BLOG » Small Business Phone Systems In 2024: How Much Do They Cost?
Small Business Phone Systems In 2024: How Much Do They Cost?
- Business communications are an essential factor that can enhance the customer experience. Although customer calls are the primary mode of communication, instant messaging, social media chats, emails, and web chats have become other ways to contact businesses. Moreover, with the increased internet usage everywhere, these communication channels are popular and convenient options for speaking with companies with a single click on their mobile phones.
- In this case, businesses can easily set up a unified communication platform with Business Phone Systems. Before making an investment, one should analyze different factors that influence the pricing. If you are a small business, investments play a crucial role undoubtedly.
- In this blog, let us discuss the cost of Small Business Phone Systems in 2024 and a checklist of factors that impact them.
Small Business Phone system: How much does it cost?
- Small Business Phone Systems are in a state of enhancing and growing every day. With the rise of hybrid and remote working environments across the globe, it is necessary for companies to help employees remain connected as well as engage customers promptly. As a result of this, a traditional desk phone does not serve this purpose. This is where Small Business Phone Systems are a savior to work on business needs.
- Here are a few factors to know: How much does the phone system cost per month for a small business?
1. The number of users
- The number of users in your business plays a critical role in determining the cost of business phone systems for small businesses. In the case of traditional business phone systems, How many phone lines does your company require? Certain places such as reception, accounting, and mailroom will have single phone lines that multiple employees may use.
- Most pricing plans will have per-user costs. You can check if you need multiple phone lines for small businesses or a single phone line for multiple employees. You can also consider how your customers communicate with your company, whom they reach, how frequently they call, etc.
- In the case of cloud-based VoIP Phone Systems, you will be charged based on the number of users using the application. However, you don’t need to worry about adding or removing phone lines as these phones entirely operate over the internet and do not deal with wires, cables, and lines.
2. Features and Functionalities needed
- Jot down the different expected features that you are looking to integrate for your company. Today, there are many exciting and excellent options in the business phones for small businesses in this internet era. Do you want a few of your phone lines to capture voicemails alone? Do you want a system that offers less waiting time? Or are you looking for an advanced feature-packed system?
- If you consider an analog business phone service, it will allow businesses to make and receive customer calls both locally and internationally. However, some companies choose additional services, such as call conferencing, IVR, call centers, etc, to improve productivity and collaboration.
- On the other hand, if you are looking for advanced features such as CRM Integration, social media platform integration, call whispering, sticky agent, personalized customer greetings, setting up business hours, call blocking, etc, in a unified platform, a cloud-based business phone system can cater your needs.
- Although these add-ons are here to increase customer satisfaction and empower your brand, the pricing plans vary based on the additional features. Depending on the solution provider, you can figure out about cost-savings.
3. Location and number of branches
- Is your company located in a single place or has multiple branches across the globe? Also, multiple phone lines are required for different locations if your agents plan to transfer the call to their higher agent/respective agent working in another branch.
- All the traditional phone systems will require you to install and set up business phone lines in all your business locations and office premises. Each location that requires installation can increase the final cost of Small Business Phone Systems.
- But irrespective of your business branches all over the globe, you don’t need to worry about fixing business phone lines if you go with virtual phone systems. As they function over the internet, businesses can install the application on their devices and get started even when they start a new branch in a new country.
4. Training costs
- When you are planning to use new technology, your business will require some adapting time. Similarly, your agents will also need a few days to learn and implement new technologies in your business. In this case, you should also spend some amount on training costs. This cost will vary depending on the number of employees, the number of physical branches all over the world, etc. This is the case with traditional office phone systems.
- In the case of cloud-based virtual phone systems, you don’t need to spend a hefty amount on training as they are easy to understand, grab, and implement. Moreover, a few VoIP solution providers will also be responsible for providing a clear perspective of the application at no additional charge.
5. Installation, Maintenance, and Upgrades
- In addition to installing phone lines, you can also expect to install the required hardware, software, and other equipment in your business phone systems for small businesses. Apart from this, the annual maintenance cost should also be considered. It varies based on the internal IT resources. If your internal IT team is not skilled enough to perform basic troubleshooting and maintenance activities, you need to hire an external team to perform these tasks. The same is applicable for upgrades, too.
- While in the case of VoIP business phone systems for small businesses, the installation process is simple and quick as you need just an internet connection. Similarly, maintenance and upgrades are available but can be reached easily at an affordable price.
6. Type of Phone System
- The type of phone system you are planning to select will also play a significant role in determining the cost. Be it a traditional or cloud-based system, the price varies based on the plans, features, and customizations. However, VoIP phones are cost-effective compared to traditional ones and offer high-quality voice services, which businesses expect.
- Be it any type of Business phone software for small businesses, make sure you consider the following things before making an investment:
- • Cost
- • Quality of service
- • Features in it
- • Reliability/Uptime
- • Mobility
- • Customer-friendly
- • Required devices
7. Hardware and other equipment
- Be it any type of business phone system, the installation will require hardware, software, or other pieces of equipment that need setup. Hence, analyze what is all that is necessary in order to get started. If it is an analog office phone system, you will require phones, routers, wires, cables, handsets, etc. On the other hand, VoIP systems just need an internet connection and any device (mobile phones, laptops, desktops, tablets) to get started.
Putting it all together: How much does an Office Landline cost?
- Depending on your add-on services, a low-end office phone system will cost around $200 per handset. In contrast, a branded one will have pricing in the range of $400 to $600 per handset. Lastly, a fully loaded and advanced brand system could be approximately around $1000 per handset.
- Based on the handset and number of phones in your office, you can come to a conclusion of getting an estimated total cost. Let us consider you have 25 phones in your office. So, the estimated cost would come around:
- 25x $1000= $25,000
- Apart from this, you will also have annual maintenance, support, and upgrade costs separately.
Why VoIP systems are budget-friendly?
- In terms of the cost, VoIP Phone Systems comes at a reasonable price for small businesses. As there are no separate or hidden charges for installation or support, you can enjoy all the benefits at a lower price in the communication industry.
- There are a couple of needs with respect to VoIP systems:
- • A strong internet connection
- • A good working device/devices (mobile phones, desktops, laptops, tablets)
- Small businesses can download the VoIP applications on their devices and start managing customer conversations. So, instead of investing in expensive hardware, you can have your employees use the devices to make calls and other interactions.
TeleCMI: An ultimate solution provider for affordable business phone service for small businesses
- TeleCMI offers excellent virtual business phone systems at budget-friendly pricing. We have catered to multiple small businesses of different industry verticals, such as Healthcare, Food, Education, Hospitality, etc. We also provide top-notch features such as call queueing, call whispering, call recording, call barging, sticky agent, CRM integration, IVR, etc, at an eye-catching price.
- TeleCMI has the following cost-effective pricing plans:
| Types of plan | Monthly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Rs. 734 for user/month | Rs. 587 for user/month |
| Premium | Rs. 944 for user/month | Rs. 755 for user/month |
| Enterprises | Rs. 1259 for user/month | Rs. 1007 for user/month |
Conclusion:
- Be it a small business or a large one, it is always important to consider the budget before making an investment. In the present era, VoIP systems seem to be an excellent way of investment, especially for small businesses, with also coming with loaded features, hassle-free setup, and high-quality calls.
- If you are one such business looking to move forward with VoIP services, TeleCMI is here to help you. You can get in touch with us for a free trial and get to know more about our product.
FAQs
They are budget-friendly as they require only an internet connection and a device to get started.
Absolutely, yes. You can continue using your previous number when migrating to VoIP instead of purchasing a new one.
It is definitely a good idea to move with VoIP. As they come with dozens of benefits such as reasonable cost easy setup, less maintenance services, work from anywhere, etc.