Chapter 2: Making (And Living with)Telecom Decisions

In This Chapter

• Determining how many phone lines you need

• Finding your phone system

• Identifying and evaluating the system

• Understanding the cost of going dedicated

• Preventing fraud

• Negotiating the best telecom deal for you

The good news about the world of telecom is that it is always changing. The other good news about telecom is that it stays the same. You can buy a cellphone right now that can surf the Internet, access your e-mail, and send pictures and video. You can also buy a vintage rotary-dial phone from 1935, plug it into the wall jack in your house, and it will work just as well as the day it was built. So even though telecom is in a constant state of expansion, the continuity enables almost every era of the technology to remain in use today. As new services are released, they fit within the existing infrastructure, but never replace it.

An old phone system is not necessarily worthless, and a new system is not always mandatory. The changes you make to your telecom system depend on your company’s needs. As carriers roll out more services, you may find yourself overwhelmed by all the hardware and service choices that appear on your invoice, and the basic tenets of how to decide what to do next. Don’t worry. This chapter gives you an understanding to deal with all of it.