Business Phone Systems

Business Phone System Costs

No one expects to get a first-rate business phone system for a song. But in a technology-rich industry full of options and features, pricing can be elusive. So how much should you pay for a phone system? And what can you do to limit the impact of phone system costs?

You've been dazzled by the features you can get from modern business phone systems.

It really is amazing what these systems can do and how they can integrate with technologies that already exist in your company. But now your attention has to turn to more practical matters, not the least of which is the most common deal breaker in a new phone system purchase: Cost.

The good news is that phone systems are available in a broad range of price levels. From low-cost entry-level systems to pricey high-end packages, there's something to fit every budget. The bad news is that it can be very hard to do effective cost comparisons – and if you aren't careful your phone system costs could quickly climb well beyond your budget parameters.

Business Phone System Cost Overview

There are tons of factors to consider in phone system pricing. The best place to begin is by understanding the average pricing for various types of commercial-grade phone systems.

• Key systems. Standard key systems represent the baseline of corporate phone system packages. External lines come into a central cabinet from which other lines go out to office extensions. Designed for companies with a small number of employees, these systems typically cost between $350 and $1000 per user.
• PBX systems. The advantage of a PBX phone system is that it can serve a higher number of users and offer additional features, including integration with VoIP and existing software applications. The downside is that you'll pay a little bit more for these systems. Total cost of implementation is $800 per user and up, depending on the features you purchase.
• KSU-less systems. Since there is no central processing cabinet associated with KSU-less systems, they are one of the lowest cost options at $130-$225 per telephone. However, expandability is an issue since these are only capable of handling 10 users or less.

Other Business Phone System Considerations

• Managing phone system costs begins by accurately determining the phone system that you need versus the phone system you want. It's easy to be dazzled by the latest technology, but if you don't really need it you could be throwing your money into features that your staff won't use.
• Your phone system's ability to integrate with existing applications like CRM can dramatically increase its value to your business and create operational efficiencies.
• Expandability in terms of both size and features is a major long-term cost management advantage since it's cheaper to add on to an existing system than it is to replace it.

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