If you are setting up a business or moving a business, one of the first things that you will need to do is to install a phone system. Unless you are a one-man business and can operate using your mobile, you are going to need a phone system for the staff that you employ. These days you can do a lot more with phones other than just make phone calls.

For example, you can make conference calls, you can have calls transferred automatically to whoever is free to take the next call, you can set up greetings to a given department, and much more.

One of the things that you will really want to consider is a cloud phone system. There are many advantages to a cloud-based phone system, the first of which is that you don't need a whole lot of equipment. All you are going to need are your handsets and an internet connection and you're away.

Apart from the handsets, you are never going to have to worry about updating any hardware or software solutions because you don't have any hardware. The company that is providing the service does that for you, and it also means that you will always be using the latest hardware and technology. This is because the cloud supplier will automatically update and keep abreast of the latest developments. It is in its' own interests to do that, because if it doesn't it won't get much new business, and existing customers may well migrate to another service which is bang up to date.

Another very big advantage, especially if you are a small business is the ability to scale. As your business grows you will take on new employees. Each of those employees is going to need a desk and phone so you have to invest in more handsets and more lines and increase or adapt your other hardware.

When you use a cloud-based system, you simply add on what you need by paying a little bit more each month for another user. Here is the best part about that. If your business declines, you won't have a lot of useless hardware that you are not using: you simply decrease the number of users and pay less each month. This is particularly useful in the case of businesses whose trade is seasonal, or for one reason or another goes up and down over the course of the year. You could have a business that needs extra staff in the summer months, for example, but then doesn't need so many in the winter. So you may take on temporary staff in the summer and lay them off in the autumn. You can do exactly the same thing with your cloud-based phone system.

Many small businesses need to be able to work from several locations, and you may have staff who work from home. They can simply log in from wherever they are with a handset, as long as they have high speed broadband, and your company phone number goes with them. You could also have calls routed to their mobile if they are out on a site somewhere.

Another big advantage for a small or medium sized business is that you have access to all of the features that would normally only be available to a big business, such as Auto Attendant, Virtual Assistant, Never Miss A Call, and so on. The cloud also provides a continuous and consistent business presence with access to email, instant messaging, CRM tools, and voice and video conferencing.

Using the Virtual Receptionist or Auto Attendant you can also route calls directly to a given department, and even create greetings to that particular department such as "XYZ Company. Welcome to our menswear department".

NEC phone systems can be used in conjunction with a cloud-based system and you can also have phone numbers from anywhere in the UK, most European countries, and the US. This means that if you want to appear to be based in Edinburgh you can have an 031 number even though you are actually physically in Cornwall. If you move premises, you can just take your phone number with you.