HOW TO BUY A PHONE SYSTEM

                                                                   by: Larry Brown 
                                                                                Sales Engineer

 

To assist those businesses contemplating a telecommunications system purchase, Teleconnect Services offers the following guidelines:

I.                Specify the latest software and hardware revisions

A.                Don't settle for equipment that has been in a warehouse for years

B.                Ask for a phone system with a 32-bit central processor unit (cpu)

 

II.                Specify new equipment

A.                Don't assume the phones are new

B.                 Ask for new equipment in manufacturer's sealed cartons

C.                Some equipment is refurbished to look like new and to the untrained eye it appears new (the repair stickers have been removed)

 

III.             Ask how long the manufacturer has been in       

         business

A.                Some equipment manufacturers are “fly-by-night” and may not be around

                        for very long, leaving the purchaser with no support or spare parts

B.                 Our manufacturers are well established

1.                  Iwatsu-since 1938

2.                  NEC-since 1918

 

IV.            Ask how long spare parts are made available after the unit is out-of-production

A.                Typically, the correct answer is 10 years

 

V.               Ask where and how many manufacturing locations do components come from

A.                If phones are made in several plants in different geographic locales, then supply problems related to strikes, political instability, etc. are lessened

 

VI.            Ask for itemized pricing of each component with the contract

A.                Typically bulk pricing is lower with the contract

 

VII.         Ask for future add-on pricing

A.                For example, six months down the road

 

VIII.      Ask for a guarantee on price stability

A.                Are the prices good for one year, two, etc. (in writing)

 

IX.                   Ask about the length of warranty

A.        Standard warranty is one-year parts and labor

B.        We give a guarantee price on our maintenance for 5 years.                

 

 

X.                What is the cost of service after expiration of warranty?

A.                Hourly rates

B.                Or maintenance agreement

 

XI.             Be certain of labor charges when moves, adds and changes occur

 

XII.            Is remote programming included in the price?

 

XIII.   How much can the user program?

 

XIV.      If voice mail is included, is it made by the same manufacturer  as the phones or is it an add-on by someone else, i.e., voice mail integration vs. separate box

 

XV.         Question the prospective vendors qualifications

A.                Are they the factory-authorized distributor for the product you are buying?

B.                 Will they offer factory-support letters guaranteeing maintenance support from the factory if something happens to the vendor?

C.                How many factory-trained technicians do they employ?

D.                What is their emergency-service response time?

E.                 What is their routine service response time?

F.                 Ask to see a customer list with equipment identical to the one they are proposing to you, not just the same brand but the same model

 

XVI.      If your building is already wired, ask how much is included for wiring in their proposal

 

XVII.   Check to see what trunk/line types are most cost-effective for your operation

A.                Is it desirable to be able to transfer off-premise?

1.   If so, maybe Centrex lines are needed or 3-way calling

call transfer  feature from your provider 

B.                Is a voice/data network needed, i.e., if data is networked anyway, why not use some of the data channels for voice so your regular trunks are not tied up for what are essentially intercom calls

C.                 Are private numbers needed to bypass the switchboard?

D.                Is caller ID desirable?

E.                If there is a substantial number of trunks needed, perhaps T1 or ISDN PRI may be cheaper

 

 XVIII                   Site survey

A.                Make sure all loud bells, modems, fax machines, cordless phones, answering machines, voice mail, paging, back-ground music, music-on-hold are provided for in the new system

 

XIX.                Power requirements

A.                In the event of power failure, would you like the phones to operate and for

how long?

B.                 Consider an isolated circuit for phones and computer networks

 

XX.             Surge Protection

A.                AC surge protection is provided by nearly every vendor

B.                 Central office line (trunk) surge protection is not always present, but must

be insisted upon since 70% of surge damage occurs through the outside

trunks

C.                If there are serious problems with your local power company, consider

line stabilizers (typically line voltage can vary between 87 and 134 Volts

and line stabilizers will maintain a constant 117 Volts AC)