Upgrading Your Existing
Phone System

Upgrade or replace an older phone system? We can help you sort through the questions to ask and the best methods for you to use to evaluate your options. Not the least of which is the cost!

	Moving or adding phone lines
	Adding extensions
	Adding features to handsets (telephone endpoints)

Office telephone systems can be equipped with literally hundreds of features for switching calls and directing traffic. Based on past experience, though we estimate, however, that most companies never use 90 percent of their telephone features. Instead of comparing features on a one-to-one basis, you should examine how your phone system is used. Limit your feature search and evaluation to only those options that will improve the workflow in your office.

Some of the most popular features that are standard in many systems include:

An auto-attendant is the recorded message that answers your phones and instructs callers how to reach the person or department they are looking for. If you have a high volume of calls, this may be important - or you may value having a real person answer every call.

Conferencing features vary widely. Consider how often your staff needs to make conference calls, and how many different people need to call in. If the conferencing features you need aren't readily available, there are other options for conducting teleconferences that you can purchase separately.

Music-on-hold is fairly self-explanatory - in most systems you simply plug in a source of music.

You can help callers find the people they need with dial by name, dial by extension, or dial from directory services.

Phone sets (or endpoints as we refer to them now) themselves have more standard features, as well. Display phones have a small screen that shows information such as the name and extension of an internal caller, the duration of call, and in some cases, caller ID. Speaker phones are familiar fixtures in many conference rooms, but are also now standard on most new hand sets. Speaker phones can be half-duplex, which means that only one person on the call can be heard at a time, or full-duplex, which lets both parties talk simultaneously, like a regular phone. Some phones also have a 'listen only' mode for speaker phone, which is useful for monitoring a conference call or while on hold.

With more feature-rich phone systems, voicemail is sometimes included as part of the system. However it is a fairly expensive option if it is not included. If you already have a voicemail system, talk to your vendor about its compatibility with the system you are considering.

Although having the right features is important, even more critical is making sure they are easy to access. Because most employees devote very little time to learning how to use a phone system, you should make sure that using the most common functions is extremely simple and intuitive.

Davissa would be happy to help you select the most effective combination of technology, platforms and tools based on your specific requirements.

Email us or call today 216-464-6633 to set up a time to chat.

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