As a small business in need of a new office phone system, or an upgrade to your existing devices we know there’s a lot to consider.
Having to sort through long lists of features with a lot of technical jargon, determining what hardware you need to make your telephone system work, and reading through the fine print of contract details, can make finding the right phone solution an overwhelming process.
That’s why at Face-2-Face Telecommunications we have a few simple tricks for making it easy to choose the right office phone system for your small- or medium-sized business.
1. Don’t Always go with the lowest price
The lowest price for your new phone services doesn’t always mean the best deal. In fact, a lot of the time some of the things you need the most will cost you extra on top of that low monthly fee.
When you look at a product, make sure it has all the calling features, hardware, and services you need for your business already included in the price. Many providers will tack on extra costs for hardware rentals, adding or upgrading your internet connection, maintenance and support, and other services you might have assumed were included.
At Face-2-Face Telecommunications our pricing is simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. We will provide you with all the hardware you need to get your new phone system up and running, and will continue to support you for the life of your plan, all for the low cost we provide you with upfront.
For $35/month per telephone or less you will receive:
- Enterprise level desk phones
- Calling features customized to your needs
- Phone lines & trunking
- Firewall, data switches & wireless access points (WAPs)
- Free remote moves & charges
- Service & maintenance coverage for the life of your plan
2. Only Get the Features You Really Need
When it comes to features, many companies try to sell you things you don’t really need for a premium price. They often toss around technical terms and make it sound like something you can’t live without when you really may only need more basic services like call recording, conference calling, or the ability to answer business calls on your cell phone.
That being said, some of the more technical sounding features like, auto attendants, voip service, ip phones, pbx trunking, and geo-redundant data centers may also be something that you actually need but don’t don’t know about. That’s why we’re here to help.
At Face-2-Face Telecommunications, we promise we won’t sell you more than you need and we don’t charge extra for anything we sell, it’s all included in our upfront price. If there’s a service or feature that is included in our plan that you don’t understand, we’ll be happy to explain it. We also offer a variety of phone options for your unique business type and will customize our plans to suit the features you need.
Feel free to call our contact us for a free consultation and we’ll walk you through how each feature and phone type can help improve your business communications.
3. Avoid Getting Roped into a Contract
Be wary if a company requires you to sign a contract these days.
We’ve heard of plenty of people purchasing new solutions that haven’t turned out to be as functional, user friendly, or supported as people were initially led to believe. However, because they were tied into a contract, by the time they realized that the office phone system they purchased wasn’t right for them, they were forced to stick with a bad solution for years.
At Face-2-Face Telecommunications we don’t ever force you to sign a contract. We provide our phone services on a month-to-month basis and have never raised a per-item price on a customer during their service period. There are times we offer a unique promotional price that is tied to a contract and we are also happy to provide your business with one for your security.
However, contracts are never required. This means that if you aren’t happy with our solutions, you’re free to go elsewhere, no fuss, no hassle. However, we believe that with our superior customer service and unbeatable pricing you’ll stick around for a while, as some of our customers who’ve been with us for over 15 years will attest to.
4. Make Sure Customer Service and Support Are Easy to Access
Many providers hide their customer support behind layers of links, or “self-help” forums. Others will outsource support to large contact centers where you can be on hold for long periods of time, or your support request can get lost in a ticketing system for days. What makes matters worse is a lot of times you’ll only end up getting a cookie cutter response in the end that doesn’t really help you resolve your issues after all that waiting.
Ultimately because support and customer service are difficult to reach or unhelpful during the times when you need it most, you can end up experiencing significant downtime in your business operations, or potentially even loss of valuable income.
At Face-2-Face Telecommunications, we make it easy for you to get your business back up and running when you’re having problems by making our support services easy to find, and easy to access. Support and customer service requests are always promptly answered by a locally based customer service representative or technician. In many cases, we can work with you to easily resolve your issues live, over the phone, with the use of our simple remote support software. Furthermore, we make it a priority to not only answer your questions and concerns within one business day or less, but to actually resolve any issues you may have in that time frame as well, whenever possible.
5. Choose a Provider that Understands Your Needs and Your Market
The last thing to keep in mind when picking out an office phone system for your business is whether or not the company you are working with understands your business and your local market.
Most larger telecommunications companies are based somewhere far away from your business. They don’t understand the unique nature of doing business in places like Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, or Lexington. If they do happen to be local, they often have so many other clients that the needs of your business end up looking no different to them than the needs of all their other customers.
At Face-2-Face Telecommunications, we have been serving clients in the Ohio and Kentucky area since 1994. We are locally based out of Cincinnati, which means you will not only get a provider that understands what it’s like to do business in the region, but we have local technicians and service staff willing to help you out, in person if need be, when you need it most. As a small business ourselves, we appreciate the unique needs and challenges that small and medium sized businesses face, and we know the importance of forming close relationships with our clients and business partners.
Small Business Phone Systems Are for You
In the end, the most important thing to consider when getting a new office phone system for your small or medium business is to figure out what feels right for you.
We understand you’ll want to shop around – it makes good business sense. However, whenever you’re ready, we’ll be here to talk to you about how Face-2-Face Telecommunications can create a phone service package that is perfect for you and your business.
Competitive pricing backed by state of the art equipment, quality customer service, and impeccable support, its why small and medium businesses throughout Ohio, Kentucky, and beyond keep coming back to Face-2-Face Telecommunications for their office phone system needs.