HBC

Home & Business Communication

888-969-3443

Frequently Asked Questions

ARE YOU SICK OF ROBO CALL ALL THE TIME

After September 1, consumers who receive prerecorded telemarketing calls but have not agreed to get them should file a complaint with the Commission, either on the donotcall.gov Web site or by calling 1-888-382-1222.

The Commission’s 2008 press release announcing the changes to the TSR’s prerecorded telemarketing provisions and a link to the related Federal Register notice can be found on the FTC’s Web site at:http://www2.ftc.gov/opa/2008/08/tsr.shtm.

HBC IS HERE TO HELP YOU!!!

Many companies today have purchased telephone equipment that was just right for their companyat the time. Only to find out that as their company grows, the phone system could not. Estimating your future growth today may cause you problems in your telephone system later.

These are questions you need to consider when purchasing a telephone system. We want you to get the best system for the present and future of your company.

"Well I need 4 phones so I must need 4 lines, right?"

NO! Picking phone lines really depends on the number of calls you receive in a day, how many phones lines will be used at the same time. If you were running a sales office and you had 4 phones lines with 4 sales people and they were all on there phones, new callers would get a busy signal. You would more likely need 6 to 8 phone lines. A fax line can be shared with the credit card terminal, shipping terminal or anything else, just not at the same time. If you have a ratio that follows-- Management 1:1 (one line for every manger) Engineers 1:3 (one line for every three engineers) Office Staff 1:2 (one line for every two staff).

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Can I add phone equipment to increase the number of phones or phone lines?

Yes, you need to add station cards to the PBX. Station Card have ports on them that extensions are plugged into. (see - What is a port.)

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What is all the cost as you expand the systems with more telephone sets?

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What is the maximum number of telephones I can have on my system?

How many people use the phone and or how many locations do you need phones.

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How many calls can Voice Mail answer at once?

A Voicemail System can answer as many calls simultaneously as there are ports. (see - What is a port)

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Can I add features to my phone system such as voicemail, caller ID, Others?

Phone systems provide you with an expandable system that will support your companies growing needs. With usability and reliability combined. Panasonic phone systems are one of the 4 best on the market. "We think the best business phone systems". OTHER 3 SYSTEMS ARE Nortel Networks AVAYA TOSHIBA is designed with usability and longevity in mind.

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Is the Dealer certified or trained by the factory on the system they sell?

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Can I hear message being left in my mailbox?

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What is a Port?

The term port means circuit. For instance, a 2 "Port" voice mail system has 2 circuits to handle call traffic. The number of ports on a voice mail system is directly related to the number of users that can be in voice mail at the same time. An example the "Panasonic KX-TVS90" voice mail system is 2 port and 32 mailboxes and is not expandable. The term "port" is used when describing a telephone system it refers to the combined number of lines and extensions. An example of this would be the "Panasonic KX-TD500 ". This telephone system supports up to 512 total system ports.

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What is the meaning of Hunt Group?

Meaning if line 1 is busy it will roll over to line 2 an on down to your last line. Don't put the fax line in the hunt group, because if all lines are busy the next caller will get the fax machine. "Not good for business."When ordering your CO lines from your local telephone company order them in a hunt group, i.e. Ordering 6 lines, put 4 in the hunt group 1 for the fax and 1 for a modem or 5 in the hunt group and share 1 line for the fax and the modem.

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What is Control Unit or KSU?

(Key Service Unit): In smaller office phone systems the control unit is commonly referred to as the "Brain" or "phone box". The size of the control unit determines the maximum configuration. Most business phone systems have numbers in the name such as "Panasonic KX-TD308" or "Panasonic KX-TD 816 Panasonic KX-TD1232". These numbers usually refer to the maximum configuration of the system although not always. The "KX-TD308" would mean 3 incoming lines and 8 telephones (extensions). The "KX-TDD816", 8 incoming lines and 16 telephones (extensions). The KX-TD1232 has 12 incoming lines and 32 telephones phone, but this system is expandable to 24 incoming lines and 64 telephones (extensions) by adding an other KX-TD 1232 system, and interconnection kit. Note: Not all key telephone systems have expiation.

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Can you explain DID lines?

These are the incoming lines only, and just like a private line but it can vary,so you can buy 100 phone number from your local telephone company and you only need to install 1 DID line to answer 100 different numbers. (If some one calls 650-969-3443 the phone company sends 3443, the phone system ring ext 3443) Note number of DID line should equal the number of calls you will plan to get at any one time out of the 100 different phone numbers some one can call you think. (So if you want any 8 of your 100 DID line to be in use at once you need to get 8 DID line.

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Where are TIE lines used?

These are the line from one KSU to an other KSU. They are used to connect two offices to gather so, for example, one voicemail PC can services two offices mile apart from each other.

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What is ISDN?

These are the incoming telephone lines from your local telephone company, but digital and for every 1 ISDN line you get two lines in one, you can use for 2 voice or 2 data or 1 voice with 1 data at any time. (Can be used for video conferencing)

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What is a T1 line?

This it a digital line that has 24 incoming &out going telephone lines with caller ID / 24 DID incoming telephone lines / 24 Tie telephone lines/12 ISDN telephone lines or any set combo of the above (15 incoming& out going telephone lines with 5DID incoming telephone lines and 2 Tie telephone 2 ISDN telephone lines) NOTE! Fix type totals 24from your local telephone company.

T1 PRI line: This it a digital line that has 23 lines same as above T1 but will change as your line needs do (if you get 23 incoming call at the same time all 23 line will switch to co line, or if you get 23 DID calls or 12 ISDN lines in at the same time, the T1 PRI will change and make all 23 telephone lines be DID lines. You get 23 of any type of line CO/DID/TIE/ISDN

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What are Extensions/Stations?

These are the actual telephones. They are extensions of the telephone system. They look like telephones and work like telephones, But only work with the control unit and will not work if they are plugged into a regular telephone line from the telephone company. On some systems they give you paging too!

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Tell me about Voice Mail-Auto Attendant

Voice mail systems have 2 parts: the Auto Attendant and the Mail Box. It is like having a receptionist and secretary 24 hours a day without paying labor costs for some one to answer the phone and another person to take a message. The auto attendant is like an operator it answers calls with a company greeting, plays a list of options to a caller, and transfers calls to the different departments, the VoiceMail Box's is like a secretary Plays message saying your not in and records a message in the mail boxes, or transfers you back to a main directory. The auto attendant can be turned off during business hours and answered manually, or used as a backup when calls are not answered. The person answering the call can transfer calls to the different departments and mailboxes. The voice mail system is a separate unit from the telephone system, it is wired into an extension port on the telephone system and is programmed to answer after a determined amount of rings. Voice mail comes in different sizes 2 port, 4 ports, and 6 ports and up,it depends on the amount of incoming traffic your company has.

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