Finding a phone system that's right for your business can sometimes be a tough challenge. The terminology used is confusing, the array of manufacturers and products overwhelming, and the need for further education can be paramount. eBay seller Business Phones Direct has put together the following information in order to help you consider the size, functionality, and features of a system that will best fit the needs of your business.

What is a Phone System?

A phone system serves to connect devices, usually telephones or other systems, together. Calls are routed (or passed) through one or more systems and make their way from point A to point B. If snippets of conversation were cars, then a phone system could be thought of as the roadways on which they travel.
Just as roads come in many forms, telephone systems of different types exist. Generally systems are categorized into three different categories:


PBX or Private Branch Exchange Systems are the superhighways of the phone system world. They route a large number of calls and are generally used by telephone service providers, and by very large corporate buildings. Your company should consider a PBX type system if you require several hundred telephones in a single location. Like a superhighway, PBX systems are very expensive; pricing on true PBX systems will generally start in the mid tens of thousands of dollars and range into the hundreds of thousands.

Key Systems are the smaller brother of the PBX. In our roadway analogy Key systems might be thought of as regular roadways. Key systems route a smaller number of calls then a PBX, just as the road that leads to the highway handles less traffic then the highway itself. Excepting their suitability for smaller locations, Key systems offer features equivalent to those which a PBX provides. Key systems are generally much more economic then PBX systems, and tend to be used by businesses who need 4 or more phones. Both Key and PBX systems require a central point of control, or cabinet.

A third type of system, sometimes called the Independent Keyset also exists. This is the dirt road of the traffic world, providing limited functionality at a minimal cost. This type of system does not allow more then 4 phones, and does not provide nor allow for many of the features offered with Key or PBX systems.

What Phone System Size and Features should I look For?

Determining a phone system that’s right for your company will come down to two factors; the size of the system you need and the functionality you require.

Phone System Size is usually given by the number of lines, or connections to the phone company it will support, and the number of extensions, or telephones it will handle. Knowing the size of system you require greatly narrows the possibilities. Extensions are generally the easier criteria to determine – you will need an extension for each phone, or about one per employee. Lines are sometimes a bit more difficult – usually companies want a line for every two or three phones. With some larger Key and PBX maximum system size is given in Ports rather than in lines and extensions – a port is a line or extension.

Phone systems provide their current size in the notation Lines x Phones for example a 6x16 system comes with support for six lines and sixteen phones. Smaller systems generally come at a fixed size; a 3x8 (pronounced three-oh-eight) is expandable to no more than 3 lines and 8 phone, similarly with a 6x16 (six-sixteen) and an 8x24 (eight-twenty-four). Larger ICS or “Integrated Communications Systems” start at a fixed number of extensions but allow additional cards to be added to handle more lines or phones; the CICS (Kicks) for instance starts at 0x16, and the MICS (Micks) starts at 0x32.

There are not one but two size timeframes you should consider, the size your company is today, and the size you might be several years from now. If you will never grow past 3 lines and 8 phones a 3x8 is a very economic system for your company. Conversely if a 3x8 will work today but you plan on growing substantially, then a larger cabinet will often be more economic then a later upgrade.

Phone System Features are the functionalities you want to be provided by the phone system. First and foremost most of the features that you would expect a system to support are built into almost all Key and PBX systems. The systems listed above (Norstar 3x8, 6x16, 8x24, CICS, and MICS) all have included support for over 200 built in features like conferencing, intercom, paging, and call forwarding as well as music on hold .

The most commonly requested features that are not commonly included in cabinets are Caller ID, Voicemail, and Automated Attendant. Caller Identification (ID) provides information about incoming calls. Voicemail is, for all intensive purposes, an answering machine that has been scaled to handle thousands of messages in tens or hundreds of mail boxes. Automated Attendant is reception like answering and routing functionality provided by the system (for sales press one, for service press two…). Generally if you want any of these features you should request them specifically and ensure the system supports them.

What Else Should I Take Into Consideration?

Most businesses find the phone system to be a critical part of sales. An outage of the system can cost leads, lose sales, and can cause customer dissatisfaction. If this does not describe your organization we recommend shopping by price and ignoring all that follows. But if the phone is critical to your company then the perfect system is one which operates smoothly 24-7 and any deviation in the uptime will cost exponentially more then a $50 price difference. These additional considerations are for you.

Equipment Quality: With refurbished or open box equipment quality sometimes varies from vendor to vendor. At Business Phones Direct all our phones are refurbished in house. Servicing and testing is done by a team of seven employees with strict quality control standards. We guarantee the cosmetic condition of our refurbished phones, and we warranty systems against mechanical defects for up to three years.

Warranty Service: Look for vendors that stand behind their equipment. One of the things provided by us and a few of the competitors we would most highly rate is Warranty Advance Replacement. Advance Replacement means sending replacement parts out immediately rather than waiting until we receive the defective unit.

Technical Support: Look for vendors that provide technical support with the system. Something as simple as adjusting a system time could otherwise require a service call..

Past Customer Experiences: Lets face it some companies are great at advertising "perks" and bad at following through on them. eBay feedback can be a great gauge of order handling (placement, shipping, and providing goods which are as advertised) but does not measure long term customer satisfaction. Three months is the limit for leaving feedback, any issues outside of this timeframe are handled elsewhere. A great place to find a companies history of satisfying or dissatisfying customers is through the Better Business Bureau. The importance of checking out a vendor prior to purchasing is illustrated prominently by one company which lists phone systems frequently on eBay holds a 100% feedback rating on one of their id's, but is rated a "D" (the second lowest possible rating) by the BBB - to quote the BBB "we have enough concerns about this company (for example, their offer, customer    complaints, advertising, etc.) that we recommend caution in doing business with it ".

How Can I Get Started?

Still have questions? Whether you find it in our auctions or those of another vendor, our sales team will be more than happy to answer your questions and narrow down the field using the size, type, and featurset you are looking for. You could also start by looking; for Nortel brand systems we have system specials or you can browse eBay's norstar phone systems category . We also have special pricing on phone systems by Avaya . If you are specifically interested in one of the less prominent manufacturers you can try all phone systems .