Multi-Line Phones - The 4 Best Choices and How to Use Them
January 14, 2020
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Multi-line phones are practically a business necessity these days. They’re vital for every call management process from customer support to sales to internal project management. But which option to choose? At Telzio, we’ve spent years working with phone systems and businesses of all sizes.
We’ve distilled our experience down, and used it to develop this buyer’s guide that will help you find the best multi-line phone for you.
WIthout further ado:
The Best 4 Multi-Line Phones
Best Deal for a Multi-Line Phone
Boasting a large touch-enabled display and up to 10 line keys, the wifi-and-bluetooth-enabled Yealink T54W is a strong competitor for the best overall multi-line phone. We placed it in the “best price” category because, right now, it’s available exclusively to Telzio customers for a whopping 58% off. Even at its normal $400 price point, this phone is great. At the current price, it’s a steal.
Best General Use Multi-Line Phone
Cisco CP-8861
One of the most versatile multi-line phones on the Market, the Cisco CP-88861 is a great alternative to the Yealink for businesses with heavy call management needs. Supporting up to 5 Lines, it also comes with WiFI support, integrated Bluetooth, and a fast-charging USB port.
Best Multi-Line Phone for Small Business
Polycom VVX 450
For small business owners who don’t need to route dozens of calls at a time, the simplicity and clarity of the VVX 450 make it an attractive option. Calls are crystal clear and easy to manage directly from the phone's intuitive interface. Set up is a breeze, yet the feature set still competes with the features of many higher-priced VoIP phones.
Best Wireless Multi-Line Phone
The W60P is a high-performance SIP cordless phone system designed for on-the-go businesses. Up to 8 concurrent voice calls, 30 hours of talk time, and chargeable from anywhere with a standard USB. If your team needs mobility and consistent communication, there is no better wireless choice for features and price.
Understanding VoIP and PBX Systems with Multi-Line
Today, multi-line VoIP phone systems are the most cost effective, scalable and flexible modern choice for having a single phone line that allows multiple users to make or answer calls at the same time.
PBX Systems with Cloud Functionality
The PBX system, which provides the ability to route calls within the business, has also evolved. By choosing a VoIP system that is also a cloud-based PBX system, a small business can enjoy a host of needed functionalities. These include things like application integrations, scalability, remote workers, and over 50 calling features at a manageable cost.
A multi-line VoIP phone system offers all the features that any business needs such as caller ID, voicemail, call waiting, call transferring and advanced features like auto attendant, custom hold music, conference calling, and queues. The list of features also includes things like the ability to digitally send faxes and voicemails to individual email inboxes.
How to Set Up a Multi-Line Phone System
Setting up a multi-line VoIP phone system is simple. A small business only needs a basic internet connection and a computer to set up a VoIP phone system. Multi-line desk phones can be optional with our web and mobile apps.
Telzio makes setup a click-and-drag process using a modern interface to customize phone services. Once you have an idea of how you want your incoming calls to be routed, you can be up and running with a complete phone system in minutes.
3 Easy Steps to Setting Up Your Own Multi-LIne Phone System
- Sign up for a free trial with Telzio. It’s easy, free, and takes less than 5 minutes.
- Choose a phone number, which you can get from Telzio if you need one, or you can port (transfer) your existing numbers through a simple process. You’re then ready to add new users to the phone system.
- Create a call flow for incoming call routing. A call flow is a visual user interface map of features that tell your phone system how to handle incoming calls.
Call flows also enable you to build auto attendants, call queues, hold music and announcements, and other powerful features. Using Telzio, you can build the tools that will enable your business to handle higher call volumes and deliver better customer experiences.
Multi-Line Phone and Cloud PBX Features
Phone numbers are the backbone of every multi-line phone system. In the digital age, many businesses operate nationally and internationally. Toll-free numbers make it easier for national and international callers to reach your business. Using a cloud PBX platform like Telzio, you can manage multiple toll free numbers and local phone numbers right through your browser.
Cloud PBX platforms enhance the flexibility of the multi-line VoIP system when you dig deeper into our configuration functionality for extensions, routing, and call flows using your phone numbers.
Features of Telzio’s Call Flows with Multi-Line Phones
- Create automated phone menus known as auto attendants that greet your callers and route them to the right employee or department
- Insert announcements during hold times to provide information like business hours, address, etc.
- Implement caller ID so people see your business name along with your phone number on their caller ID
- Implement hunt groups that route calls to employees or teams in a certain order
- Route calls based on business hours or a predetermined schedule based on time of day, seasonal holidays, vacations, etc
- Add call queues that can place an unlimited number of callers into a hold queue until the next employee is available to answer
- Upload custom hold music, record calls, and announce the caller’s position in the queue
- Add the mobile app to employees’ cell phones, and provide ability to choose the outbound caller ID number
- Create shared main company/individual voicemails and forward voicemails to email
- Enable voicemail transcription so users can read the voicemail as a text
- Create conference bridges to host conference calls with more than 3 people
- Define user permission levels for system components such as the ability to access call recordings, billing, etc.
With our capability to support unlimited simultaneous calls / multiple lines, you can eliminate rollover lines.
In addition to configuration and routing, there are considerations around devices.
How to Choose The Best Multi-Line Phones
While the right phone is the key to unlocking all the potential of a multi-line VoIP phone system for each user, they’re not all up to the task. IP phones will provide the most reliable call quality when it’s connected directly to the network. But easily accessing all the system’s features is dependent on the phone’s design.
One of the leading providers of IP multi-line phones is Yealink, which offers several phones to meet different user and business needs. Two of their best multi-line phones are the Yealink T54W, and the Yealink W60P IP cordless phone.
Yealink T54W: Best Multi-Line Phone for Its Price
The Yealink 54Ws a top-of-the-line multi-line desk phone that looks and acts as any other multi-line desk phone, with extensive additional features:
- A large touch screen
- HD Voice technology
- Gigabit Ethernet technology
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi integration
- Soft Keys for user-defined functions
- 10 programmable Line keys
- Accommodation for up to 16 SIP accounts
- Headset port
- Other expandability options and features
Yealink W60P: Best Wireless IP Multi-Line Phone
The W60P is a high-performance SIP cordless phone system that features the W60B base and W56H handset. Designed for businesses where portability and mobility are paramount, the base supports up to eight handsets, SIP accounts and concurrent voice calls for broad scalability. Advanced Li-ion batteries maximize reliability by providing:
- 30 hours of talk time
- Six days (400 hours) of standby time
- 10-min charge time for two hours of talk time
- Telzio system users can decide whether they want to use physical or virtual phones (IP phones) that connect via the internet. All settings can be pre-programmed by the provider and users can access a webphone built into the website that’s accessible by logging into the Telzio website.
Polycom VVX 450: Best VoIP Multi-Line Phone for Small Business
A budget-friendly, feature-rich and modern phone. The Polycom VVX is easy to set up and simple to use, while still meeting the needs of most small businesses.
- 12 lines (with programmable line keys)
- Local three-way audio conferencing
- HD Voice Technology
- Voice activity detection
- 2 USB Ports
- Headset port
Cisco CP-8861
Slightly more expensive than the Yealink 54W, this multi-line phone is still a strong competitor for best value, and is a great fit for any business need. What’s more, it comes equipped with 720p HD Video Conferencing functions on-board.
- 5-inch widescreen VGA
- Touch screen
- HD Video (720p)
- Bluetooth
- WiFi
- 2 USB ports
- Headset port
How to Integrate Apps with Multi-Line Phone Systems using Telzio
One of the advantages of using Telzio is the ability to integrate your phone system with other business applications like CRM and ERP. Other useful integrations you can set up with your multi-line VoIP phone system include:
- Team Chat Integration with Slack
- Storage Integration with Google Drive / Dropbox
- Payment Processor Integration with Stripe
- Google Sheets Integration
- Unlike the multi-line phone system, integrations may require the technical skill of an IT specialist or programmer to set it up. Telzio lets you set up some specific integrations using Zapier without the need for programming. More custom integrations can be done via the Telzio API.
It’s easy to set up a cloud-based PBX phone system and start taking advantage of all these features. As your business needs change and grow, cloud-based systems provide nearly limitless scalability, flexibility, and customization options to meet the needs of tomorrow.
Sign up for a free-trial of Telzio right now and our customer support team will be happy to help you choose the perfect multi-line phone device to suit your business needs.
