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No matter if you are in need of a new phone system, need repairs made to your phone system or if you just need some additions or changes, you will almost always need to enlist the help of a qualified phone system technician. Some businesses have a belief that as technology advances, the need for a phone system specialist is becoming a thing of the past. The opposite is actually quite true. As phone system technology grows and advances, the need for a good tech becomes more apparent. Each businesses situation is different, and the larger a business is in terms of physical telephones, the more important your need becomes. A very small business, say an insurance office with 3 employees should have no problem employing an all in one phone system such as 4 line analog phones, a small X blue system or a small Talkswitch phone system. These the options mentioned are much better suited to being plug and play setup, although each lacks in their own way. As soon as business moves into a key phone system, whether it be small or medium sized, you will absolutely need the help of telephone system service company. Key systems such as the Norstar phone system, Avaya Partner ACS, NEC, Panasonic and such really do require a bit of know how in both their physical connection to your phone lines and station cables but they will also require a bit of expertise to initialize, turn up and program the way your business needs. We haven't even mentioned voicemail yet. For even a small company, a phone system with 5 phones and voicemail, on a fresh installation will easily take a greater part of a day to be accomplished properly. This is where your selection of company gets complicated. In any situation, a phone system installation can be completed "faster" but it's a guarantee that steps will be skipped and items will be overlooked. What you would prefer is a phone system installation to take EXACTLY the amount of time it SHOULD, without being gouged but also without being left in the dark. Physically mounting a phone system, connecting all of the wiring, testing your phone lines, testing your station cables takes time. Followed by sitting with you as the customer and taking enough to discover what it is you want and also informing you of what the phone system can do takes time. Then making all of that programming happen, training, printing of the labels for the phones, testing to make sure everything works as planned, all takes time. I encourage you to discuss with the company of your choice, exactly what is going to take place the day your phone system is installed. Ask them what steps are going to be taken in your education of the systems capabilities. Ask about hidden charges and equipment. Ask if there is anything you can do beforehand to be better prepared for installation day so that it goes smoother and more efficient. Ask if their quote is an estimate or a all inclusive price (and personally, the range is better since then the technician won't be pressed for time and cut corners) What's been noticed in Houston lately is that one of three things is generally going to happen. Small phone system shops are going to attempt to get your business fast by throwing you a "to good to be true" low dollar figure on phone system installation or repairs. Once they get there though, as always, what can go wrong, will go wrong. Once they have given you a price though, as a customer, you will attempt to hold them to it, which will only make them move faster and miss things. At the other end of the spectrum, the larger houston based phone system dealers will tell you an astronomical fee citing that they are worth the extra dollars with no real factual basis. The third situation you may find yourself in, and probably the best, is the company that quotes you a solid, by the hour rate. On a factual basis, they can inform you of a very reasonable range of hours that any given task could or should take. In this situation you will more than likely not get ripped off nor will you be left without a paddle. Another consideration for any company having any phone system work done is the scope of expertise any given company might have. For instance, you will want a company that can also manicure all of your cat3, cat5 and cat6 cable. You will want them to have knowledge of patch panels and installation. It would be nice if they also were adept at working on paging systems, both indoor and outdoor. Having all of this in one company keeps them from subcontracting that work which helps inflate the price. Now, if your business has decided to move into a voip phone system or is a very large company, more expertise and time will be required. Especially with any voip phone system, you will certainly want to take enough time during the buying process to discern if you really need or actually desire a voip phone system as well as the additional expense and maintain requirements. Aside from a new phone system, there are all kinds of reasons why a business would need to find a good phone system dealer, phone system service company or a phone system repair shop. Some businesses may have a phone system that works great, but due to internal movement of the company, such as hires & fires and physical office relocation of employees that the phone system is in bad need of some programming overhauling. This usually not only includes the extension numbers, which are given out buy the phone system in assignment but also the voicemail system. As people move extensions, its very important that your voicemail system be adjusted to properly and smoothly get callers to the correct employee within your office. Another reason that you may need a qualified phone technician might be your jacks and physical wiring. Over time, wall jacks can be worn out. Also, inside wiring can become a nightmare after years for different telephone people working on the physical connections in your phone room. Further, if you are moving to a new office, it may be that there are no cables AT ALL. Moving might be another reason you need a good technical phone guy or group. You will most certainly need a good technician to move a phone system. This technician or service company should be more concerned with the actual coordination of your physical move, cabling situation, services cut over date and the health of your current equipment than they would be in selling you a new system. I know of a company here in Houston and I will not mention any names but they are not on this list, who used to love to tell me all about how he relished customers moving offices. If he could not talk them into a new system right up front (at higher than normal prices) he would "make sure" it didn't work after moving it. The customer was then forced to take whatever they could just to be back in business the next day and of course, for more technical hours. So be sure that when you interview a company for a move that they are asking YOU the right questions. and those questions should be about when, wear and how, not "you need a new system". This list of phone system dealers will only be honest, ethical and trustworthy dealers located in Houston, Texas. These companies are known personally by the owner of this list and these companies have a long standing track record in Houston. If you need to file a complaint or a compliment about any company on this list, please use the form above, but instead, fill in your compliment or complaint! Resources | See All |
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