Small Business Phone Systems With Best ROI

By Ryan Ayers
Updated: July 18, 2011

Finding the right business telephone system for your small business can mean the difference between efficiently fielding your customers’ calls and converting new prospects or losing sales and contracts that you have worked toward. Perhaps more so than their larger counterparts, small businesses rely on an effective and well structured business telephone and data solution to give them the edge they need to remain competitive. It is critical for most small businesses to have the right business phone system in place, but choosing the best system to fit your needs, and getting the most out of your investment can be a challenge.

Small Business Specialists

Finding the right balance between the features that your business needs and a price that fits into your budget should be the goal when you are searching for a new phone system for your small business. Although there are service providers and manufacturers that offer all manner of phone systems and hardware, it is often the best policy for small businesses to search out those vendors that specialize in small business technologies.

Many of these vendors have a greater understanding of the needs that are unique to small businesses and have services and features in place that are geared toward helping you make the best use of your assets while overcoming your specific challenges. Comparing services specifically designed for small business use will often yield a much greater ROI when you finally implement a new business telephone system.

Flexibility is Key

Most small business oriented service and hardware providers understand that small businesses need to be fluid. Being more agile than their larger competitors can be an asset to a small business, but the ability to remain flexible and adapt as necessary is a key component in this arena.

Features to Look For:

• Customization
• Changeability (Addition of users, equipment, etc.)
• Flexibility with pricing/usage

Hardware Included

Many vendors specializing in small business telephone systems include hardware ranging from offsite servers and IP PBX’s to onsite equipment such as handsets in their service packages. This allows a smaller business to maintain a phone system that rivals larger companies without having to suffer the initial capital investment or the ongoing maintenance costs.

Hardware Features for Small Business:

• Minimal on site hardware
• Ability to upgrade hardware when necessary
• On site hardware as a part of service packages

Support and Training

Another key component for any small business to keep in mind when comparing business phone systems is the training and ongoing support services that are offered as a part of many packages. In keeping with the theme of flexibility and adaptability, many small business-specialized vendors supply training and intensive support functions as a part of helping you get the most out of your business phone solution.

A Helping Hand for Your Business:

• Initial and ongoing training
• Technical and feature support
• Resource libraries

To get the greatest return on your investment when purchasing a small business telephone system, it is a sound policy to be certain that you understand your goals and challenges so that you can find the right system or service to meet these head on. Finding vendors that specialize in small business solutions will help you generate a better ROI and help ensure that your new phone system meets your expectations.