One of your primary goals as a business owner is to be as cost efficient as possible. Simply put, if you’re able to reduce your costs, you’ll increase your profits and you’ll be able to grow your business. Now, one of the simplest ways to be more cost efficient is to not pay for something you don’t need. When it comes to business phone lines, you’ll thus need to know how many lines you need to meet the needs of your business.
If you have too few, your business’s productivity and efficiency will suffer. Conversely, if you have too many, you’ll pay too much, which means your cost efficiency will be affected. To solve this problem, this post will show you how many business phone lines you need for your business.
What is a Business Phone Line?
Generally, a business phone line is a phone line coming into your business and which you use for business purposes. The term ‘phone line’ originates from the past when physical phone lines were installed and used. However, nowadays, businesses use VoIP phones that don’t require any physical lines but rely on the internet to enable voice communications.
Yet, despite this, the term ‘phone line’ is still used today to describe these. It is, however, important to remember that, depending on how you see it, ‘phone line’ can mean different things. You might look at the phone service that your business uses as your phone line. In contrast, you might see every number an employee uses in your business as a separate phone line. Either way, it’s crucial you know what your needs are and how many lines you need for your business.
Why Would a Business Need More than One Telephone Line?
Now that we’ve seen what a business phone line is and why it’s important for you to know how many phone lines you need, let’s look at some cases in which your business might need more than one phone line.
Keep in mind, however, that the number of lines you need will largely depend on how you define a business phone line as described above. Based on this, and other aspects like your budget and your future planning, you can decide if you need more than one business phone line.
Offices
When your business has separate offices, you’ll typically need a business phone line for each location. In some cases, and even though your business only has one office, you might need more than one line. This will, for example, be the case where your business has several phone numbers customers can use to reach you.
Employees
If your employees or a specific team of employees need consistent and reliable access to a phone, you can base the number of the lines you need on the total number of employees that need such access. This will typically be the case with large companies and enterprises that need phone systems that will support a large number of employees.
In contrast, small businesses do require as many lines and can, by using a unified communications platform, connect with the customers in several different ways apart from phones.
Phones
If you use physical phones in your business, the number of devices you use might dictate the number of lines you need. For example, if you have several board rooms that each has a physical phone, you’ll need a line for each of these devices.
Call Volume
When you have high call volumes, you might also need more than one phone line. Typically, this won’t be required by small businesses but is a necessity for organizations like government agencies and educational institutions.
Average Cost Businesses Spend on Phone Systems
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how much a business phone system for your business will cost, as it ultimately depends on your business’s specific needs and requirements. However, to give you some guidance, let’s look at the two most common pricing models for VoIP phone systems.
In terms of the first pricing model, you’ll pay a monthly fee for every user that uses the system. So, for example, if you have 10 employees that each needs a phone, you’ll pay a monthly fee, for instance, $30, per month for every employee.
This is the ideal pricing model for small businesses as it allows you to pay just for what you need. Likewise, if your business grows, you can add more lines as needed. This, in turn, makes budgeting and planning easier.
The other pricing model is based on a flat rate, no matter how many employees or users you have. This is the ideal model for larger companies and organizations because they typically have high usage rates and constant fluctuations in the number of employees needing phones.
Here, flat rate pricing options make it easier for organizations to manage their communications systems. Keep in mind, however, that these flat rate pricing plans often only include a maximum number of minutes per month, and service providers charge for any overages.
Apart from these pricing models, the pricing for a business phone system will also depend on the features a business includes in their plan. Generally, the more features included, the higher the price. This means you should carefully consider how many lines you need, how many users you have, and what features you require to meet your specific needs.
Understanding How Many Phone Lines Your Business Needs is Crucial
When you want to keep your business as cost-efficient and profitable as possible, it’s crucial that you understand how many phone lines you need. Hopefully, this post helped illustrate some things you need to keep in mind when making this decision.
To find the right phone system for your business, look no further than ULTATEL. Our small business phone systems are the perfect solution for your small business phone system needs.
