Sizing office phone systems

When buying a office phone system, a primary concern is to make sure that the system is the right size for your firm. Knowing your requirements in advance and understanding the size constraints of a system will help you negotiate with vendors. There are two main factors that will determine the size of the system you need:

• Lines. Also called trunks, lines indicate the total number of outside phone lines used by the company.
  
  
• Extensions. Extensions are needed for every device within the company that connects to the phone system. Most of the extensions will be for telephones. However, fax machines, credit card terminals, modems, and any other equipment that requires a phone connection must also be tallied.