Toshiba Phone System

Office Telephone systems?

I have a small business with 5 employees. Each needs their own phone, I want one number for the office with different extensions for each employee. Do I need to purchase some sort of switch for my business, or can i simply splice all the lines together and let the telephone service provider take care of the rest?

Public Comments

1. You need a switch of some sort. You can have one installed in you premises or depending who your service provider is you could have something like feature line installed. With feature line the switch is at the exchange & you have a direct line for each of your 5 employees. Each employee has a direct dial in number an extension number & you would get a main number which will ring across all 5 lines. A switch installed in your office will be more expensive than having feature line installed but buying your own switch may work out cheaper in the long run. I would personally have a switch installed in the office where the employees are working
2. sure, you can just parallel all the phones, you need to remember that your telephone is the same as your front door. Callers judge your business by your phones. If a customer is turned away by a cheap phone system, it is the same as a locked front door. Your choice.... What you need is called a KSU - Key Service Unit. You have 5 extension so you need a small KSU. You choose the KSU by the lines and stations you need. A "308" would be 3 lines, 8 stations. Check out www.hello-direct.com for Panasonic systems that you can install yourself. Also, Panasonic makes a nice "KSU-less" system. These are normally limited to 2 or MAYBE 3 lines. They allow you to HOLD, INTERCOM, CONFERENCE, but not much more. A KSU allows you to transfer calls, as well as hold, conference, intercom and direct calls to different stations.