Telephone system. It is a big expense. Let's say that you’re starting a small business. One of the first things you'll need is a phone system. While we admit that the Harry Potter method of using carrier owls is gaining popularity, the regular old telephone is probably still your best bet.

But which one? The number of choices out there can be overwhelming, not to mention the various options, prices and providers. But you're in luck - we've done most of the hard part for you. To help you sort out the best system for your particular situation, we've come up with a set of guidelines that will get you started.  

There are four main factors in choosing a phone system. Go to the next section to read about them.

 Need more information before choosing a phone system? Read Telephone Systems: How-To Understand Telephone Systems. 

4 Considerations in Choosing Phone Systems

Consider the following four questions while you research and before you choose a phone system.

1. How many people are in your office? 

The kind of phone system that you select depends on how many employees your company has, and how many ph

one units (extensions) are needed. Just because you have eight employees in your company, though, doesn't necessarily mean you need eight extensions. If you have an employee whose job is valet parker, odds are that he won't need his own phone extension. Phone systems allow an allotted number of extensions, but some can add extensions to make them even larger.

2. What is the expected growth rate of your office? 

Assume that your company will have some growth over the next couple of years and install the amount of phones from that number, instead of using the exact number of employees in the office at that time. Normally, company growth in a new venture would be roughly 50% over the next two years, so if you have 10 employees, assume that you will have 15 within two years. It is better to have a couple of extra phones than to have to install new lines every time another employee comes into the fold. However, don't plan too far into the future. Your company may grow three times in two years, but if it does, you'll probably upgrade your phone system anyway, and if your company doesn't grow, you'll have wasted a lot of money. And, as we all know, wasting money is bad.

The best way to avoid many of these problems is to buy a modular system. This will give you the ability to increase the size of your system through your server as you grow, and all you will have to buy is phone sets. 

No attention span? Go directly to the Product Table:

Some offices deal with hundreds of clients a day over the phone, while some get so few calls you need to pick up the line every hour to see if it's working. The greater the volume, the more you need from your phone system, especially when it comes to voice mail. The size of your voice mail depends on how many phone calls it can take at one time. Voice mail is set up with ports, which are lines of access for your system. Every time a person accesses voice mail, whether it is an outside caller leaving a message or an employee checking their calls, this takes up a port. When you find out the number of ports in a system, ask yourself, "Are these enough ports for my system?" After you ask yourself that, ask yourself, "Why am I talking to myself?", and then move on to our product chart

No attention span? Go directly to the Product Table:

When choosing a telephone system, make sure that the installer and trainer are licensed representatives of the 

manufacturer. The standard warranty for a phone system is one year for parts and labor, but extended warranties can be negotiated with the vendor. A two-hour training course is generally provided by the installer, and included in the installation package. Make sure when choosing a phone system, pick a company that has your best interests at hand. A quality company will be fast with its service and accurate with the answers that you need. A good test is to call up the number of the service department of the company and see how fast they get to you, and if they can answer some basic questions quickly and directly.  

No attention span? Go directly to the Product Table:

Choose A Phone System

Ok, you have a pretty good idea of what you need. So go get it! Try our top secret handy dandy hi-tech supercharged Telephone System Wizard to get a list of the best phone systems for your business. Just like a psychic, it knows what you need based on just a little information. Scary, isn't it?

If there is a phone system that you do not see on here that you would like How-To to carry, please let us know by sending an e-mail to bizdev@how-to.com.