When you re in a business there is a need to communicate. The need for communication becomes more important and more expensive as your business expands. You think long and hard about this, and you ve considered many different possibilities. You might have even considered using a cup and a string. Maybe you took it beyond the consideration point and actually implemented that strategy only to realise there wasn t enough string. Whatever your process was, you ve arrived at the conclusion that you need a brand new phone system in your office.
The next question of course, is what type of telephone system should you use? You know it s going to be expensive, and therefore it is an investment. What type of investment do you want to make? You know it s going to have to last for a very long time, and there are two major contenders in the world of office phones. These are Avaya and Cisco. How do you choose between them? It might be hard to decide, but luckily we have a list of pros and cons compiled for you.
The Advantages of Avaya
High quality phones
Conference joining is simple
System can use 4 PRI s (Primary Rate Interface) to save more money than with POTS.
Reasonably inexpensive
Disadvantages
The system does not use Video Conferencing. If this is something that you were counting on then you should probably consider some of the alternatives.
There is a limit on the phone extensions that you can have. It s not a problem if you re dealing with a small office, but for larger buildings, two to three hundred lines aren t going to be enough. You could run two servers, but this isn t exactly the most efficient solution out there.
The Advantages of Cisco
Unlike Avaya, the number of phones that you can have in your office is pretty much infinite.
The system does feature video conferencing, which is something that the former system did not.
The phones are extremely well designed, both in terms of features and aesthetics
Disadvantages
The servers are slightly outdated, running Windows 2000. Whether or not you like that is a call you will need to make on your own.
Phones must boot, meaning it could be a very long time before they re actually available for personnel to use.
Voicemail actually requires more than one server. Most likely you already know that servers take up space, so make sure you can afford both the space and the servers.
The phone system that you ultimately choose is entirely up to you of course. What you will need to do is take your needs and the needs of your company into account, whilst factoring other major obstructions, notably budget. Some of the things that you will need to consider obviously are the size of your company, the amount of space you have, and of course, your budget. Think about these things and debate them with the other members in your company or corporation.
Keep in mind that this is a huge investment, one that you are not likely to soon forget, but may well regret if you choose the wrong system. Make sure you get the right one!
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