How to Choose a PBX Phone System

There are many factors to consider when purchasing a PBX phone system or Private Branch Exchange. The following information highlights a few of the key considerations to think about when evaluating telephone systems.

Forward Thinking

The first thing to consider is how you business will grow over the coming years and make sure that you buy a PBX Phone System that is able to grow with your business. All too often, businesses buy what they need now, not what they need over the next 3 to 5 years.

If you plan for less than that, you may be faced with higher than necessary costs if you need to expand your PBX phone system to accommodate additional users.

If you plan for longer than 3 to 5 years that, you may find that technology has moved on and your telephone system is missing features at the end of its life that could help your business grow.

Sizing Your Phone System

Ensure that you understand how the PBX phone system will change as you add (or subtract) lines and extensions. Manufacturers design their telephone systems to fit different size businesses.

Often PBX phone systems stick to fairly standard sizing configurations based on the number of outside lines and internal extensions a business requires. Standard configurations include 3 lines by 8 telephones, 8 lines by 16 telephones, 12 lines by 24 telephones, and 24 lines by 48 telephones.

More recently, PBX phone systems have been sized by number of ports. A phone system with a capacity for 32 ports can have any combination of lines and telephones that add up to 32; the increments of this ratio being determined by how many lines or extensions the manufacturer puts on the different circuit boards.

Tip: Always make sure you find out how much adding additional ports, lines or telephones will cost and in what increments they can be added. The Opus team are happy to explain how this works.

Telephone System Checklist

Download our handy telephone system checklist to help you when choosing a new telephone system. It provides a complete list of all the factors you should consider when choosing a new telephone system.

Advice and Information

For jargon free advice on any aspect of your communications, simply call the team at Opus on 0800 652 2968.