Where do I start ?


The starting point for fulfilling your company's telephony needs is choosing the right phone system.
And now is a good time, as there's never been a wider choice of systems and advanced features available to businesses. Phone systems - also known as switches or PBXs - now offer a far wider range of useful features at a lower cost than ever before.

And with a little knowledge, it's easy to make the right choices for your business.

Where to buy?

The majority of phone system purchases in the UK are made from specialist telecoms dealers. The dealer should take the time to work with you to ensure you get the functions to match your needs, all in plain English. So make sure you're happy with the dealer you use, and that they are authorised by the manufacturer they are recommending. Customer testimonials, personal recommendations, or even contacting the manufacturer direct, are good methods of tracking down a good dealer.

Digital or Analogue?

The vast majority of telephone systems available today are digital systems - in effect, they're computers for routing calls that are designed to work with digital phone lines (see page 8 on ISDN). Digital systems offer more features, more cost-effectively. Analogue systems are still available, but do less and have less ability to grow and adapt to your needs. If you have very limited telephony requirements, an analogue system may be the right choice but for most businesses digital systems offer far more flexibility and features.

What type of System?

Until a few years ago, telephone systems came in two main types: key systems, used by smaller businesses; and PBXs (private branch exchanges) used by larger companies. A PBX has an operator routing calls to ordinary desktop phones using a specialised operator console. A keysystem uses more sophisticated handsets, called featurephones or keyphones, on each desk, which give individual users more control over calls.