Business phone systems can make or break the image that a business portrays to both their clients and competitors alike. If someone calls and repeatedly receives a busy signal or is consistently transferred to the wrong party, it’s likely that they’ll become frustrated and take their business elsewhere.

Avaya is a well-known name in the telecommunications industry. Formerly Lucent Technologies, Avaya has continued to develop state-of-the-art technology in a continuing effort to streamline the way we communicate. This includes the advancement of IP technology were voice conversations are transmitted via Internet protocol. As this technology moves forward, public switched telephone networks will become less common and less utilized.

Avaya offers many phone systems to suit the size and needs of most any business. Starting with the small IP Office system, that is suitable for small offices with 20 or less employees all the way up to the Aura Communication Manager, which is an enterprise wide solution. Most Avaya systems, offer features such as auto attendant, music on hold, conferencing ability, and IP technology. Their diverse line of products offers the business owner many choices to come up with a communication solution that offers cost savings as well as ease-of-use.

The IP Office system is a system that provides three levels of sophistication depending on the needs of your business. The base level or Essential Edition provides an economical way to have a sophisticated phone system that offers key features used by many businesses. The Preferred Edition offers greater voice messaging capacity and greater simultaneous call volume. The Advanced Edition offers even further advancements in technology and available features.

With the Advanced or Preferred Edition, you can offer your employees greater flexibility in the way they handle phone calls as well as where they work each day. The Power User has the ability to control all communications using an IP phone, a cell phone or laptop. All of their messages are received in one inbox, including voicemail, e-mail and faxes.

One of the advantages to an IP-based business phone system is the ability for the workforce to be mobile. With Avaya’s IP Office solution, employees are no longer limited to working in the office. With the new technology their cell phone simply becomes an extension of the business phone system. Because of this, clients and customers can reach employees regardless of their location. To the person calling, it appears as though the party they’re trying to reach is in the office and available to take their call. This provides the employee with a way to leave the office and meet potential clients while still being accessible to existing clients.

For those employees who must remain in the office, the Office Worker feature ensures that day-to-day tasks such as transferring calls, conferencing, and messaging are handled with ease. Although the majority of most employees are now venturing out of the office to conduct business, there are still those that must remain behind to perform clerical tasks. IP office is also designed with these users in mind with an easy-to-understand interface and reliable desktop phones.

A new reality for many businesses today is to have employees who work for the company through a home office. The Teleworker Feature allows employees to work from home virtually anywhere in the world. For someone calling from the outside, the experience is the same with the same number being used to reach employees. Unknown to the caller, the employee answers their phone which is connected to the IP Office phone system through a virtual private network. This allows the business to have Associates in diverse markets and locations without the additional cost of maintaining a brick-and-mortar presence.

Another benefit to IP office, the receptionist software allows a receptionist to route calls from their PC. This gives them the ability to point and click to control calls as well as provide status on calls are in progress. Additionally, the software has the ability to integrate with commonly used database software. From this interface, the receptionist can monitor all office extensions as well as provide coverage for multiple locations.

A benefit exclusive to the Advanced Edition, customer service supervisor is a reporting and monitoring application that allows the business owner to track call volume. This is helpful in determining the efficiency of how calls are handled as well as the level of productivity that the phone system provides.

If you’re looking for a business phone system that can give your business a professional image as well as provide a way to efficiently route calls, the IP Office system offered by Avaya has several levels to suit your needs and your budget. Designed with the small business owner in mind, the system can be implemented with a minimal number of users while keeping future growth and scalability in mind. With this flexibility, the IP Office system is perfect for the small business of today while allowing for expansion tomorrow.

Source by Steve Mike Levy