as well as giving me the ability to see who is and isn't available on the phone or a PC from each station / handset? (Unified Communications) This won't be available on many smaller, less expensive options, but may be important if you have a virtual / distributed workforce.
• Can I get my voicemail as an e-mail? Does it even have Voicemail as part of the basic system?
• Do I have a voice mailbox for each person in the organization?
• Is the system easily programmable? Can I program the auto attendant, call flow and voice mail, etc. myself from a web browser?

If the answers to these questions are "it can do that, but you need this – and it costs extra" then take a look at some of the Alworx, Avaya or click here to learn more about TalkSwitch Small Business Phone Systems. Also hosted VoIP offerings as well as some of the small business phone systems shown available from VAR Network click here.

You can also go to the contact E-Dude page to get more help as well.

Maybe you have a view or experience as either an end user or service provider you'd like to share? If so, click here to jump to the form that will let us know.

Other VoIP Phone System Articles

Thanks for visiting my small business phone systems page, hopefully it's been helpful.

So here we have a few articles on sub categories if you will of small business phone systems that will be of interest to you depending on your budget and business model. Because it's all pretty straight forward, I won't bore you with the details if you don't think you need it. Simply click on the link below to go to that page.

Small Business PBX Phone Systems - Click here - kind of a continuation of this article, gets into specifics about hosted and premise based business VoIP phone service options.

VoIP Business Phones good overview on what to look for in an IP handset.

Virtual Office Phone System, what it is, when to use one.

Using a Hosted Phone System To Save Money

Three Main Reasons To Use A Virtual Office Phone System
Do you know the differences a Virtual Office Phone System has over hosted PBX or premise based systems? Learn when and how to leverage this great option.

Small Business PBX Phone Systems - A Basic Review

Industry Insider Shows You Best Deals On VoIP Phone Service
VoIP Phone Service, What You Need For Maximum Dollar Savings

Using A Hosted Phone System To Save Money
A hosted phone system can mean less upfront costs and serious business savings.

Four Key Phone and Internet Package Features To Save Money

What Do You Know About Small Business Phone Systems or service providers?

Do you have first hand knowledge about Small Business Phone Systems or service using any of the technologies mentioned above?

Maybe you're an end-user or an equipment vendor? Tell us a little about your experience or views.