What would you do if your phone system suddenly stopped working?
Hoping it never breaks is impractical! For a lot of businesses, telephones are a source of revenue. If I told you that tomorrow your “biggest order ever” will come in via a phone call, you would likely come in early, stay late, and not take a lunch to ensure this call was not missed. Why would you take the same chance being dependent on your aging, increasingly less dependable telephone system? Don’t wait until your telephone system is down or costs you an opportunity to make a change.
Having a plan will make that experience easier to overcome.
- Know what type of phone system you have. Know the brand, make, and model.
- Know where it was originally purchased and the approximate date it was purchased. Know what the warranty is/was and if you purchased an extended warranty.
- Know how many telephones you have and if you have any remote IP phones on the system. Also knowing the models of phones you have would be beneficial.
- Be familiar with what type of line service you have, POTS lines, PRI/T1 circuit, or SIP trunks. Know who is your phone service provider.
- If you are not using the vendor that originally installed your phone system, have the name of another vendor that services the same type of system.
Choosing the best vendor?
After you have done your research, you need to select the best vendor to suit your company’s phone system needs. Knowing a company’s service rate is important but not always the most important factor to consider. A company could offer a low service rate because they only have one employee and no actual office. While a low hourly service rate might be attractive, what would you do if you needed service and this person was on vacation or sick? Small companies frequently have a very small training budget and other related resources. If a technician is not familiar or certified on a system, simple repairs or programming changes can quickly become a 4 hour repair. At Midwest Telephone we have a complete office staff that complements our 4 factory trained technicians servicing Central Indiana. We have full access to manufacturers’ tech support, 24 hour emergency service and next day delivery on all parts not already in stock! Midwest Telephone has over 100 years of combined telecom experience! If you call our office between 8am-5pm Monday through Friday, you can talk to a live person. Once the office staff goes home, all request for emergency service forward directly to our on call technician. When your business needs programming changes, phones added, new voice and data cabling or your entire phone system is down, we can handle all of your telephone system needs in a professional and timely manner.
At Midwest Telephone we have a complete office staff that complements our 4 factory trained technicians servicing Central Indiana. We have full access to manufacturers’ tech support, 24-hour emergency service and next day delivery on all parts not already in stock! Midwest Telephone has over 100 years of combined telecom experience! If you call our office between 8am-5pm Monday through Friday, you can talk to a live person. Once the office staff goes home, all request for emergency service forward directly to our on call technician. When your business needs programming changes, phones added, new voice and data cabling or your entire phone system is down, we can handle all of your telephone system needs in a professional and timely manner.
Midwest Telephone recently helped a customer that was moving and had stumbled across a telephone system. On the day they moved into the new suite, the customer realized the previous tenant had left a Samsung phone system in the space! Since this system was only a few years old and more advanced than their system they decided to try and re-use it. The system was already installed but not set up to suit their business. The owner of the business enlisted his brother in law to program it because he, “worked on a phone once.” As it turned out, the brother in law wasn’t as adept at telephone system programming as was needed. He plugged low voltage carrying incoming CO line cables into station ports and ended up burning up the station card! Not realizing what he did, the company called us to order a part they “thought” they needed. As you may have guessed the part didn’t work and the company ended up calling us to replace the damaged part and to program the system. When it was all said and done, this customer ended up going 4 days without a working telephone system after they moved into the new office.
When you choose a certified telecommunications company like Midwest Telephone, you are getting a technician that has the experience, expertise, and knowledge on all major brands of phone systems. Midwest Telephone Company services Samsung, Panasonic, Vodavi, ESI, Comdial, NEC, Avaya, Nortel, Prostar, Lucent, AT&T and many more. We are going to be able to get your questions answered, parts ordered and your phone system working properly with little down time. Potentially how valuable is lost business? We at Midwest Telephone Company know how important communication is when it comes to operating your business.
In an effort to save money, don’t cost yourself much more by selecting the wrong telecom vendor. If you are planning to relocate your business in the future, need programming changes to your telephone or voicemail system, or simply want to have a plan in place for when things go wrong feel free to contact Midwest Telephone Company.