Today’s world offers so many options for business phone systems that it almost seems insurmountable to determine which option is best for your care practice. Hopefully, understanding the terminology and options will help you make the choice that is right for your practice.

The Basics

There are terms that you will encounter when researching phone system options that we should define before we delve into the options available. The following are the terms you may see in your research:

• PBX – A PBX is a private branch exchange. This basically means that it is a phone system that allows a call to come in to your location and to switch to the proper location. If you remember the images of the old phone system where an operator sat in front of a wall of plugs and received calls and switched them out to the right extensions, then you are picturing an old fashioned PBX. Today’s systems use computer technology to do the switching as calls are received and processed.

• VoIP – This is Voice Over Internet Protocol. It means that the Internet can now be used as a phone system. Simply plugging a phone into your computer and using a VoIP service will allow you to use the Internet as your phone service provider rather than a typical telephone company.

• Hosted Phone System – This means that the service provider will have an entire PBX system that includes phones and operations and it will all be hosted over the Internet. Your phones will all use VoIP, but you can have a full phone system that you usually configure on a web site login.

• Hosted PBX – There are providers that will manage how calls to your phone number are handled and they are hosted over the Internet. They simply handle how your extensions are set up and where the calls forward to or if they go to voicemail on the system. They do not include the full phone system.

• Answering Service – This is simply a service that will answer your calls and take messages or handle the calls in the way that you have outlined they should be handled. Many people use answering services as an after hours option for emergency phone call responses.

Determining Your Needs

Before you start the hunt for a phone system for your practice you need to decide what you need your phone system to do. This article should help you know the options so that you can determine your needs.

The PBX Scoop

PBX systems are usually phone systems that you purchase and implement in your office. They can be actual hardware boxes or they may be a software package that resides on a computer designated to administer the phone system. They range in price from $500 to $5000, or even more, for a small office. The purchase options are based on how many extensions you need available in your office. Some PBX systems will count a voice extension and the associated voice mail extension as two separate extensions, thus doubling the number of extensions that you will need for your office.

There are unlimited options for PBX solutions in the marketplace.

• TalkSwitch – www.talkswitch.com offers both hardware based PBX systems as well as VoIP and other systems.

• Nortel – Nortel has several levels of product for small businesses called Norstar. www.nortel.com.

• NEC – NEC’s phone division is found at www.nitsuko.com. These are hardware based solutions for phone systems.

What Does VoIP Offer?

There are benefits and drawbacks to utilizing a VoIP solution. Some of the benefits are portability. You can have your phone adapter in any computer, in any location and use your phone number and your phone line to make calls. You will find that you can reduce your long distance bills by utilizing the many free long distance options available since the system is using the Internet to make the calls.

Care professionals working from home or any other location can have their calls forwarded and clients don’t need to know where they are physically located.

The drawbacks are based on the technology where it is today and how quickly it is improving. When VoIP first became available, the sound was degraded and often choppy. This is because the phone system uses packets of information to communicate so the things that you speak into the phone are divided up into packets and sent out across the Internet in many different paths and then are reconnected at the other end and put together in a conversation. Early uses of the technology would “drop packets” or basically lose the order or completely lose the packets in the worldwide computer network. Current technology maintains a streamlined conversation even though the packets still take various paths; so lost packets are becoming less of an issue.

Some are concerned about the security of using the Internet to communicate; however, many of the large telephone service providers are now using the Internet in their mass telephone communications behind the scenes. The technology sending packets in varying directions actually makes it more difficult to intercept a phone call and decipher the meaning. Varying encryption levels also ensure that this method of communication is secure.

Another drawback may be that you have to have DSL or Cable broadband service to make this a viable option and many people find that paying for that service and paying for a VoIP service is too much to pay because the phone company discounts services when you select services from one provider.

Emergency service is set up in a different way if you are using a VoIP service because the standard 911 services won’t know how to find you. You must register the primary location of the use of the VoIP phone but you also have to understand that if you are traveling and using the phone and need emergency services you will have to be specific about your location.

There are many services available but here are the most common:

• Vonage – Vonage, www.vonage.com, offers a phone service for small business that includes all long distance. The service sends out a phone adapter to connect to your computer and you can use any standard phone with the adapter.

• Skype – Skype is a free service, www.skype.com, which actually uses your computer as a network hub in order to expand its service. Your computer actually becomes part of the Skype network when using this service. We don’t recommend Skype for care professionals due to privacy concerns.

• Your Cable Company – Many local cable and phone companies are beginning to offer VoIP options to their clients. This may be a good route to pursue if you can get a discount for having multiple services through one provider.

How Can We Make it Easy?

Providers of phone services are creating solutions that will let you blend the above options in to fully hosted solutions so that you don’t have to manage any hardware or software. They make it so that you can connect to their web site, login to your configuration and set up your phone system, and they manage the integration logistics of making it happen.

Some of the service providers that have pulled things together to make it easier are:

• Packet8 – Packet8’s Virtual Office (www.packet8.net) has pulled the entire phone system and extension forwarding/call management features together. It uses VoIP phones and will let you have a full phone system in your office that can forward out to home offices or cell phones over the Internet and you control the features via the Packet8 web site login you are given when you become a client.

• RingCentral.com – RingCentral works with your existing phones to control how calls are routed. RingCentral uses an 800 line or a local line (your choice) as your main number. If you already have a main number then you can forward your main number to your RingCentral number and callers will not know that they are entering a new phone system. This system allows you to designate how each extension should behave and you can enter multiple phone numbers for the system to find you wherever you are.

• VirtualPBX.com – VirtualPBX works much like RingCentral. The cost is a little higher than other systems, but it is an option to consider as they may have new pricing plans available when you’re researching.

What if I want a Voice to Answer my Phone?

You really have three options in this case. Answer the phones yourself, hire a receptionist to answer the phone for you or hire an answering service. There are unique options available to have your phones answered and your best bet is to find a local option.

VoiceNation.com – This service will answer your phones line and handle the calls in the manner that you have directed. It is an affordable option that will allow you to receive calls in a professional manner. There is also a service available with this provider that will allow your callers to wait on the line or dial “0” to get to the live voice and then you will only have to pay for the service when the customers actually press “0” to get to a voice.

What Questions Should I Ask Myself?

Decide what type of service your clients expect? Ask yourself if they will be willing to leave a voicemail for you. Most clients are willing to leave a voicemail if you consistently return their calls in a timely manner. Determine if you are going to have off-hours answering options. Do you want your employees to work from their homes and do you want clients to be able to leave a voicemail for them if they can’t pick up their phone? Do you want clients calls to forward through a set of numbers until they find someone to answer the phone? What is your budget and do you want to have all of the equipment in your office or is it okay to manage something through a web-based system?

Understanding what the terminology means, what your options are and determining your specific needs before you speak with any of the phone system providers will always make your decisions easier. We recommend creating a spreadsheet in Excel or other spreadsheet program to enter information about the services that you’re researching so that you can do a comparison of the value and the features that you have with each option. Informed business decisions will always benefit your business. Phone system decisions can be complicated so don’t wait until the last minute, plan out your options before you need a solution so you just have to update your options to make a final decision.