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FAQ
At American Business Telephone Systems, Inc., we've done our best to create a Web site that anticipates and satisfies our customers' needs. With that goal in mind, we've compiled a list of frequently asked questions. If you do not find an answer to your question here, contact us at 949-770-1225 or sales.
Telephone Systems
- Why should I buy a telephone system instead of multi line telephones?
- What does proprietary mean in regards to telephone systems?
- What exactly is a “port” in a telephone system?
- What does “CO line” mean?
- What is the difference between a line and an extension?
- Why do I have to dial 9 before I can make a call?
- How many lines should I have in my system?
- What does “Call Hunting” mean?
- What is a “Pilot Number”?
- Who provides the Call Hunting service?
- Do you recommend any particular service provider?
- How big of a system should I purchase?
- What are the differences between Analog systems and Digital systems?
- What is an “Extra Device Port”?
- What is an Extra Data Port used for?
- What is meant by “One Pair” versus “Two Pair” systems?
- What is Voice Over IP (VOIP) and how does it affect me?
Voice Mail Systems
- Why should I purchase a voice mail system instead of using the voice mail offered by my service provider?
- What is a “port” in regards to voice mail systems?
- How many voice mail ports should I plan on?
- What is meant by “Full Time Auto Attendant”?
- What is the significance to the number of ports versus the number of lines that I have in my telephone system?
- Why do my callers sometimes get a busy signal instead of getting my voice mail system?
- I have multiple companies in my office. Can one voice mail system give different greetings based on the number that is called?
Basic Troubleshooting
- My phone is broken, is it really my phone or something more...
- My phone will not ring, what are the possible problems?
- I hear static on the line...
- One of my phone lines does not work at all anymore...
- My voice mail box is broken...
- My voice mail system is broken...
- My voice mail system keeps dropping callers...
Telephone System Answers
- Why should I buy a telephone system instead of multi line telephones?
- The primary purpose behind a true business telephone system is that of providing the user with a tool to help drive business. Multi line telephones have no sophistication, and lack any of the capabilities of business telephone systems.
- One of the main concerns is that of distributing multiple lines throughout the office. Multi line telephones can only accommodate as many lines as they are initially designed for - usually capping out at 4 lines. Business telephone systems can handle 100’s of lines.
- However, even if your business is only set up to have a couple of telephone lines, there are many reasons to choose a business system over multi line phones:
- Inner office intercom - providing instant communications between desks within your office.
- In house voice mail - providing individual mail boxes for all the phone users in your office.
- Customizable programming for your business needs.
- Full Time Auto Attendant - with an in house voice mail system, callers can be directed to the appropriate party without the need for a receptionist or a person dedicated to answering the telephones.
- After Hours Attendant - the in house voice mail system can help your clients get to the right person with their needs thus alleviating the need to constantly sort messages out and distribute them in the morning.
- Please call our office at (949) 770-1225 so that we may better inform you of the capabilities of any true business telephone system.
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- What does proprietary mean in regards to telephone systems?
- All of the major manufacturers of telephone systems and voice mails design their products in similar ways. However, they are all different in their basic manufacturing process and structure. This leads to the necessity of purchasing and using product specific phones and accessories. Each of the major manufacturers wants you to be happy with their product, and by ensuring the quality of the way each individual part works with the others, they help to further this cause. Also of note, this also means that any manufacturer will not support, or provide assistance with, products that are not specifically designed to work with their phone systems.
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- What exactly is a “port” in a telephone system?
- Business telephone systems use ports to identify the capabilities and capacity of each main unit and the expansion cards that can go into it. A port is either a:
- CO line or;
- An extension: digital, analog or Single Line Telephone.
- Usually, you will see phone systems referred to by the number of ports that they can accommodate. However, you must bear in mind the configuration of the cards for the cabinet, and the number of slots available in the cabinet. For example, if the cabinet you are considering has five slots, some of the slots will need to be reserved for your incoming telephone lines and others will need to be reserved for your phones.
- Most cards for telephone systems will be for one port type or the other and will come configured for multiple ports of that particular type (a 4 CO line port card, an 8 digital extension port card, a 16 single line telephone port card).
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- What does CO line mean?
- What is the difference between a line and an extension?
- A line refers to the dial tone that you get from your service provider, whereas an extension is a physical phone that sits on your desk. An extension can also be a port in the voice mail system, a single line phone, a portable single line phone, a special conference room phone, etc.
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- Why do I have to dial 9 before I can make a call?
- There are a couple of reasons that this can happen:
- If your service provider requires a 9 before each call, you will have to do this regardless of your telephone system and its programming. There are several areas where this is common, and you should ask your service provider about the possibility of removing this feature.
- When you pick up your phone with a telephone system, you initially get intercom dial tone. This is done for many reasons. First and foremost, the majority of telephone systems use intercom as the basis for desk set options, programming and speed dial. Also, in order to access your in house voice mail system, you must do so via the intercom on your phone.
- With business telephone systems, when you access intercom and dial 9 to get an outside line, you are telling the system to give you the first available line to make an outside call. This helps to avoid the awkward instances where you push one of your line buttons to make a call and there is already someone on the line.
- Whatever the case, please talk with your service provider and your system programmer about your options.
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- How many lines should I have in my system?
- This is heavily dependent on the call volume for your office and the number of employees that will be on the phone at any given moment. As a general rule, always figure on having at least twice the number of telephone lines in your system than the number of employees that you expect to be placing outgoing calls at any given time. This insures that you will not have clients getting busy signals when they call your office. If your company is in an industry that relies mostly on phone generated business, this ratio will obviously need to be larger.
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- What does Call Hunting mean?
- Call Hunting is the ability for multiple callers to place a call to the same telephone number and have the calls roll from one line to the next. Sometimes referred to as “Rollover Lines”, the lines in the call hunting sequence are called a Hunt Group.
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- What is a Pilot Number?
- The Pilot Number is the first number in your hunt group. Most clients also refer to this as the “Main Number”. You can have multiple hunt groups in your office, and thus you would have multiple Pilot Numbers. You may also have a hunt group for a bank of fax machines, and then have Pilot Number for this as well.
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- Who provides the Call Hunting service?
- Do you recommend any particular service provider?
- American Business Telephone Systems does not have any specific, or general, recommendations for your choice of service provider. Most service providers will give competitive rates and you should choose the one you are most comfortable with.
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- How big of a system should I purchase?
- As with any major purchase, you should look to the future when purchasing your telephone system and plan for the growth of your company. Buying a telephone system that is perfect for today, but does not have the expansion capabilities of a more expensive system might necessitate repurchasing the system in two or three years as your company grows. However, in today’s economy, we understand the need for keeping the bottom line as low as possible, and can provide you with quote for any size telephone system you desire.
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- What are the differences between Analog systems and Digital systems?
- While there are many differences between the two technologies, there are a couple that are of significance when deciding on which type of phone system to buy:
- Analog telephone systems require two pairs of wire versus one pair of wire for most digital systems. In a typical office, most phone runs are done with four pair cable. This means that you can connect a maximum of two analog extensions on that one particular cable. A digital system would allow you to connect four full digital extensions using the same cable run.
- Analog systems use older technology to accomplish the same goals as digital systems. Even though they are “state of the art” as well, analog systems provide less sophistication in programming and use, and are usually priced cheaper than digital systems.
- Please call us at (949) 770-1225 for further clarification as to the differences between these two technologies.
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- What is an Extra Device Port?
- What is an Extra Data Port used for?
- There are several ways in which an Extra Device Port can be put to use by the typical office employee and/or IT manager:
- It can be used to with the modem of your desktop computer to link it to the extension enabling you to use your Contact Manager program to assist in making, and keeping track of, telephone calls you place at your desk.
- It can be used to connect a single line device, separate from your extension, to your telephone system to place outbound phone calls (such as a modem for dial up access using your system telephone lines, a fax machine used for sending faxes only, etc.)
- It can be used to connect a single line portable phone that is bound to your extension so you can roam from your desk and have it ring simultaneously with the telephone on your desk.
- It can be used to connect a single line wireless headset for the same purpose above.
- It can be split off from your extension in the equipment room and rerouted to a different location for a single line telephone or other device where you may not need a fully functioning system telephone (such as in the break room, the conference room, or for an external phone to call into the building for access).
- Whatever the scenario, these Extra Device Ports are extremely useful tools in everyday business. Please be sure to ask if your telephone system is capable of these ports.
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- What is meant by “One Pair” versus “Two Pair” systems?
- This refers to the number of pairs of wires required to power the telephones in your system. Typical telephone cable that is pulled in the office contains four pairs of wire. Modern telephone systems require either one or two of these pairs to drive each extension in the office. In comparison, the very first telephone systems required a full 25 pairs of wire to power each individual telephone. This is the reason for the majority of “rats nests” of wire and cable you see in many older offices’ equipment rooms.
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- What is Voice Over IP (VOIP) and how does it affect me?
- Voice Over Internet Protocol is the wave of the future for connecting companies and driving business. Currently in its infancy, it does not quite meet the needs of businesses due to inconsistent call quality and connectivity. However, as the technology progresses, and voice transmissions are given priority over data, this will be more and more commonly found in every office in the United States and abroad. The most attractive feature of VOIP is that of cutting long distance rates and expenditures.
- Also of note, most of the major telephone system manufacturers are now turning to VOIP as a means of connecting offices in different locations. Enabling their phone systems to communicate with one another over existing Wide Area Networks (WANs), some companies have provided a solution that rids companies of paying for additional PRI/QSIG or TIE lines to connect their offices. This means that you would be able to pick up your handset at your desk and dial an extension number on your intercom and connect to the desk of a fellow employee across the globe.
- Please ask a sales or technical representative at (949) 770-1225 to provide you with more information regarding VOIP and your phone system.
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Voice Mail System Answers
- Why should I purchase a voice mail system instead of using the voice mail offered by my service provider?
- One of the main advantages to having an in house voice mail system over one offered by your provider is that of individual mail boxes for every user in your phone system. This means that each individual will have their own personal mail box, with a light on their system telephone to visually indicate when there are new messages in their box waiting for them.
- Also, in house voice mail systems give a large degree of flexibility with multiple custom service menus, allowing you to better inform and direct your callers either during business hours (in the case of companies using the voice mail system as a Full Time Auto Attendant), or after hours.
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- What is a “port” in regards to voice mail systems?
- Much like a port in the main telephone system, a port in the voice mail represents a talk path between both inside callers (checking their voice mail boxes, changing their personal greetings, etc.) and outside callers who are navigating the custom service menus or leaving messages for individuals in your office.
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- How many voice mail ports should I plan on?
- This depends highly the incoming call volume for your office and if you are planning on using your system as a Full Time Auto Attendant.
- For offices with moderate to heavy incoming call volume, and are employing a receptionist to answer all incoming calls or have other means of calls being answered (other than the voice mail system), we recommend one port of voice mail for every two lines you have in your system. Please see the answer below for more on this issue.
- For offices with light incoming call volume, who are answering the phones live as they come in, we recommend one port of voice mail for every three to four lines you have in your telephone system, with a minimum of two ports of voice mail (which actually the smallest voice mail system available)
- For offices with moderate to heavy incoming call volume that are using the voice mail system as a Full Time Auto Attendant, we recommend one port of voice mail for every one to two lines you have in your telephone system.
- For offices with light incoming call volume that are using the voice mail system as a Full Time Auto Attendant, we recommend one port of voice mail for every two to three lines you have in your telephone system
- For more information and clarification please contact a sales or technical representative in our office at (949) 770-1225.
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- What is meant by “Full Time Auto Attendant”?
- Full Time Auto Attendant is when your voice mail system is answering every incoming call as it comes in live. There are several reasons that you may want to have your system use Full Time Auto Attendant:
- Most often, you will have your system in auto attendant mode for after hours operation. This assists your clients, lessening the amount of time before they are actually leaving a message in someone’s voice mail box to be retrieved the next business day. Also, you can assist your clients by providing them information, after normal business hours, that they might otherwise have to wait until the next business day to speak with a representative of your company to help them.
- You may want to alleviate the need for a full time representative of your company to be designated to handle all incoming phone calls. The voice mail system, in auto attendant mode, can replicate the services of a full time receptionist.
- You may need to have the phones answered during the day immediately when some or all of your employees are out of the office for an extended period.
- You may want to use the Full Time Auto Attendant feature to provide your clients with the simulation that your company is larger than it actually is.
- If you would like further clarification, or some guidance as to whether Full Time Auto Attendant is right for you, please call our office at (949) 770-1225 and speak with a sales or technical representative.
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- What is the significance to the number of ports versus the number of lines that I have in my telephone system?
- As described above, the number of ports needed in your voice mail system is directly related to the number of telephone lines that you have, and your incoming call volume. As a general average, we recommend one port of voice mail for every two lines that you have in your telephone system.
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- Why do my callers sometimes get a busy signal instead of getting my voice mail system?
- This is the major difference between an in house voice mail system and the voice mail that is offered by your dial tone provider. When a call is placed to your office, there must be a line that is free in your system for it to reach your in house voice mail system. Otherwise, your caller will receive a busy (reorder) tone from the telephone company. The voice mail that is offered by your dial tone provider will answer in this case. The way to solve this issue, while maintaining an in house voice mail system and all of its benefits, is to add more lines to your telephone system and hunt group.
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- I have multiple companies in my office. Can one voice mail system give different greetings based on the number that is called?
- Depending on the manufacturer of the voice mail system that you are considering, this answer can be yes or no. Panasonic voice mail systems excel in this department, providing individual company greetings on a line by line basis. This offers the capability of separate company appearances for every single line you have if you need. Other voice mail system manufacturers would require that the ports of the voice mail be split between the companies and that the lines be directed to separate ports in the telephone system it self.
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Basic Troubleshooting Answers
- My phone is broken, is it really my phone or something more...
- There are several steps to troubleshooting a broken phone. First we must ask some questions:
- Does your phone work at all?
- Can you draw dial tone? Can you make calls? Can you see a display on the phone?
- If so, this may be a programming issue, not a phone issue. You may want to try step two prior to calling our office to see if it relieves the problem.
- If not, proceed to step two.
- If you phone does not work at all, there may be a variety of things that could be wrong with it.
- To begin the process, check to make sure that your phone is plugged into the correct jack on the wall, and that the base cord is plugged in to the correct jack on the back of the phone (which will be labeled “line” or “to EMSS” or “to main unit”, but not “to tel” or “aux”).
- Check to make sure that the base cord you are using has four gold pins in it (not two) and that the pins are clean and free of debris. If both of these steps are accurate, proceed to the next step.
- Next, locate a working system phone in your office and unplug it from the wall (this is very important to the troubleshooting process, you must bring the entire unit, including the base cord, to your desk.)
- Plug the phone that you know is good directly into the wall at your location. Does it now work correctly?
- If not, call our office at (949) 770-1225.
- If it does work, proceed to the next step.
- Unplug the base cord from the phone that works and plug it into the back of the phone on your desk in to the proper jack Does your phone now work correctly?
- If it does work, buy a new base cord, problem solved!
- If it does not work, proceed to the next step.
- Using the same “good” phone and base cord, replace the handset unit and cord from the phone on your desk. Does your phone work correctly now?
- If it does work, swap out only the hand set unit and not the hand set cord to find out which one is the problem and then call our office.
- If it does not work, unfortunately, the base unit of your phone is defective and must be replace. Please call our office with the model number of the phone which should be located on a sticker on the underside of your telephone.
- We hope that these steps have helped you in determining the problem with your telephone. If not, please don’t hesitate to call us at (949) 770-1225 and speak with at representative that will be able to assist you further.
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- My phone will not ring, what are the possible problems?
- Your phone is not programmed to ring for incoming calls.
- Your ringer is turned off on your phone. Please check the following:
- On the side or back of your phone, look for a switch that says ringer or has a small bell next to it. Move the switch to the highest possible position and check to see if this solves the problem.
- On your display, check to see if it reads RNGOFF. If so, press the small black button under this message and dial the ringer back up again. If you see nothing that says RING or RNGOFF, press the shift key next to the display to toggle the setting and then check.
- You have Do Not Disturb, or Forward All Calls, turned on. Either refer to your user manual for your phone for the instructions on how to turn off this feature, or press the FWD/DND or DND key to turn it off.
- You have accidentally programmed your voice mail box not to transfer calls to you. Please call our office for assistance with this issue at (949) 770-1225 or refer to your voice mail subscriber’s guide for more information.
- If nothing here helps to solve the problem, you can refer to the answer above to see if your phone is not working at all, or contact us for further assistance.
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- I hear static on the line...
- The majority of the time, static on a telephone line is a problem that can only be rectified by your service provider. However, there are several steps to take to insure that this is in fact the case:
- Is the static only on one telephone line (not on the extension itself)?
- Is the static present on the same line at all extensions in your office?
- If both of these things are true, can you locate the line in your telephone system and swap the port to a port that is not having problems. If the static follows to the new location (for example, line two has static, you swap it with line one in your phone system and now line one has static) then the problem is definitely not in your telephone system and you must call your service provider for assistance. We can help with this matter in proving that your system is not the problem, and prove that the static exists at the MPOE, however usually you can have your service provider fix this problem without the need for a service call from our company.
- If the problem is static only at one extension, and can not be replicated at other extensions, please use the steps found here to see if the problem is your phone or the port for your extension.
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- One of my phone lines does not work at all anymore...
- Much like the problem above, most occurrences of this nature must be rectified by your service provider. You can try and swap the line ports around to verify that it is not the line port in your system prior to calling your service provider. This will give you some ground to stand on when you inform them that they need to fix the problem.
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- My voice mail box is broken...
- Check to verify that your voice mail box is not full. Full voice mail boxes contribute to 80% of the problems encountered by most users. It is not healthy for your voice mail system, which is a small computer, to be full all the time. Make sure you delete your old messages on a regular basis.
- If you have inadvertently changed your password and do not remember what it is, call our office at (949) 770-1225 for assistance with this matter.
- If your voice mail box is not transferring calls to you, not lighting your message waiting light, or not recording messages, there are a number of things that could be wrong:
- Not Transferring Calls:
- Your Do Not Disturb or Forward All Calls setting is turned on.
- You have inadvertently set your voice mail box to not attempt to call you when calls come in.
- For either of these problems, please refer to your user manual for your phone and/or your subscriber guide for your voice mail system for instructions on how to fix the problem, or contact our office for further assistance.
- Not Lighting Message Waiting Light:
- You have inadvertently programmed your voice mail box to not notify you when you have messages any more.
- Your message waiting light on your phone is not working correctly.
- Someone in your office has inadvertently lit the message waiting light at your extension from there phone and it will not clear, thus preventing you from using it to access your voice mail box.
- For any of these problems, please refer to your user manual for your phone and/or your subscriber guide for your voice mail system for instructions on how to fix the problem, or contact our office for further assistance.
- Not Recording Messages:
- Your voice mail box is full. Delete some or all of your saved messages.
- You have inadvertently changed your voice mail box settings to interview mode, or non recording mode. Please refer to your subscriber guide for information on how to rectify this situation or call our office for further assistance.
- We hope that we have provided some assistance with these answers. If you feel that you need further help with this, or the manuals/guides are a bit much, please don’t hesitate to contact our office at (949) 770-1225.
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- My voice mail system is broken...
- Is your voice mail system plugged in and working? Check to make sure that the light on your voice mail system is lit up.
- Is your voice mail system communicating with your phone system? Check to make sure that the light on your voice mail system is solid, and not blinking.
- You could try to cycle the power on your voice mail system to try and get it to sync back up with your phone system.
- You could try to cycle the power on your phone system to try and clear any software glitches that may be present preventing communication with your voice mail system.
- PLEASE NOTE: Cycling the power on either your voice mail system or your telephone system could result in loss of programming. Do not attempt this if you are not sure that your memory back up for programming is still good. American Business Telephone Systems, Inc. is not liable for any troubleshooting steps that you take with your phone system that result in damage or loss of operability of your equipment.
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- My voice mail system keeps dropping callers...
- The most common cause for this problem is people calling your office from their cellular phones. Voice mail systems recognize a drop in service as a disconnected call and end the call in order to free up the line. If this is happening on a regular basis, please consult with your caller to identify where and when this is happening. If it is happening to all callers, please call our office for further assistance with this matter.
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**PLEASE NOTE: American Business Telephone Systems, Inc. is not liable for any damage or loss of operability of your equipment due to your troubleshooting efforts. The following answers are only provided as a method of assisting you without the need for a service call. If you feel in any way that you may damage your equipment by following these steps, or you are uncomfortable troubleshooting on your own, please call our office at (949) 770-1225 to schedule a service call. **
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