The 7 Business Telephone Users

RCI has been in business providing and servicing telephone equipment in the greater Roanoke Valley, Southwest and Central Virginia for over 40 years. When you’ve been in business that long you come to know customer needs. Every business telephone user is different but you come to notice patterns. Certain industries wear out their phones a lot faster. Some customers want just the basic features. Some want the bells and whistles. Some really just have one or two employees who use the phones for all that they can do.

When it comes down to it, you meet 7 types of business telephone users across different companies and industries and each one has different needs. There is some crossover but you probably fit into one or two categories. And whichever one is yours, we have the phone for you!

Super User

Today, we’ll start with the most fun category – the super user. The super user loves new equipment and features. This is the person who wants to know what the phone does and makes sure he/she is taking advantage of it! In their non-work life the super user can probably tell you which smart phone is best for you and why. 

Typically a super user will use a higher end phone and may take advantage of telephone features like enhanced call waiting, call recording and virtual answer.

The Super User may also have a lot in common with the Administrative User. As such we would likely provide  the super user with an EphoneX or Ephone8 so that they could take advantage of the many feature keys to program all the different features they could use as well as quick dial phone numbers. 

Administrative Telephone User

An administrative business telephone user is also often a Super User. The difference is the way in which the administrative user is using the equipment. The admin user answers and distributes calls for other users of the system. 

ESI Communicator is a useful tool to admin users. Through a computer interface,  the call manager allows users to see what everyone on the telephone system is doing so the admin user can know how they can transfer calls. It also allows the admin user to easily transfer those calls, place them in queue, place them in voicemail or other options. 

Typically we would provide administrative users with an Ephone X or Ephone 8  like the Super User. We may also add expansion modules so they could transfer call while seeing all users and their statuses (i.e. available, busy, on a call, out of office) simultaneously. Quite often admin users will also receive a headset so their hands can remain free. 

IT Managers and Supervisors

IT users may in some cases be in charge of setting up equipment for other users. 

Along with supervisors, IT managers may monitor how other telephone users use the equipment. Supervisors use Call Accounting tools to see the average length of a phone call or see who is spending the most and least amount of time on the phone. IT managers may be the ones who are brought in to look at Call Accounting or other software to understand why something is happening the way it’s happening. 

Admin users are typically in department like IT, managerial or reception.

The administrative user is often in charge of how other people use the system.

Both IT managers and supervisors will need special software and are likely to have an EphoneX or Ephone8 but may also use an Ephone4. 

Movers & Shakers – Business Telephone Users on the Go

Not all employees sit at a desk. Sometimes they go from department to department or even have offices in multiple locations. Maybe instead of an office they have a truck. Field technicians and outside sales representatives have to spend a lot of their time on the road but need to remain connected. 

For on-the-go employees a single desk phone isn’t practical or effective. 

These movers and shakers may or may not have a desk phone but they will definitely need our Emobile Plus smart phone app. Our smart phone app allows users to use their cell phone as an extension. 

Unlike just using a cell phone though, eMobile Plus connects back to the home office allowing users to transfer calls to and from the cell phone app and giving the app user all functionality of a desk phone – call recording, voicemail to email, office directory, everything. 

Perhaps best of all our business cell phone app allows users to keep their cell phone number private and all outgoing calls appear as if they are coming from the company’s main office (or whatever specific department or direct office number is assigned to that particular user).

If the mover and/or shaker also has an office with a desk phone, they can share the same extension so that both ring simultaneously (or sequentially) and prevents the user from having to keep up with multiple extensions and mailboxes. 

Guest Telephone User

Some phones are not assigned to a particular employee. These are phones that are placed in common areas such as break rooms or conference rooms. These phones are programmed generically to accommodate the majority of users who need them. 

A subcategory of common area phone is the public use phone. Some large businesses have a phone that the public has access to. Examples of these are large campus style organizations that sometimes requiring directions from one place to another or large buildings that require someone to call an office to be buzzed in.

Typically these phones are not the most technologically complex models and programmed to use basic functions. An ephone3 will usually suffice in these situations. Sometimes mounted door phones are also used. 

Telephobe

These days some people have become pretty enmeshed with their smart phones. They want to stick with their cell phones or computers for communication. They look at a desk phone as a waste of space and they don’t use it much anyway. For these telephobes we can provide the Emobile Plus application for their PCs or cell phones. Along with a headset, these can function in much the same ways as a regular business telephone. For those who don’t want more devices on their desk, the Emobile Plus App may be just the trick. 

Does it ring? – The Simple Business Telephone User

Some companies or users are old school. They just need a way to take calls, transfer them and maybe retrieve voice mails. “Does it ring?” they ask. We make sure it does. And for those customers we give them something simple like the Ephone3. We may even supply them with a refurbished Toshiba telephone system. 

What Kind of Business Telephone User Are You?

So, what kind of user are you? Do you fit into one of the categories, find yourself straddling a line or feel like I missed you? Let me know in the comments. If there is a category I’ve forgotten, I’ll be sure to address it.