What to know about business phone systems in Scottsdale
Phones go down with the power
SRP offers outage alerts, an outage map and a 24-hour business outage line at (602) 236-8888. Desk phones, the router and the switch all need power, so a battery backup on the network rack keeps calls working through short outages. Longer ones need a plan, such as forwarding calls to a mobile phone.
Source: SRP, business outage preparation
Monsoon storms are an outage risk
SRP says monsoon storms can affect its electric system and a company's operations. The monsoon runs June 15 to September 30, with storms peaking from mid-July to mid-August. A phone system that depends on power and internet needs a plan for that stretch.
Source: SRP, business outage preparation
Cox Business and CenturyLink both list service here
Cox Business sells business internet in Scottsdale, including static IP addresses for backup services, and CenturyLink (Lumen) lists fiber internet by address. VoIP call quality depends on the connection, so we look at what's available at your address before we choose a phone service.
Phone wiring is electrical work in the city's eyes
The city says an electrical permit is required to install or alter electrical wiring on any building. Its exemption list names only minor repairs and maintenance, with no low-voltage exemption. Starting early doubles the permit fee. Permit Services is at 480-312-2500.
Cloud phones, on-site systems and what we recommend
A cloud (VoIP) system runs through a hosted phone service. Calls travel over the internet, features live in the service and adding a phone takes minutes. It suits most small and mid-size businesses. An on-site system keeps a phone server in your building. It is rarely the right call for a new install.
We install the phones, the wiring, the network and the setup. You choose the phone service, and we connect it.
Call routing, hours and voicemail
Most of the work in a phone system is routing. A caller reaches an auto-attendant, picks a department, rings a group and goes to voicemail if nobody answers. We set up the menus, schedules and holiday hours with you.
Voicemail can go to email, and calls can ring your mobile phone when the office is closed. For a restaurant, that means reservations and takeout orders don't ring into an empty building.
- Auto-attendant menus and after-hours greetings.
- Ring groups for the front desk, kitchen or sales team.
- Voicemail to email and mobile apps.
- Hold music and paging through speakers.
Wiring and network for good call quality
VoIP phones run on your network, powered over the same cable. The network needs enough bandwidth and a switch that prioritizes voice traffic, or calls break up when someone uploads a file. We run any new cable, set up a separate voice network and test calls before we call it done.
Old phone lines, alarms and fax
Some devices still depend on an analog phone line. Fire alarm panels, elevator phones, door entry systems and fax machines are common ones. Before cutover, we list every device on the old lines, so none loses its connection. Tell us about each one during the walkthrough.
Power and internet failures in Scottsdale
Phones are only as reliable as the power and internet behind them. A battery backup on the rack and a backup internet line keep calls working when the main connection drops. Forwarding rules send calls to mobile phones during a longer outage. We set these up as part of the install.
Shared network
Phones share a network with structured data cabling, business WiFi and backup internet. The Scottsdale page lists the rest. Call (602) 769-7992 and list your phone lines, alarm panels and fax so we can plan the cutover.
