The Ultimate Business
Phone Checklist
Your essential roadmap to finding the right solution for
your small-to-medium sized business.
Table of Contents
● Introduction
● Defining the Scope
● Customizing Your Solutions
● Vendor Considerations
● Conclusion
Introduction
Since you are reading this checklist, we can already assume you either
have a business phone system you are looking to upgrade or you’re
considering a brand new system.
With a properly integrated communications system, small-to-medium-sized
businesses can increase efficiency, boost productivity, and effectively scale
future growth.
Importance of a Business Phone System
Before you start browsing through phone system specifications or reading
lengthy contracts, it is critical that you and your team have fully outlined
and planned for your business’ unique needs.
Whether you are just interested in seeing what expansion options exist for
your current system or if you are brand new to the world of business
phones, follow the guidelines in this checklist to create a cohesive roadmap
to business phone success.
Purpose of This Checklist
Source: http://www.allworx.com/media/112041/Allworx_SMBsurvey_Infographic.pdf
Did You Know: Nearly 50% of SMB’s plan to evaluate a new business
phone system in the near future- with 86% planning to do so within the next
three years*
Defining the Scope
One of the most important aspects of finding the right system or vendor is defining what specific
conditions led you down this path.
We have outlined some common triggers below and provided a space to fill-in additional needs. Use the
space below to define what triggered the decision to evaluate a business phone system:
Business Conditions Circle One Notes
Operational Conditions
Add a new office? Yes / No
Moving to a new building? Yes / No
Gaining new employees? Yes / No
Other Operational Needs Yes / No
Technological Conditions
Current system is unsupported? Yes / No
Need newer features? Yes / No
Other Technological Needs Yes / No
Other Conditions
Always check contractual terms on cancellation or returns, upgrade policies,
ongoing support, and training opportunities before signing!
Defining the Scope
As a small business ourselves, we understand that when you’re busy running a busy, you want to find
the best solution to your problem - without getting a bigger headache along the way.
Use the guide below to begin filling in some of the specific business requirements needed to properly
outline your roadmap to untangled business communication:
Outlining Your Specific Business Requirements
What is your budget?
How many phones will you need?
Do you want to buy or rent?
Do you have an IT team in place?
Will you need mobile capabilities?
Will you need remote office capabilities?
Will your business require multi-site
solutions?
What does your current internet service
look like?
What hardware or software do you
currently have in place?
Do you have a CRM, ERP, or marketing
automation software that will need to be
integrated with your phone system?
A reputable business phone vendor will have a wealth of experience and
should be more than happy to share a reference with you!
Customizing Your Solution
Allworx, a leading business phone system provider, conducted a study that
reported nearly 75% of all SMBs say that voice communication is extremely
or very important to the success of their business.
As you might already know or
will soon come to find,
business phone features can
vary widely between systems.
Based on the most common
business phone features used
today, use the checklist on the
next page to designate which
are most important to your
business.
Business Phone Features Must Have Tell Me More
Not
Necessary
3-Way Calling
Intercom
Conference Call Bridges
Music-On-Hold
Calling Other Locations Using
Extensions
Voicemail Messages as Email
Attachments
Paging
Call Park
Auto-Call Attendant
Customized Call Routing
Individual Call Recordings
Presence Management
Shared Line Appearances
Remote Desk Phones
PC or Web-Based Interface
Historical Call Reporting
Automatic Call Distribution
Hot Desking
Real-Time Dashboard
Third Party Integrations
Call Supervision or Barging
Mobile Client for Desk Phone
Vendor Considerations
While some business phone providers may only focus on one specific operation model (on-premise,
VoIP, cloud offerings, etc.), many vendors offer a variety of solutions to fit your individual needs.
In order to ensure you find a vendor that will not only meet the specific system requirements you outlined
previously, but also focus on your overall business phone solution, use the diagrams below to indicate
the importance of each project factor:
Cost
Vendor Service & Management of System
Installation Assistance
Initial & Ongoing Training
Equipment Inventory
Vendor Monitoring & Troubleshooting
Conclusion
While this checklist alone will not help you find the perfect business
phone solution for your business, it will help you to gather and organize the
most critical information needed when discussing your options internally, as
well as with your chosen vendor.
Whether you have old or outdated equipment, want to reduce your
communication cost, need a specific feature, or are growing your business, RI
Telephone is your trusted advisor for Untangling Business Communications.
No matter how complex your requirements, we are confident that we can
find a cost-effective communications solution to fit any budget or
specifications. We consider ourselves to be the independent agents of
business phone solutions, so you never need to worry that you are receiving
an incentivized recommendation.
For more information on Rhode Island Telephone, check out www.ritelephone.
com.
