Even though it seems just about everyone and their mother has a cell phone in this day and age, the office phone still plays a pivotal role for many small businesses in allowing them to conduct daily business.

You see, without that phone to call clients, take incoming calls regarding products and/or services and more, many companies would have a hard time operating on a regular schedule.

With that being said, is your company’s business phone service in fact serving you to its fullest capability or are you feeling disconnected at times?

In the event your company’s phone system is not up to par, there are options for you in order to ring up better service.

Among the factors to consider are:

• Determine your needs – The most important facet is oftentimes the most obvious. Before you embark on the idea of possibly changing your company’s phone system, sit down and do a review of the present one. What does the present one offer you, what are you lacking, what are your employees saying about it, what are customers telling you, and how much are you paying for it? These are all areas to tackle before you consider another phone system for the business;
• Single or multiple lines – Depending on how big your business is, you need to examine and/or re-examine the setup, determining whether your employees require a single phone number that rings simultaneously on a number of devices or not;
• Add an option here and there – Company heads also need to determine if they want their employees having the ability to access such features as intercom abilities, videoconferencing and paging to name a few. Do you want your employees to have the option to integrate a customer relationship management (CRM) system along the way? If the answer to any of those options is yes, expect to pay more or look for a service that bundles a number of options together for businesses.

In breaking down the options a little more, here are some features you may want to consider as you look to phone accessories:

• Auto attendant – Essentially removes the receptionist by giving callers a list of options to route their call (“Press 2 to speak with somebody in marketing”). It also gives callers option to dial directly to their party’s extension;
• Conferencing Features – Permits a pair or more of extensions to join together to take part in a conversation. Typically, the default is two. For those businesses that require more than two, find out what the maximum number of participants allowed is;
• Voice Mail – Rather self-explanatory in it allows messages to be left for employees that are unavailable or on another line;
• Call Hold – This allows for the ability to put a call on hold while the user tends to other matters;
• Music on Hold- With this feature, your callers have something to listen to while they are holding. It can be music or a pre-recorded message advertising your business.

Whatever your company’s business phone system needs, be sure you are dialed into what best serves your office as far as reliability and price.

Photo credit: businessphonesystemsuk.co.uk

Dave Thomas and the writers at Business.com author a variety of helpful hints for small businesses.