Business Phone Systems

The use of phones and the idea of instant communication is often taken for granted in our culture. We expect to be able to pick up the phone and it simply work. Phone systems for small or large businesses are no different. As with many important and necessary investments for your company, being educated in order to make the correct selection is paramount. Business phone systems are a confusing world of acronyms and claims of the "latest and greatest" technology.

This is where Taylored Systems becomes your trusted advisor. Using our attention to detail, history of triumphs and mistakes, and decades of creativity experience, we help you find the correct communications platform for your business, regardless of the size and complexity of your needs. After all, we've been providing business phone systems for over 40 years. Longer than some of our employees have been alive.

IP phone systems for businesses support high quality VoIP and Unified Communications services for small, medium, and enterprise companies. IP phone systems are designed and built from the ground up as SIP platforms to provide a complete IP telephony and Unified Communications solution. Using SIP gives the user the freedom to tailor the small business phone system solution that's best for them.

Business IP phone systems combine the functions of an Internet gateway with classic phone system functionality. They provide powerful applications such as desktop client integration (unified desktop), presence, instant and unified messaging, fax server, call recording, Find-Me/ Follow-Me, advanced call handling, screen pops, and detailed call logs. Phone systems for small businesses can integrate with Microsoft Exchange and also support contact center, ACD, IVR, video calls, text-to-speech announcements, call recording, and Voice Mail. Do you need to be able to roam an entire building or campus while still retaining the ability to use your business phone system? Use your existing WiFi infrastructure to support wireless IP phones. Contact Taylored Systems today to find out how.

Energy Efficiency is becoming more and more important in our world. Because VoIP phone systems are highly energy and resource efficient, you can help keep your company green. These systems provide a complete solution for less energy than it takes to turn on a household light bulb.

If your business is only going to rely on a basic phone system with standard voicemail, you are probably missing out on countless opportunities for better customer service and greater efficiency by adopting a more comprehensive approach.

This starts with getting the right types of hardware and software. Even something such as having the right type of office phone can have an incremental impact on your productivity. The business phone that your employees use should have the correct number of lines and the capabilities they need. These phones also need to be properly set up so that your on-premise and remotely located personnel can stay on the same page. Modern business phones are full of all kinds of digital features, but your employees will struggle to get the most out of those features if they aren't set up correctly.

With the recent shift towards remote work, employees expect the ability to connect on the device of their choice. Using unified collaboration tools that enable connection from anywhere through many modern business phone systems.

Even if your workers are entirely on-premise, management should be able to access and use your phone system remotely. This allows your managers to make key decisions while they are off-site. Modern phone systems can offer mobile apps and other features that support remote calling. Having a mobility component to your communication system means your people can quickly respond to messages with a phone call.

So, what does a reliable business phone system look like? At its most basic, it should incorporate smartphones, voice services, and support infrastructure. Typically, a reliable system includes these essential features:

• Resiliency. Phone and infrastructure should be able to withstand a heavy workload, whether that means a high data load or physical durability.
• Redundancy. System components will fail from time to time, and a reliable voice system will account for these eventualities by having various backups in place.
• Rapid recovery capability. No business phone system is impervious to everything, and it’s possible that the one your company uses will break down. When this happens, getting the system back up and running as soon as possible is important. Some things can't be avoided, but they can and should be remedied as quickly as possible.

Building a reliable phone network requires expertise. Our technicians at Taylored Systems know how to put together a dependable system that allows your company to be as productive as possible.

This starts with ensuring your system is properly balanced, minimizing costs while optimizing benefits. For example, our technicians can work with you to determine how much bandwidth you need for your voice solution. You should be ready for surges in data, but you also need to be careful not to pay for bandwidth you don't need.

We can also support a reliable cloud-based or VoIP system through network monitoring. Our monitoring services provide greater visibility into the nuts and bolts of your communication network while allowing your employees to remain focused on revenue-generating activities. Our monitoring services also help anticipate minor problems before they become disasters.

Maintaining reliability requires regular maintenance and updates. The devices and platforms your employees use can become outdated after just a couple of years. Regular updates help you get more value from your existing phone system and ensure your system remains protected against cyber threats.

Taylored Systems can also position your system for growth. Companies typically experience two different kinds of growth. One type of growth is in response to greater customer demand. The other type is related to the need for additional or more modern digital capabilities within the existing operation. To handle either type of growth, our technicians incorporate scalability into every business phone solution that we provide.

IP phone systems for small businesses are servers, and like any server, they have the ability to be virtualized. Utilize your existing virtual environment by creating a phone server virtual instance. Retain all of the same features as the boxed server that the manufacturer supplies without the additional equipment to manage.

We as a culture are impatient. Immediacy of business is demanding and no one can afford to be out of touch. With IP mobility solutions you're no longer tied to your desk for business conversations. IP allows a call to follow you anywhere within reach of an IP, cellular, or wireless LAN connection. Even if the "office" is at home today, a conference center tomorrow, and a coffee house the next day, clients and coworkers can interact with you just as if you were in the office through your small business phone system.

Mobility is the use of apps which allow you to use your Apple iOS or Android smartphone, tablet, voice-equipped laptop or notebook computer as your small business phone system extension. This is ideal for single number access - all you have to do is give out your office number and let the system do the work.

Technology changes, and fast. Cell phones have taught us that the next best thing is always on the verge of release. Consequently, we're often hesitant to invest in a technology upgrade. IP phone systems for businesses seamlessly scale up to meet a company's growing communication needs. You can expand your small business phone system by simply upgrading licenses. Fearful that something better will come out in the next software release? Taylored Systems supplies software subscription with every IP system. This means every manufacturer software and firmware release keeps your system up to date.

Hosted, or off-premise phone systems, are the newest addition to the business phone system family. Like everything in technology, phone systems utilize the flexibility of the cloud. In the simplest form, a hosted solution is a fully managed off-premise phone system, usually in a data center. The idea is that your business phone system is no longer in-house, providing a level of disaster recovery, but instead is connected to your office(s) via the internet, while continuing to remain feature rich.

Hosted systems come in multiple options from barebones to fully featured unified communications solutions. However, selecting the correct hosted solution can be a confusing process.

Contact Taylored Systems today to learn more about how we can help you make the right choice for your small business phone system.

Some hosted providers offer a "Bring Your Own Bandwidth" solution. This means the hosted provider will simply point your business phone system to connect with your office's and remote location's IP address using the public internet to transport the voice traffic. With the public internet, we lose the ability to provide Quality of Service (QoS).

QoS is what allows the data network to know that voice traffic is to travel between Location A and Location B as it was sent. Voice is real-time. Any interruption in the voice traffic can result in pack loss, jitter, and poor call quality. Some providers offer QoS Hosted solutions. Allow Taylored Systems to educate you on the options and the pros and cons of each before making a decision on which hosted platform is right for your small business phone system.

If you are looking for a phone system that can be fully integrated with other digital systems, your company would greatly benefit from a modern cloud-based business phone solution. While this approach allows your team to collaborate from anywhere, it also allows you to integrate communications with existing business software platforms. Properly configured, a cloud-based business phone solution lets you consolidate workflows and eliminate unnecessary steps in key processes.

This starts with integrating your phone system into your CRM. Your communications staff can easily query and find the information they need, saving them a lot of time and effort that would otherwise have been wasted. Conversely, having phone data in your CRM enables the use of this information for business decisions. The business software you're already using suddenly becomes more productive and efficient.

Integrating these systems can also unlock new functions and expanded features, allowing you to get more return on the tools in which you've already invested.

A fully integrated phone system is particularly useful for large companies with multiple departments or offices. With a cloud-based system, companies can easily set up a remote office system that links together various locations. This approach can still be integrated with CRM and other business software platforms.

Many businesses don't have a need for the features of an enterprise-class phone solution, but do require the need for a professional small business phone system. Not everyone is a fit for an IP or hosted phone service and Taylored Systems understands this, which is why we still stand by our digital phone systems as viable options. In today's world of VoIP, some clients like the ability to upgrade their phone system and take advantage of advanced features on an a la carte basis. Digital phone systems can do just that.

Again, our Taylored Systems telephony experts are here to help you make the determination on which business phone system option is best suited for your business plan and your goals. Do you need new features like mobility and unified messaging but don't want to invest in replacing your old phone wiring? Is your data network not where it should be and you're looking to ease into an IP solution? Do you need to slowly budget for features and functions? Or do you simply need a phone you can pick up that works and offers voicemail? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions then digital may be your solution. Contact us today so we can discuss your small business phone system needs.

A communications system is more than just a tool to connect with colleagues, customers and vendors. Your business phone system projects an image. It sends a strong message about the efficiency, productivity and professionalism of your business. Using either on-premise IP, TDM/Hybrid, or a hosted system, every location, branch office, home office, from one user to thousands, can present an enterprise-class face to the world. Contact us today so we can discuss your small business phone system needs.