Communication is the key to success in business. Communication in the modern world takes many different forms, mostly thanks to the explosion of the internet. Web sites, e-stores, on-line downloads, these are ways of doing business that 20 years ago simply did not exist. But, having said all that, nothing will ever eliminate the need for face to face or at least voice to voice intercourse. People are social creatures, they pine for conversation; as cool as a web site may be, it cannot tell the story as well as the person who is passionate about what he does the products he makes or the product he sells. For a complete business experience, business telephones will never become obsolete.
Even home phones have features that were unimaginable a few years ago, call waiting, can you imagine talking to your friend and your Mother has an urgent need to talk? Years ago, Mom who have to keep trying until the line was free, not any longer, put your friend on hold, attend to Mom and come straight back and pick up where you left off.
This and a hundred other things are possible with business telephones. It all starts with an identification of the features you need and want. There are huge variances between what manufactures of phones include in their standard package and the complex advanced features they offer. Not only is there that, the standard features that are offered by different manufacturers also wide. There is more! Some of the features that perform an identical function work differently, some are easy to use, others are more difficult. A couple of the more important features of modern business telephones are:
- Voice mail: Voice mail is a wonderful feature for both the caller and the person being called. It allows the caller to leave a message any time day or night. If the extension is busy or the person does not answer the phone, the caller can leave his concern without the need for the employee. When voice mail is coupled with caller ID it allows the employee to divert less important calls to his voice mail while taking important calls directly.
- Live recording: This feature is used when you want to record the entire conversation. These conversations could be conference calls where there are multiple people in on the conversation and at times directions on responsibilities can get overlooked. Live recording can even be tied to voice mail so that important reminders can be relayed at a future date.
What is important about business telephones is that they allow for an increase in individual efficiency. There are so many things that can only be done by a person, why have a phone system that steels valuable time from the individual, let the system do the mundane chores.
