Used phones might be old, but they are rarely obsolete, and they normally tend to work for years. They can always be repurposed for use in other systems. So if you’re a small business on a shoe-string budget, the best-used phone systems for your home office or business needs to be affordable, dependable, and efficient for your needs but choosing doesn’t need to be complicated. Consider these options.
These days digital telephone service — a telephone system that digitizes calls into data and sends them over data lines or the Internet instead of telephone lines — is almost as common as plain old telephone service. Plain old telephone services, or “POTS” as they are called, rely on the same telephone lines you’ve seen used for decades.
Even though in price comparison there is really little or no difference in cost between going digital or going POTS, (average phone line costs are about $25 a phone line for either digital or POTS, depending on region), most sizable companies and businesses will rely on digital phone systems rather than POTS. Why? Digital phone systems offer more advanced features, options, and flexibility when allocating phone lines.
POTS used phone systems have the advantage of being straightforward, uncomplicated systems. They may be best utilized by the very small business or organization that may only require a single phone line. It is also important to note that some of the most inexpensive phone systems actually require a physical telephone line to work, so in these cases, POTS would be the way to go. The downside is, not all phone systems that rely on a POTS system may have access to the same features and advantages of a digital system.
Another used phone systems option may be Voice Over Internet phoning, or VoIP. This is essentially an internet connected phone service. The costs are for internet service but the calling features and convenience are the main advantages for those who are mobile with their laptops, tablet devices or do a lot of commuting between Wi-Fi equipped office locations or worksites. However, VolP systems require internet connections to be reliable and unlike traditional POTS systems, if the power goes out, so does your internet connection. It is also typical for most internet connections to require a digital phone line in order to function.
If you have VoIP at home or in a home office, the business phone lines should always use a separate digital line; otherwise, if multiple people are using the phones or the Internet — especially for high-bandwidth activities, like downloading video or video conferencing — calls might get dropped or garbled. Skimping on a mission-critical piece of infrastructure like phones is almost certainly not worth the savings.
Overall, you’ll be considering these three main options when considering used phone systems. When considering one of these three most common options, do consider how many phone lines you will actually need. The smaller businesses would be fine being serviced by a single line or two via a POTS used phone system whereas a company requiring 20 or more phone lines would be better served going digital with their used phone services or possibly with VoIP services.
Visit Clarus Communications here or call us at 855-801-6700 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff so we can work with you on finding the right use phone system for your business at the most affordable rates. Our goal is to ensure high levels of customer service plus building and maintaining a system that enables your business to run well.
Clarus Communications is a national leader that specializes in providing over 60 telecommunication and technology provider solutions and we would appreciate the opportunity to become your technology partner and help you find the best solution for you and your company.