Good communications are an important aspect of any business on the road to success. Without effective communication, organisation and operations are hindered, causing employees and clients/customers to struggle to get done what needs to be done, lowering your businesses overall productivity and efficiency.

Communications can be overlooked, but ensuring you have hassle-free means to do so, can benefit your business, both internally and externally, fostering good professional relationships.

What is a Multi-Line Phone?

Working in the same way as an ordinary phone, multi-line phones are designed to have more than one line to make or receive calls on, ultimately meaning that two or more phones can work off the same line.

These phones are built on extensions for others to be attached, generally cordless for flexibility. If you were to receive a call, all connected phones would ring at the same time and can be picked up simultaneously or individually. This is ideal for small businesses or employees who have receptionists to filter their calls; the phone allows you to modify the ringing to allow one phone to ring and the other to flash when a call is incoming.

Line Possibilities

2-line systems are useful if you work from home as well as in an office. The multi-line phone system allows your calls to be received in the office and at home, preventing you from missing anything important. One line in the office and one line at home.

4-line and 5-line systems can be used for small businesses or if you are in charge of a small team. A line for each employee to ensure all calls are received and dealt with.

Beneficial Features

– Personal Directory

This will allow you to make a personal phone book on each phone. This feature also connects with the speed dial feature, which allows you to make calls quicker thanks to storing them in the system.

The capacity of the phonebook depends on the phone you buy and your business size can be an indicator as to which model you may need. If you are a small business with limited contacts, it would be in your best interest to buy a cheaper model with a smaller capacity, as you will most likely not need it as much as a large company would.

– Call Transferring

This feature enables employees to pass a call to another handset or phone by simply pressing a button. A multi-line phone allows you to transfer to internal extensions and external phone numbers. This feature is beneficial to your businesses customer service as calls can be forwarded on a single switchboard, allowing for quick and convenient transferring for both customers and staff.

As well as providing in-office benefits, this feature can allow employees out-of-office to efficiently receive important calls without having to listen to voicemails or messages and return calls, they can be dealt with as soon as they come through.

– Do Not Disturb

Many features of this system ensure that no communications are lost or missed, but sometimes calls are not able to be answered. When in an important meeting you do not want to be interrupted by calls and it will not provide a professional impression on guests. The do not disturb feature allows employees to remain focused without being interrupted. It allows you to send calls straight to voicemail until turned off, for your convenience.

– Texting with Landline Number

An advanced feature of some systems is the ability for you to text using the landline number. This allows employees to text clients or customers on their mobiles but under the number of the business, to avoid confusion of multiple numbers. This may be used to schedule meetings/appointments or for large business, deals and offers can be sent to customers through one convenient number.

– Auto Attendant

Busy offices cannot always afford to spare employees to answer the phone and have them determine the callers needs to transfer them appropriately and it’s uncommon for callers to know which departments to get hold of. With some multi-line phones, you can have an auto-attendant which can greet callers and transfer them to the appropriate lines, 24/7. This not only saves your employees time but also gives a more professional appearance to your business.

 To learn more about popular phone system providers like Avaya, read this Avaya phone system cost guide.