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Dimensioning a Telephone System |
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Dimensioning a Telephone SystemWhen buying a
phone system, a primary concern is to make sure that the system is the
right size for your office. Knowing your requirements in advance will
help you negotiate with vendors. There are two main factors
that will
determine the size of the office phone system you need:
Lines or Trunks - lines indicate the total number of outside phone lines used by the company.
Extensions.
- Extensions
refer to every device within the company that needs to connect to the
phone system. Most of the extensions will be for telephones.
- Fax
machines, credit card terminals, modems, and any other equipment that
require a phone connection must also be connected through the phone
system.
One way of indicating the size of a system is as
a combination of lines and extensions. For example, a 6 x 16 system
accommodates up to 6 lines and 16 extensions. This approach is used
predominantly on smaller key system products. Alternatively most
digital hybrid or  PABX systems define size in terms of "ports," where a
port refers to the maximum number of connections that can be made to
the system. Ports include outside lines and inside extensions, as well
as phone system accessories such as Voicemail or automated attendants.
Allow for Growth
Even
if a telephone system can handle your current business phone traffic,
you should be sure that it can also handle your future needs. The ideal
system should be able to handle expansion in a very cost-effective
manner. Most systems allow you to increase capacity by adding new cards
that increase the total number of ports available while some smaller
systems are expandable by simply adding another cabinet identical to
the first. For planning purposes, you should allow 5 to 10% for organic
growth so inquire about how much it will cost to add at least 10% more
capacity. You should also look at capacity increases of 20% and 30% to
get an indication of the incremental costs involved as they will vary
with different systems.
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