What to ask when buying a new business phone system

As your business grows and develops, your business phone system will need to grow and develop alongside it. Sometimes this means that your phone system will need to be upgraded and sometimes it is better to buy a new business phone system altogether in order to best suit your current and future requirements. While buying a new business phone system is fairly simple, it’s important to ask the right questions. Which is why we have compiled the questions you should ask when buying a new business phone system.
Support
While the support offered by your business phone system provider may not seem like a priority when looking to purchase a new phone system, it’s only when you consider the effects of a service outage that you realise just how important the support offered to you really is. We recommend asking the following questions in relation to the support offered;
- Do you offer a dedicated account manager?
- Is the customer support UK based?
- Do you offer 24/7 support?
- Are a number of support options available including phone, email and online chat?
- How do I cancel my service should I wish to?
- What options are available for training of the new phone system?
- Do you guarantee quality of service? If so, how?
Cost
Cost is always an important factor when it comes to investing in a new business phone system. The cost ultimately depends upon a number of factors including the number of handsets and the features required. Of course, requiring a number of quotes from a number of providers is recommended. We suggest asking the following questions in regards to the cost of your new business telephone system;
- What is the lifetime cost of renting each phone?
- Is there a fee to port my number away?
- Do we have to rent the phones for longer than the service contract?
- Are there any hidden charges?
- What are the call costs?
- Do we have to pay more to add additional users?
- Is there a charge for changing auto attendant and professional voicemail messages?
Features
The functionality required of your business phone system will depend upon your business’ needs. However, it is good to keep in mind that your needs are likely to change in the future so we suggest investing in a business phone system with a large number of features in order to future proof your business communications. Consider asking the following questions in relation to the features and functionality of your new business phone system;
- How many concurrent calls can be made from our office?
- Can we connect our computers to our phones to see who is available?
- Will additional cabling be required to connect our new phone system?
- Can our intercom system be connected to our new telephone system?
- What type of phone line is required?
- Does call recording come as standard as part of this phone system?
- Can we add or remove users during the service contract?
- What disaster recovery plan will be put in place?
- How will this business phone system be connected to our remote workers?
- Can diverts be put in place between the phone system and our business mobiles?
- Does the business phone system offer conferencing capabilities?
- How does the company guarantee quality of service?
Want to find out how our telephony solutions can help you increase your productivity and reduce your costs, or just some friendly, impartial advice on the best tools to make comms a breeze? Contact us today via our live chat, 0333 3603 723, or email enquiries.uk@enconvo.co.uk.