Advice
The central cabinet
The central cabinet controls and oversees the entire phone system. This price differs between systems and rises as cards and accessories are added. A small central cabinet can cost as little as $3,000, with the price increasing considerably for larger systems.
The actual phones
Most systems can be equipped with several different types of phones. The least expensive sets may cost less than $100, but can make accessing features very difficult.
On the other end, some "executive phones" sell for many times the standard price. These phones can make using the system slightly easier, but are more often just a significant source of profit for the dealer.
Wiring and installation
It can be very inexpensive to install wires in an unfinished building. However, installing wiring through already finished walls can quickly add up.
Everything else
This includes training, programming, service, and future modifications. Pricing is usually based on the time these tasks will require and can often be the most flexible portion of a bid. Sometimes, it is best to compare the hours that will be spent completing training/programming/service tasks with the price tag for the service.
IP Telephony
The emergence of computer telephony - aka Voice over IP (VoIP) - has thrown another option into the mix. VoIP allows for businesses to place and receive calls using the Internet.
What are the big selling points? The savings in long distance charges, the ease with which you can add new applications and extensions, and the easier management and monitoring of the system.
The idea revolves around the concept of melding voice, data, and video into a single technology. Since calls utilize unused bandwidth on the data network, voice essentially "rides for free" on the existing network, which sounds like a huge plus if you and your staff make many long distance calls.
But you also have issues such as if the computer goes down, then what happens to your phones? And even if everything is smooth sailing, the downsides are still apparent in practical use. You may get annoyed with the delay between when a word is spoken and when it is heard - meaning a call from Boston to San Francisco could sound more like an overseas call to Australia, which is far from ideal for a business environment. And just the sound quality in general sometimes leaves much to be desired.
While there are definite advantages to IP Telephony in an ideal world, the fact is there are kinks that still need to be worked out.
Telephone System Buyer’s Guide
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