Regular maintenance of systems is vital for any organization to keep its business running smoothly. It ensures that all the systems are working perfectly and are less likely to break down. Similarly, checking business phone systems on a regular basis is a task that no organization should ignore, as failing to address problems in phone systems can prove disastrous to any business.

Business Phone Systems are the backbone on which most of the businesses run. They serve as the main channel of communication with the clients and if the phone systems go down, it can lead to loss of business. With emerging trends of technology, systems running on IP services too need upgrades. Compatibility issues with evolving systems, networks and computers can lead to downtime, and seriously affect the system's efficiency. Addressing these issues can reduce the likelihood of system failures as in the absence of maintenance parts of phone systems that need up-gradation the entire system may stop working. Therefore, organizations should schedule regular maintenance to keep their phone systems in good order.

• The first step towards maintaining business phone systems is that businesses should consult their providers to establish a maintenance plan every six months for software updates. These updates are available to all business phone systems and they can be directly downloaded from their websites.
• During maintenance checks, the providers review your call flow and analyze traffic monitoring, volume, efficiency and prevent any problems that can occur in the future.
• All the aspects of connectivity are thoroughly reviewed to check performance issues. Some hidden connection issues that hinder call flow can be found and fixed. There might be problem in devices or wires which can be fixed on time before they cripple the entire phone system.
• A company's requirements may change after some time and may need up gradation. Important changes to the connections can be made to suit the business and enhance functionality.

Risks associated with non-maintenance:

• The entire system can fail if the phone systems are not updated regularly. It can result in major loss to the business due to non-communication with the clients.
• If maintenance is done in an emergency, it can incur high costs to the company. Regular maintenance is cheap and doesn't drain out the budget of a company.
• If your business phone system is not up to date it might not be able to work at the speed with the new system and put your business at risk of not being competitive.

Phone systems are the lifeline of every business and ignoring them can substantially impact a business.  Therefore, after consulting with providers, every business should have regular checks of their phone systems.

The world of telecommunication has gone through a number of important changes and technological advancements over the last few decades. Wired telephones have become feature rich and other important new technologies have also surfaced which have revolutionized the world of business telecommunications in many ways. The digital phone systems have slowly started giving way to bigger, better and more flexible technologies like VoIP. A comparison of digital phone systems and VoIP systems is enough to show why businesses are gradually moving towards new technologies and the advantages that they bring to the table.

• Ease of Setup and Use – Digital phones work the same way that they always have. They use hardwiring and utilize different cables for voice and data connections. They are managed by centralized hardware and every new unit that needs to be installed needs separate wiring to function properly. VoIP on the other hand, uses the power of the Internet for its connectivity and therefore needs minimal wiring to function. This makes it incredibly easy to setup and use, involving minimum wiring hassles and elaborate setup procedures.
• Features and Flexibility – While digital phone systems have become better with time and now come with a number of nice features, the feature set that you can get with VoIP is unmatched. Since it uses the Internet for connectivity, you can have simultaneous voice and data connections, and can integrate modes of communication like file transfer, emails, teleconferencing, videoconferencing and electronic fax into your business or vacation model. Unlike digital phone systems, VoIP is also extremely flexible allowing you to add new units with ease and also gives you the ability to use VoIP features on the go.
• Costs – In general, VoIP systems cost much less to install and maintain than digital phone systems. Due to the integrated nature and the fact that systems are managed by software, VoIP can provide your business with more features at a lesser cost than digital phone systems. Also, businesses which have the need to frequently make international calls can have major benefits with VoIP systems, as international call costs are remarkably cheaper than with digital phone systems.
• Maintenance – Digital phone systems are more difficult to maintain and required the presence of professional technicians. VoIP systems are managed by software and can therefore be maintained, and repaired remotely. Also, without the hassles of elaborate wiring, VoIP connections are far less likely to face problems.

If you are looking for the right phone system for your business which gives you a bang for your buck, getting a VoIP system installed is the right way to go. We, at Folkerson Communications Ltd offer a wide range of VoIP phone systems for business firms across Central Texas. You can contact us at (512) 977-0055 for more information.

In any business model, big or small, an efficient telephone system is required which helps organizations manage their day to day needs. Business phone systems have capabilities that extend far beyond than a traditional telephone. Even though technological advancements have made traditional telephones obsolete, business models prefer using phones for communicating with their clients. They are necessary as they connect employees, help serve customers, let employees collaborate, provide effective communication in real time and come loaded with many features which make them essential to be deployed.

Following are the key features of a business telephone system:

• Auto Attendant - Auto attendant works like a receptionist for your company 24 hrs a day and directs the caller to the extension number of the recipient they wish to speak to.
• Conferencing - To have a conversation with a number of people, business phones allow you to connect to more than two participants.
• Call Forwarding – With this feature, calls can be easily forwarded or redirected to an alternative number or Voicemail in case an employee is not available on a particular number and this helps avoid missing out on important calls.
• Call Hold – As the name suggests this feature can be used to discuss important matters in between a call.
• Redial – It is the feature that enables to dial the previous number with a single button.
• Paging – Paging helps to make important announcements in an organization and locate someone.
• Speed Dial – For easy access to certain numbers, speed dial comes in handy where you can reach any number by dialing just one number.
• Music on Hold – To keep users entertained while they are on hold some music or advertisement can be played.
• Automated Directory – It helps to look up specific destination number of the person you are trying to call and routes calls to specific extension numbers.
• Voicemail - In order to check on calls that could not be attended due to some reasons, Voicemail is a feature that records your messages and lets you follow up on those calls.
• Call filtering - Phone systems display the number of the caller on the screen and let you identify who the caller is which in turn helps you save time by ignoring unwanted calls.

It is not necessary that all the features provided by a business phone system are seemingly relevant to every business environment. It depends on a company's needs and they can configure what features they need integrated to their phone systems to save costs and obtain high performance.