Phone systems for small companies

[Russ Smith]

Any suggestions on where to look and what to look for, probably VOIP
but not necessarily, company is about 25 now but should be growing
to 40-50 in the next 12-18 months so system has to expand.

They prefer used so I'm really looking for a source that resells, someone that buys excess from companies that are laying off probably.

 

[DeAnna]

I'm sure you can find something in your local Craigs List

 

[ASUCHRIS]

See my PM.

 

[jf-08]

Altigen has a pretty customizable product.

 

[conraddobler]

I've always used NEC phones, great systems.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEC-Electra-Eli...732?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item4aa6faabc4

There's one with the number of phones you'll need, used is way cheaper.

Most techs can install these on their off hours VERY reasonably.

Problem with used, no support, depends on how complicated the system is but setup isn't that hard.

 

[Russ Smith]

I've always used NEC phones, great systems.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEC-Electra-Eli...732?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item4aa6faabc4

There's one with the number of phones you'll need, used is way cheaper.

Most techs can install these on their off hours VERY reasonably.

Problem with used, no support, depends on how complicated the system is but setup isn't that hard.

the scary thing is that system is NOT cheap here. We paid about $900 for the phone system and $1300 for the pbx, voicemail and hold music player combined in 07. Which is of course why we've outgrown it already.

We have 3 incoming CO lines so if 4 people want to make a call, one of them is out of luck. I was told today the industry standard is one line per 4-6 employees so we should have about 8(which is the maximum our current system can handle).

So we have really low phone bills and to be honest I've yet to not be able to make a call, but obviously if we are at 40 in 18 months that's close to doubling and we'll need to add more incoming lines too.

I've got several leads but i'm far from an expert on phone systems I get the impression it will be a good learning experience for me.

thanks for the feedback from everyone(ASUchris I did reply to your PM).

 

[conraddobler]

the scary thing is that system is NOT cheap here. We paid about $900 for the phone system and $1300 for the pbx, voicemail and hold music player combined in 07. Which is of course why we've outgrown it already.

We have 3 incoming CO lines so if 4 people want to make a call, one of them is out of luck. I was told today the industry standard is one line per 4-6 employees so we should have about 8(which is the maximum our current system can handle).

So we have really low phone bills and to be honest I've yet to not be able to make a call, but obviously if we are at 40 in 18 months that's close to doubling and we'll need to add more incoming lines too.

I've got several leads but i'm far from an expert on phone systems I get the impression it will be a good learning experience for me.

thanks for the feedback from everyone(ASUchris I did reply to your PM).

A phone system that will truly handle 40 people isn't going to cost like $500.



It's all about phones and chairs, chairs cost a fortune.

In my next business life I'm going to either build or sell chairs, ridiculous costs on those.

We have 4 lines for every 5 employees as our standard, when you find a staff that will work hard enough to always keep someone off the phone let me know...

 

[Russ Smith]

A phone system that will truly handle 40 people isn't going to cost like $500.



It's all about phones and chairs, chairs cost a fortune.

In my next business life I'm going to either build or sell chairs, ridiculous costs on those.

We have 4 lines for every 5 employees as our standard, when you find a staff that will work hard enough to always keep someone off the phone let me know...

This is an unusual place more than half the company I believe is a physicist and they're always in the lab playing with lasers so phone usage is very low.

but I agree, when I found out how few lines I had I asked the question does that mean only 3 people can be on an outside call at once, yes, yeesh.

When phone vendors talk to me they think I must be wrong when I say 3 CO lines and 26 employees(soon to be 27 a guy starts in 2-3 weeks).