atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems Other Telephones & Systems Looking for a 1st phone system for my parent's small biz

I work in an office with an Inter-Tel Axess system that was put in before I got here... it's great and i've had fun learning all about it as that's part of my job.

My parent's have a small business - retail and service. A few years ago I set them up with a Siemens Wireless system cuz i didn't want to run wires to all of the desks plus they'd be able to walk around with a phone when needed but still be able to have page / transfering calls.

I'm looking into getting them a "real " system but am wondering what if anything were my options. I'd have to run wire unless there are any wireless systems besides the siemens type available.
I'd like an auto attendent and the ability to have 2 or 3 phone lines. + the Fax.

At max we would need 7 phones. I'd like to be able to have at least 1 cordless if possible.

The budget would be pretty low - 1 or 2k at most which is why i'm not sure if its even possible.

Thanks for any help, if not i'll just stick with the siemens for now.

- Andy

I think you'll be hard pressed to find a real system in that price range. Even if you buy it and install it yourself, seven phones plus a cordless of any level of quality is going to cost at least that much. You really will have to use something wired, despite your reluctance to run cabling. Wireless technology is great for a lot of applications, but really not in your situation.

There are many refurbished wired systems out there of good quality that you may want to consider. All of the big brand names will be able to cover your basic needs and soften the investment blow by being refurbished. Systems such as the Partner are widely-available on the refurbished market.

Panasonic also has a multi-handset wireless system comparable to the Siemens equipment you currently have. All of these systems have their limitations though. Keep in mind that wireless equipment technology changes dramatically on a regular basis and many times, wireless systems might not be supported or even available for expansion later on down the road. There's much less risk with wired systems.

Thanks for the response!

I've sorta come to the realization of that as well... wireless isn't all its cracked up to be. But i'll research the partner system to see where that takes me.

Could you give me a recomendation of a budget system that would have 6 or 7 phones that i could wire my self and maybe 1 or 2 cordless phones for under 5k? Is it possible?

The main reason i want to get a phone system is to be able to have a hunt group for their main number to roll into 1 or 2 additional, as now with 1 line customers get busy signals a lot and that's not good for business.

Thanks again for any advice.

- Andy

I agree with Ed. Even the advertised self installed systems with auto attendent cost more than that with the phones.

Andy:

Line hunting is a telephone company feature you pay for monthly, just like call waiting. In some areas, there is no charge for this, depending upon the phone company you are using for local service.

As for a system, if you look at the top banner of this page for Sundance Communications, the sponsor of this site, they have refurbished systems available. I think something like a Partner can meet your needs in that price range.

Hunting as you describe it is provided by the telephone company, not the phone system.
You might qwant to look into a three line or a four line phone instead of a system, although they have significant limitations.
There are a number of small and relatively inexpensive small systems out there new. There are also tons of Avaya Partner systems on the secondary (refurbished) market.

I have done some research and found https://www.talkswitch.com which has a good priced system that will even use conventional phones if i don't want to buy all new phones right now.

Anyone have experience with these and do they do what they promise?

Thanks again!

If you do a search on Talkswitch on this site you'll find many opinions on it.
Mark

I just got done doing an in-depth review of the Talkswitch and at first, it looked impressive. After I dug deeper, I realized that this system only supports single-line telephones. Even their proprietary telephones are just glorified single-line telephones. That's a huge problem with small office systems because the users won't be able to simply put a call on hold and pick it up at another phone. I don't think the folks are going to like having to park or transfer calls; we encounter this resistance all the time from our customers.

The other thing that bothers me is that in their literature where they decipher acronyms, most aren't even close to the true meaning. That sends up a red flag to me that this manufacturer doesn't really know the phone industry as much as they should from a manufacturer's standpoint.

Lastly, there are some features that are "in developement" that most other systems have had for decades. That bothers me because why in Heaven's name would you sell a product that can't AT A MINIMUM do what 90% of the other systems out there can do?

I think you should stick with the original plan I suggested. With the second budget figure, you are in a much better position to buy something that will be easily-supported for years to come. Don't get me wrong, and I am rarely right, but even with their free upgrade commitment, it just sounds too good to be true.

Thank you so much for your input. I was thinking that this was too good to be true. I'll look around for a system on the refurb end as well as from sundance. Also I'll call a local vender and see if they can quote me up a price just to see what i'm working with and if it's not that much more may be worth it to save me aggrivation and insure a quality job is done.

Thanks,
Andy