As you determine the right IP phones for your organization, here are some questions to ask to help you select the kind of phones that best fit your business:

1.Who will use the phones?

IP phones have a wide range of features and functionality depending on the typical usage. Phones are designed for a variety of uses, including by executives, professionals, operators and call center agents. IP phones that are used in lobbies, lunchrooms or other common areas may have a streamlined feature set.

Executive - An executive or an executive assistant may need a 12-line phone that has an excellent quality speakerphone and a large color display. Support for a Bluetooth headset may be desired for cordless hands-free calling.

Professional - Professionals, executives and executive assistants who spend a large chunk of their day on the phone may need a “professional” level phone. Three to six lines may be appropriate, as well as a bright, back-lit color display, a full-duplex speakerphone and an integrated headset jack. Design professionals, media creators and others who work with bandwidth-intensive applications may want their IP phone to provide support for Gigabit Ethernet for higher performance.

Essential - For open areas such as lobbies, visitor offices, classrooms and dorm rooms, a more basic phone is usually warranted. In these scenarios, a single-line phone with a two-way speakerphone, and a one-line display to show caller ID is typically sufficient.

2.How does the phone sound?

IP phones with high-fidelity sound (also known as wideband) quite simply sound better. For instance, ShoreTel’s phones deliver seven octaves of range, whereas many phones deliver only three octaves. Hi-fidelity sound is easier to understand and is less tiring on the listener.

3.How does the phone look?

Office phones may be practical, but they are also part of the décor. Do the phones come in different colors? Is it possible to customize the background image on the phone, such as with a company logo or message? ShoreTel’s phones are designed to look elegant and come in both black and silver.

4.How does the phone feel?

Knowledge workers may spend hours on conference calls each day. Contact center agents may spend all day on the phone. Ergonomics is important. At ShoreTel, we strive to make phones that are beautiful, comfortable and practical. Our contoured handset rests comfortably against the ear, which maximizes productivity and minimizes user fatigue. The touch screen enabled IP 655 provides haptic feedback allowing a user to get positive physical feedback when interacting with the screen.

5.What features are needed?

Most IP phones come with a set of basic features, including three-way calling, call waiting, and call-rollover, but there are a broad array of other features and functionality to consider.

Hi-fidelity sound (wideband)
Speakerphone performance
Color or grayscale display
Number of Ethernet ports
Support for Gigabit Ethernet
Power over Ethernet
Headset support
Support for multiple languages

6.Where is the person located?

If the person works from home or a remote office, consider a phone with an integrated virtual private network (VPN) client for added security. For instance, remote workers can connect a ShoreTel IP phone to a broadband router, and quickly establish a secure tunnel to the ShoreTel VPN Concentrator. The phone will then act as though it was in the office

7.How do you configure and manage the phones?

A phone system that’s easy to manage will keep operational costs low. For example, once a ShoreTel phone is plugged into the network, ShoreTel Director automatically discovers it and adds it to the system. The phone can then be centrally managed as part of the enterprise network. As new software releases become available, all IP phones can be updated automatically, which also simplifies ongoing management.