When new clients ask us what the best small business phone systems are, we usually respond with another question: “What problems are you having?”
Today's small business phone systems are all about solving the problems that small businesses face trying to grow and compete in a globalizing world. The playing field has changed drastically in the last ten years, and sometimes it seems like the big players have all the advantages.
Luckily, the increasing pace of technology has made it so that new ideas and inventions are available to smaller firms far more quickly than before. The right telephone system can easily boost your internal productivity, expand your operations, and give you a more professional image!
So, if the best phone system for small business depends on the problems it's solving, let's talk a bit about your options!
The Best Small Business Phone Systems Solve Your Problems
Problem 1: You're being held back by your copper wire service.
The Internet offers a wealth of new communication and collaboration tools, but only with the right backbone. Plenty of businesses today are discovering that their plain old telephone service simply isn't able to handle the volume of traffic they have, and cannot deal with the data systems their networks demand.
Moving to a data-based Voice-over-IP telephone system frees your communications from copper wire, allowing you to take advantage of Unified Communications. Options such as real-time document collaboration, worldwide conference calling, and videoconferencing all become available when you switch to VoIP. It creates an entirely new way for your office to do business.
Problem 2: Your hosted Phone System is becoming too costly.
In the past, it's been typical for small businesses to use commercial VoIP services that work roughly like old telephone companies: you pay them for phone services, as well as contacting them for support.
However, as a business grows and its employee base expands, those inexpensive VoIP options start becoming much more expensive as you add lines and bandwidth. They make their money by selling features that, in reality, cost almost nothing to provide.
In these cases, we recommend you move to an on-premises PBX system. These put the telephone company within your office, with everything directly under your control. You only have to pay for the data pipeline, with no middlemen between you and your communications.
Problem 3: Your phone menu system is old and unwieldy. 
If you're on older equipment, maintaining your IVR menus is often a chore, requiring a lot of tedious programming and, often, the need to manually record messages. This makes it difficult to update, and virtually impossible for your employees to customize.
The Meraki Communications MC74 is often the best phone system for small business owners in this situation. Their robust clud managed software allows any employee with an extension to custom-design an IVR system attached to their extension quickly and easily. Their menu system can be updated with new information for their callers, as needed, based on their own needs.
They can even upload their own hold music! And in a world where too many companies seem remote, that's the sort of “personal touch” that impresses customers.
The Best Phone System For Small Business Needs
Taken all together, we can still answer the big question: In most cases, we recommend Meraki Communications. Their line of telephone systems and networking equipment combines a terrific feature set. Linked together through the power of Meraki Dashboard, they give you a complete solution that revitalizes your communications for the 21st century.
Your employees will have plenty of new tools at their disposal to do their work, and they'll be able to do it anywhere in the world – from Bangkok, to their own bedrooms. That's the sort of freedom a modern telephone system can bring your business, and we'd love to help you make it happen!
