Office Phone Systems, Installed by People Who Answer the Phone.
An office phone system is three things: the phones on the desks, the system that routes the calls, and whoever you reach when something needs to change. Phonewire supplies all three. Real desk phones programmed for how your office works, an internet-proof option so every phone keeps working when your connection fails, and a person in the U.S. on the line by the third ring.
See It Work Book a 30-Minute ConsultationWhat you are actually buying
Most of what gets sold as an “office phone system” is one piece of the system. A box of handsets from an office-supply site is phones with nothing behind them. A monthly app subscription is the routing with no phones and nobody to set it up. A copper line from the phone company is the line, and the phone company is retiring those.
A working office phone system is the handsets, the call routing and the lines, chosen together and installed by someone who will still pick up when you call next year. That is the whole of what Phonewire does, and has done since 1998.
The phones
Office telephones at every seat that needs one, cordless handsets where people move, and apps on the computer or cell for people who are rarely at a desk. We program every one before it goes on the desk, so the buttons do what your office expects: hold, transfer, paging, the receptionist’s line.
The system
The part that answers, routes and records: the auto attendant, ring groups, voicemail, call recording and the rules for after hours. It can live in the cloud, in your building, or both. Which one fits depends on your office, not on what a vendor happens to sell.
The lines
How calls reach the outside world. For most offices that is now voice over your internet connection, which is why what happens when the internet fails matters more than any feature list. We install an option that keeps every desk phone working when it does.
Cloud, on-premises or hybrid
Every system we install is one of three kinds. None of them is the right answer for everyone, which is why the consultation comes before the quote.
Cloud
The system runs on servers we manage; your phones connect to it over your internet connection. Nothing to maintain in a closet, easy to add a seat or a second location, and the same system reaches staff working from home. The trade-off is that it depends on your internet, which is where the internet-proof option comes in.
On-premises
The system lives in your building and you own it outright. Favoured by offices that want a fixed cost after the install, have more than a handful of phones, or simply prefer equipment they control. Day-to-day changes after install are still ours to make, at no charge.
Hybrid
The system in your building, with cloud lines for the outside world and apps for people on the road. Calls between desks never touch the internet. For offices that have lived through an outage, this is usually the conversation we end up having.
Not sure which you need? How Phonewire works walks through the decision in plain terms.
The words you will hear while shopping
A private branch exchange (PBX) is the part that routes calls inside a business. Every office has one, whether it sits in a closet or in the cloud; the old key systems and today’s PBX systems do the same job in different places. VoIP (voice over IP) means the phone calls travel over a data connection instead of a copper line. A VoIP system with VoIP phones on the desks is what nearly every office installs now, and call quality on one comes down to the internet connection and how the network is set up, which our technicians check before the install, not after.
Cloud-based or hosted means the PBX runs on the provider’s servers rather than yours. Unified communications is the vendor phrase for calls, voicemail, chat, texting and video handled by one system through one app. Ring groups ring several phones at once; call queues hold callers in order until someone in the group is free, which is how a customer service line keeps working when three people call at the same time. None of these words should change what you buy. The questions that matter are how many people, how many calls at once, and what happens when the internet drops.
How many lines and extensions does an office need?
Fewer lines than most people think, and exactly as many extensions as there are places someone answers a phone. An extension is a phone or an app with its own number. A line, in the old sense, is a call that can be happening at the same time as another. An office of twelve people rarely has more than three or four calls going at once, so it needs twelve extensions and four concurrent calls, not twelve lines.
Count the desks, the shared spaces (conference room, warehouse, front counter), and the people who need an app instead of a phone. Then think about the busiest ten minutes of your week, and how many calls were up at once. Those two numbers size the system. We confirm them on the consultation call and put them on the quote as line items, so you can see what each seat costs and what you are not paying for.
Small businesses and offices of five to forty people are the ones we install most, and they have a page of their own. Larger offices and businesses with more than one location are quoted the same way, with the sites tied into one system so a call can be transferred from one building to another as if it were down the hall.
Three things the system has to do
1. Keep working when the internet does not
If your phones run over your internet connection, the question is not whether it will fail but what the phones do when it does. The usual answer from a phone vendor is to forward the main number to somebody’s cell. That is one person answering one line, with no hold, no transfer and no way for anyone else to make a call. Phonewire installs an internet-proof phone system instead: when the connection fails, the system moves on its own to a separate wireless data connection that has nothing to do with your internet provider, and every desk phone keeps doing everything it was doing a minute earlier. Calls in, calls out, hold, transfer, paging. It is an option available on every system we install, and it is the first thing we talk about.
2. Put a person on the phone
When something needs changing, you should be able to call and reach someone who knows your system, not a menu, a bot or a ticket queue. Phonewire’s support is unlimited, by telephone, from the U.S., and a real person picks up by the third ring. Most of what you will ever need is handled remotely on that call. For the equipment we install, we also have technicians we can send to your site.
3. Be installed, not shipped
A system that arrives in a box with a setup guide is a project for you. A system installed by our technicians is a morning. We mount and wire the phones, program every extension and ring group, port your numbers, test every line from every desk and train your staff before we leave. How we install covers it step by step.
What you get that an app-only plan will not give you
| Capability | Phonewire | Typical ship-it-yourself vendor |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | Our technicians, at your location | A box and a setup guide |
| Phones programmed before the first call | Every extension, every button | You configure them |
| When the internet fails | Internet-proof option: every desk phone keeps working | Forward the main number to a cell |
| Support | Unlimited, by telephone, U.S.-based, third ring | Chat, tickets or a call center abroad |
| Changes after install | Call us; we make them | Self-service portal |
| Your existing wiring and numbers | Reused and ported | Usually yours to sort out |
The app-only plans are not bad products. They are products for offices that have someone on staff to run them. Most offices do not.
What comes with every system we install
The features below are part of the systems we install, not add-ons to upsell later. Each links to its own page if you want the detail.
Auto attendant and ring groups
Callers reach the right desk the first time, with caller ID on every phone. Sales rings sales, service rings service, and the receptionist sees it all.
Voicemail to email and transcription
Messages land in the inbox as audio and text, so nobody dials in to check voicemail.
Desktop and mobile apps
Your extension on a laptop or a cell phone, with the office number showing, for people who work from home or office, or from the road.
Business texting
Send and receive texts from your main number, so customers can text the number already on your door.
Paging and intercom
Overhead paging and door intercom tied to the same system, from any desk phone.
Software integrations
Screen pops and call logging into the CRM or helpdesk your office already uses.
Replacing an old system
If you are replacing a system rather than starting from nothing, most of what is in the walls can stay. The systems we install run on the Cat 5 or Cat 6 already in the building, and in many older offices on the Cat 3 that is there; we check the cabling before we quote so there is no surprise afterwards. Your numbers come with you. The old phones usually do not, and that is the one part of the project worth replacing.
We replace NEC, Avaya, Mitel, Allworx, Switchvox, ESI, Nortel and AT&T Merlin systems regularly, and each of those pages explains what the migration involves for that brand. If your system is on a copper line the carrier is retiring, POTS line replacement is the place to start.
From first call to installed
A 30-minute consultation. We ask how your office works: who answers, who transfers, where people sit, what happens after five. We count desks and concurrent calls, and we ask about the last time the internet went down.
An itemized quote. Phones, system, installation and support as separate lines, with the internet-proof option shown as its own line so you can see what it costs and decide.
Installation. Our technicians at your location: wiring checked, phones mounted and programmed, numbers ported, every line tested, staff trained before we leave.
After. You call, a person answers by the third ring, and day-to-day changes are made at no charge. That part does not end.
See It WorkOr call (800) 857-1517. Three rings, then a person who installs these systems for a living.
Office phone systems FAQ
What is the difference between an office phone system and a business phone system?
Nothing, in practice. “Office phone system” usually means phones for a single location with desks; “business phone system” is the broader term and takes in warehouses, shops, clinics and companies with several sites. Phonewire installs both, and the same three parts apply: phones, system, lines.
How many phone lines does a small office need?
Count how many calls happen at the same moment during your busiest ten minutes, not how many people work there. An office of twelve usually needs twelve extensions and three or four concurrent calls. We confirm the numbers on the consultation and the quote lists them as separate items.
Do office phones work without internet?
Phones that run over your internet connection stop when it does, unless the system has somewhere else to go. Phonewire installs an internet-proof option, available on every system, that moves the phones to a separate wireless data connection on its own so calls in, calls out, hold, transfer and paging all keep working. Forwarding the main number to a cell phone is not the same thing.
Can we keep our phone numbers?
Yes. We port your existing numbers to the new system as part of the installation, and the numbers on your door, your trucks and your invoices stay the same.
Cloud or on-premises: which should we choose?
Cloud suits offices that want nothing to maintain and expect to add seats or locations. On-premises suits offices that want to own the system outright. Hybrid keeps the system in the building and uses cloud lines for the outside world. We quote whichever fits after the consultation, and we tell you which one we would pick for your office and why.
Do you install outside the St. Louis area?
Yes. Phonewire installs office phone systems nationwide, with on-site technicians in the cities we serve, and ties multi-location businesses into one system.
Get an office phone system that just works
Tell us how many desks you have and what happened the last time the internet went down. You will get a plain answer and an itemized quote.
See It Work Book a 30-Minute Consultation