Multi-Line Phone System – A User Guide

Struggling to juggle a growing number of daily business phone calls? Good call handling is an essential business need, whether it’s a small business or large enterprise.

Missed calls can easily damage employee productivity, customer experience, and sales. Luckily, a multi-line phone system introduces an easy and convenient alternative designed to maximize your business efficiency and ensure your operations are running smoothly.

A multi line phone system allows you to handle more than one call at a time. By definition, it can connect multiple phone numbers to the same telephone system creating an internal network with separate extensions.

The virtual multi-line phone system uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, and depending on your service provider, you can try it out for free.

Traditional phones only allow one call to be made or received at a time. If the number is in use, your callers will be directed to a voicemail or hear a signal indicating the operator is busy.

On the other hand, a multi-line phone system will give you a few options for better call handling. The incoming call can be placed on hold until you are available again or transferred to another agent instead.

There are two ways to set it up for your office. You can either opt-in for an on-premise option or choose the more popular cloud-based alternative.

Traditional on-premise solutions usually require a deskphone, and its configuration has a setup to switch to a different telephone extension or place a call on hold with a button.

More comprehensive business phone systems such as 3CX, however, are becoming a lot more sophisticated. For instance, you can now connect multiple vendor handsets to ensure more reliable customer support and boost your CSAT score.

Thanks to VoIP and IP PBX, you can also host your extensions in the cloud. It’s a much more convenient option since you only need an internet connection to get started. Businesses can easily add additional lines and new extensions and offer limitless mobility to their employees.

There are different types of multi-line phones available on the market today. Some of the most common ones include line-based and account or subscription-based configurations.

A line-based configuration runs physical analog lines through your office; they’re also called landlines. The subsets of two, four, and five are the most commonly used, although there are those that support more.

This means a five-line system will support a group of five phone lines, and these can be either internal or external lines. You can use internal ones for communication within the office and external ones to contact customers and people outside the office.

Account or subscription-based configurations are different, as the pricing isn’t based on the number of physical landlines. Instead, separate account tiers are determined by the number of features and extensions included.

The differences between traditional and newer multi-phone systems are even more apparent when looking at the add-ons included as part of the package.

Traditional systems typically offer only essential and basic features, but modern solutions give your business the option to personalize this experience further. Below are some of the key elements that you should look out for:

It’s like having a personal assistant you’ve always dreamt of, except without the stress of hiring one.

The auto attendant can handle everything (well, almost!) – from directing incoming calls to the right person to having a conversation with the customer before an agent takes over. It makes the process more time-efficient and the agent has the opportunity to gain an angle on a customer before even picking up the phone to improve customer service.

By creating a virtual queue of incoming calls, you can promptly and professionally attend to the client calls. Typically examples of queuing include a greeting message, waiting music and a call back option.

Queuing can depend on polling strategy, waiting time, talk time, etc. By combining queueing with a digital receptionist you can also prioritize customer requests depending on their importance. For instance, clients who have specified they have an urgent issue can be allowed to skip the queue helping them reach the agent faster.

Using a simple mobile application, you can enhance your mobility by eliminating the need for additional hardware. Whether working from home or the office, remote workers will be able to attend to clients without any disruption.

If you are using a PBX system or a hosted PBX to enhance your business with a multi-line phone system, you can not only make and receive calls, but also send messages and conduct video conferences with your co-workers and customers.

This is a visual representation of everything that takes place in your system.

You can easily have a bird’s-eye view of how the call flow is handled thanks to the available statistics. These usually include the number of active calls, those on hold, agents available, and even the number of complaints marked as resolved.

By choosing some of the more advanced all-in-one communications platforms to support your multi-line system, you can also have access to MS 365 integration. You can improve your efficiency by eliminating time-consuming tasks like adding contacts when you sync Microsoft 365 with your PBX or cloud phone system.

Creation, access, and management of personal and customer records can now be done without switching between applications. This option offers a seamless experience for both employees and customers.

Multi-line phone systems hold an obvious advantage over traditional phone systems, but to get the most out of this transition, it’s crucial to consider your present business needs as much as your future ones.

If you are following the traditional route, you’ll need to contact your local telephone company to help you install all of the necessary wirings to start you off. You’ll need to invest in the hardware and probably hire a skilled technician to manage the maintenance.

Alternatively, you can gain access to a multi-line phone system enhanced with a feature-rich cloud IP PBX in just 20 minutes! Find a local partner online or try 3CX free today.