Communications in Norfolk, Communications in Suffolk, Business Telephone Systems in Norfolk

New Phone System Checklist


Considering replacing your office telephone system?

Here are a few considerations that we hope will ease the way. If you arm yourself with answers to the following questions, you should find it much easier to choose a system that suits your needs.

First, take a look around, do a quick survey of your existing phone system:
  • How many phones do you need?
  • How many staff will you need 1-3 years from now?
  • How many people are likely to be on the phone at once?
  • Can you identify how your existing system lets you down?
The answers to these questions should give you an idea of how many extensions (internal phone lines) and trunks (external phone lines) you need, along with some idea of missing features.

Now, consider your external calls, and do another quick survey:

  • Do you have more than one office? If so, how many calls are inter-office?
  • Do you make international calls? How many?
The answers will give an idea of how to best route your external calls. In other words, what sort of trunks do you need? You may be able to save money by choosing to route some calls over an IP network such as the Internet, or over the traditional PSTN network.

It will also be useful to get an idea of the existing IT systems – you may be able to leverage your IT infrastructure to save money and add functionality to your phone system. Try to get an idea of the following information:

  • What type of cabling is installed for the network?
  • Does the cabling run to every desk?
  • Do the network switches support Power Over Ethernet?
The IT infrastructure will give you an idea of whether your network is suitable for IP telephone extensions, which could save cabling expenditure and simplify installation.

Spend some time working out which telephony features will really be of benefit to you. In doing this, think about how people in your organisation work.

  • Do some staff members need to move around a lot within the site?
  • Are people away from their desks a lot?
  • Do you have home workers, or field based staff?
  • Do you use computer applications to store contact information?
  • Do you have groups of people to deal with incoming calls?
  • Do any users have "special” requirements, such as receptionists, call centre supervisors, or staff working in harsh environments?
These questions will give you information about the capabilities of the applications and terminals you will need on a suitable system, including CTI applications, voicemail systems and programmable key modules. Your choice of PBX Platform should be made with these criteria in mind from the start, rather than treating them as bolt-ons′, in order to get the best integration and ease of use.

Finally, don′t forget to take into account your installation and maintenance requirements.

The above should get you off to a strong start with putting together a fundamental "requirements list” that will put you in good stead when you begin looking at potential solutions.