Business phone systems – whether for a small business or for a large corporation – are an essential part of how you communicate with your employees, your customers, potential customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Business Phones are available in a variety of configurations, off with a long list of standard as well as advanced features.Efficient and affordable telephone communication solutions give your business a competitive edge. There are quite a few factors you will have to consider when evaluating and deciding on the business phone ideally suited to your nature and size of business. Please remember that an efficient business telephone can provide your employees the extra help they need to be more productive.There is no denying that choosing a phone system for your business can be a bit overwhelming because of the technicalities involved when comparing one phone system to another.KSU (Key System Unit) less Systems – These phone systems are indeed the best choice for small businesses having fewer than 10 employees. KSU-less system entail low initial investment as all that you need to purchase are only the phones. A KSU-less system is not permanently wired into your office, which makes it easy to shift to a new location. The one drawback of a KSU-less system is they are not expandable,Key Systems – KSU (key system unit) systems are typically for businesses with 10 to 40 employees. Key systems come with a phone cabinet that houses routing software, and it uses the public switched telephone network (PTSN) or landline system to route calls.PBX (Private Branch Exchange) Systems – These phone systems are better suited for midsize companies with more than 40 employees. PBX systems will give your organization advanced functionality, and are also highly customizable. These are fairly expensive systems and you can purchase the equipment outright and install it at your office. Alternately, you can consider hosted PBX systems where equipment is owned and managed by the provider of the system. This option can drastically cut down system costs while still offering the advanced functionality that most businesses would want from a PBX system.Voice over IP (VoIP) – VoIP phone systems can offer significant cost savings as well as many advanced and useful features. VoIP runs over Internet lines and routes your calls over a data network. VoIP systems come in several different varieties – IP-PBX, hosted VoIP, virtual PBX, and other options. VoIP systems use some combination of internet and landline connections to route calls. The drawback in using VoIP is that you are abjectly dependent on an internet connection to receive and place calls- sometimes you may experience network outages and/or limited bandwidth that can impede your phone services.Telephone systems are no doubt pricey but when you consider the true advantages of an office phone you will better appreciate their cost-effectiveness, an appropriate business phone structure can help your employees do things that were not possible before, and that can improve the way you conduct daily business transactions. This apart, it will also enhance employee productivity. Consult with your local service provider or supplier to ensure that your phone system’s features and capabilities will meet your company’s short- as well as long-term business goals.