5 Important Words to Know When Shopping for a Business Phone System

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If your company has employees on-site (or off-site), you need a functional, efficient, and feature-rich business phone system to facilitate productive internal and external communication. Business owners shopping for a new phone system are often overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available these days. Whether you are thinking of purchasing a premise-based phone system, a VoIP system, or a used telelphone system, it can help to know some of the key industry lingo. Here are five important terms.

  1. IVR—Interactive Voice Response. IVR systems allow callers to interact vocally with phone tree menus and even speak to a computerized voice to get the information they need. IVR is particularly helpful for businesses in the medical and legal industries where many customers have similar, predictable needs.
  2. Attenuation—a reduction in signal strength over longer distances. Whatever system you choose, it’s important to take sound quality into account and ensure that all callers in your service area are able to call you with a strong signal.
  3. POTS—Plain Old Telephone Service. This refers to traditional premise-based telephony like the kind that supports most home landlines. POTS is ideal for small companies with local reach that don’t need feature-rich or super-speedy systems.
  4. Soft Phone—phone systems that allow users to take calls over the computer using their company phone number or extension. This option affords users greater flexibility, especially for those that work remotely.
  5. VoIP—Voice Over Internet Protocol. VoIP based phone systems facilitate telephone connections over the internet via a digital signal. Many include features like soft-phone capability and integrated video conferencing for the feature-seekers among among us.

Are you in the market for a business phone system? Call BCS today at (757) 497-3100 or contact us online to discuss the unique communication needs of your business and find the phone system that will best meet those needs.