Selecting the Right Telephone System

There are many success factors involved in selecting and implementing the proper telephone system for your operation.  The “best” system is relative to your business needs and environment.

Document your Business Requirements

The right place to start is to document your business requirements.  This document will be needed to ensure the solutions you consider can meet your needs.  Start by answering these questions:

1. What is the current or initial size of the call center in terms of people?
2. What is the expected growth or hiring plan for the next six to 18 months?
3. Do you have or expect to have more than one call center or office location?
4. Is or will your center be focused on incoming calls, outgoing calls, or both (blended)?
5. Along with incoming calls and outgoing calls, would you like your customers to have the ability to chat with a representative online, send email inquiries, and perhaps send faxes to your representatives?
6. What is or will be the hours of operation?
7. Will there be one group or several groups handling specific call types?

Scalability – Expand the System as Your Needs Grow

Your responses to the first two items above will provide you with a sense of the required scalability of your telephone system.  In other words, you should purchase a system that meets today’s needs but can scale or grow to your expected growth.  The costs of adding people and features should be incurred when the people or functions are needed.

Connect Multiple Offices

If you have more than one center then you will need a system that can handle more than the initial office or, as additional phone systems are deployed, the systems will need to be ‘linked’ or ‘grouped’ so they can share data, provide real-time information on how busy people are in the various offices, and can route calls (load) between the offices.

Inbound, Outbound, Live Chat, E-mail, Fax Correspondence

Call centers have evolved from simply answering telephone calls into a center into being Contact Centers and handling inbound calls, outbound calls, email correspondence, fax inquiries, and providing Live Chat.  Call centers that will be making outbound or both incoming and outgoing calls may need a “dialer” option that has the ability to queue incoming calls and outgoing calls.  A good dialer system has the ability to dial a number, detect a live answer and then route the call to an agent and pop a screen with the contacts information and purpose of the call.  You should also decide whether a requirement is the ability for your customers to chat online with a representative or send email inquiries.  In which case, your solution will need to unify incoming calls, outgoing calls, email messages, instant messages, and perhaps even fax correspondence.  Again, the requirements for each should be documented in your business requirements document.

Automated Attendants & Operator Groups

What will the hours of operation be for your center?  Should calls go to an Automated Attendant (i.e., “Thank you for calling.  Press 1 for sales, press 2 for service” and so on) which then route calls to the appropriate department or “Operator Group” such as to your Sales team or Service team.  You will need the ability to “overflow” calls from a busy group to a backup group.  This will ensure you the ability to use the resources on-hand during periodic calls spikes without hiring additional people only to cover the peaks.

Direct Telephone Numbers (DID)

Depending on your environment, you may want to give each employee their own desk telephone number so customers can return their calls directly without having to go through the main number.  Likewise, you should decide whether each employee will need a direct fax number so they can receive faxes directly to their computer.  Some environments, especially the larger call center focused environments, give each agent their own extension but not their own outside telephone or fax numbers.  Again, this varies depending on the environment and what ensures the highest level of service and productivity.

Call Recording

A common feature with most telephone systems today is the ability to record telephone calls.  It should be listed as one of your requirements and shouldn’t add much, if any, additional cost.  This includes the ability for your employees to record needed calls (on-demand) as well as their supervisor the ability to schedule their people to be recorded for quality and training purposes.  If you do record calls, be sure to adjust your opening announcement to include “this call may be recorded to ensure quality and training.”  Many states require the warning by law.

Remote Users

The system you select should allow for remote users.  Whether its’ the executive that needs a phone in the office as well as at his home.  Also, will your phone system need the find-me/follow-me features in demand today.  This functionality may be critical for those dispatching service technicians to the field or allowing sales people to stay in contact with their clients.  You should give some thought as to whether you need hard desk phones and/or computer soft phones.

Ability to Update Announcements

Finally, the system you select should allow you to change the opening recording on the fly in case of holidays, inclement weather, or company meeting.  Be sure to document the needed reports to ensure productivity and quality for your center as a whole as well as for each supervisory team, call group, and specific employee.

It is also more economical if your phone system can process calls to your office (PBX) as well as to your call center (ACD).

Leading Solutions

When looking at the various solutions, ask about training for both the end user as well as for your in-house administrator.  Inquire about support of their product both over the phone and on-site when needed.  Some solutions, such as Cisco require certified technicians perform the simplest tasks and they charge a hefty price for that support.  Many companies are still selecting analog systems while most have migrated to the more feature rich digital solutions.  The biggest growth is in the Voice over IP (VoIP), or IP PBX, systems which provide the most flexibility and scalability for companies.  An IP PBX can typically reduce your monthly communications and internet access expense to the point the system pays for itself in about eight to sixteen months.

Dynam Communications

The office telephone system provided by Dynam Communications scales from just two users in one location up to 10,000 users in centers located in various cities or countries and supports remote users.  The solution compares to Cisco, Avaya, and other systems without the price tag and includes features such as automated attendants, operator groups, call recording, find-me/follow-me, paging, remote offices & remote users, desk phones, soft phones, employee/co worker visibility, instant message, fax to/from the desktop, e-mail delivery of messages, mobile phone integration, and much more.

Contact Dynam Communications for more information on selecting your next telephone system or for more information on our solution.  We provide free quotes, free onside demo’s, and can answer any question you might have.  If we’re not the best solution for you, we’ll tell you and can point you in the right direction.

Be sure to ask about our next Lunch & Learn where you can meet with other telephone system purchasers, hear about the required and value-add features, and best solutions for your environment.

Dynam Communications · 214.810.4729 · www.DynamCommunications.com