1. Phone System Basic Training for Sales
Provided by IP Office Techs | 888.530.9112
Prepared by: Jim Ventresco | March 2015
1

2.
OUTLINE
1. System Hardware Components and Concepts
a. PBX (Main System Control)
b. Trunks (Phone Lines)
c. Digital Phones
d. VoIP Phones
e. Analog Phones
f. Expansion Units
g. Music on Hold
h. Public Address Systems (PA)
i. Headsets
j. Sidecars (BLF, Busy Lamp Fields)
2. System Programmed Features
a. Lines and Pools
b. Extension Numbers
c. Hunt Groups
d. Call Queueing, Call Centers, Reporting and Wallboards
e. Voicemail (user)
f. Voicemail (group)
g. Auto Attendants
3. Customer Training
4. Services (Internet, Hosted Voice, etc.)
5. Phone System Audit
6. Surveys
7. Sales Plan
8. Maintenance
9. Role Playing
10. Phone Lines, Business Cards, Printing, Binding etc.
11. Salesforce.com Training ­ Quotation Creation and CRM
PHONE SYSTEM HARDWARE COMPONENTS
PBX (for digital or VoIP phones)
PBX’s are the heart or master control of a business phone system and dictate how many
phones and outside phone lines may be connected to a system. They are usually located in a
data closet, server room, electrical room, or a basement. Users of phone system often do not
know where they are located. Office managers, owners, or IT people will have a better idea
where they are. You can usually walk around and find them. We need to know what they are
so we can see if we have the programming skills to effect changes and upgrades. We can
currently work on:
2

3.
● Avaya (IP Office, Partner, Magix, Legend, S8xxx Series Enterprise) See
ipofficetechs.com
● Nortel (Compact ICS, Modular ICS, Call Pilot, Startalk Flash) see nortel­service.com
● Askovia (VoIP Server on a PC)
● NEC (selected models)
● ESI (selected models)
● Panasonic (none yet but can learn if a good customer)
● Toshiba (none yet but can learn if a good customer)
Phones can often be a clue as to what phone system PBX they have.
There are two major configurations of phone system ­ PBX mode or Square Key mode.
PBX mode typically has a user dial 9 to get an outside line.
In PBX mode individual phone lines (typically POTS lines) do not take up individual line keys
on a phone. Phone line trunks are grouped in pools so that a user when picking up phone is
automatically given an unused line when pressing 9 to dial out. If they dial an extension
number instead of a line, they are transferred to an extension. Other dialed numbers may be
mapped to other features. This is the standard mode for systems over 25 or so users.
The Square Mode refers to the original AT&T phones with a square button for each line in the
system. Nortel phones with a few phones as well as Avaya Partner phone systems typically
operate in this fashion. With this method someone answers the call then either shouts out or
calls another extension saying for example “pickup on line 12!” This can waste a lot of
buttons since the pool method works better for systems where the lines exceed 8 or so. WIth
the PBX mode calls are often parked, which is a more elegant method of holding a call when
you do not know where the user is away from their desk and phone.
LINES or TRUNKS (Analog, Digital, SIP, Other)
● Analog lines are the traditional kind you have at home that are brought in by AT&T and
typically connect to wired phones or cordless phones, these analog lines are also
connected to a block brought in by the cable company. Multiple phone lines which are
part of a “hunt group” allow for multiple pickups of a main number assigned to the
group.
● PRI Digital Lines are typically used by business and are a flavor of T1 lines which are
high capacity digital data lines. A PRI (Primary Rate Interface) line can handle 23
concurrent phone calls with unlimited number of phone numbers that can be assigned.
● SIP lines are actually connections which happen through the Internet or a line that
connects to the private network of a phone company such as EarthLink. They arrive
as IP traffic and use IP addressing schemes and specific port numbers to bring phone
traffic into and out of a phone system. Typically used by newer or VoIP systems such
as the Askovia or IP Office. They do not need any special hardware to connect into a
3

4.
PBX as the traffic comes in from a single LAN or WAN port of the PBX
● There are other ways of getting phone lines and assigned numbers but are typically
reserved for home use. Examples are Vonage, Skype, or Magic Jack. They use the
public Internet and are susceptible to outages and poor connections at times
depending on the persons Internet provider, connection speed, and how busy the
carrier or Internet are.
When is it worth switching from analog phone lines to one of the other methods?
Once a company has 6­8 lines connected to their PBX, it is a good time to see if we csan
save them money by switching them to another service such as EarthLink or Time Warner
cable. These services allow us to consolidate Internet and phone traffic on one bill. Also
known as bundling, this can be a substantial savings over what the customer is currently
paying. Obtaining a copy of their phone bill and doing a “Phone System Audit” is a good tool
to provide the customer with added features and flexibility often at a lower price. A good
benchmark is that if they are paying more than $400 in combined Internet and phone service
charges, we can probably save them money.
We can move them to analog lines that actually come in on a T1 or cable. This allows us to
connect this new way of providing analog lines to their existing phone systems without any
modification or extra costs for hardware.
DIGITAL PHONES (or stations, extensions, end points, terminals)
Digital phones comprise the majority of phone sets for the installed base of business phone
systems with VoIP (network based) phones growing in popularity. Digital phones typically use
1 pair of wires. Most businesses have two jacks per cubicle or office ­ one for data and one
for voice. The single voice jack can sometimes be expanded to handle up to 4 phones per
jack.
Digital phones have the clearest voice quality as the voice signal does not need to be
converted to a network IP and then back again to digital. A digital phone is akin to a CD,
within the local phone system, the voice is translated from analog to digital at the phone and
then back to analog at the other end. There in no static or loss of voice level, also the
dynamic range (voice quality) is better than IP phones in most circumstances.
VoIP PHIONES
VoIP (Voice over IP) Phones gained popularity about 10 years ago, when IT people wanted to
be more in control of the total network, instead of IT and Phone managers separately. The
VoIP or IP phones were pushed by Cisco as having the ability to connect over the customer
IP network without using a separate wire for a phone. IP phones need more programming at
the phone to get them up and running but there are many benefits as a user may plug a
4

5.
phone in a different location and their original extension will come up, this typically does not
happen with wired digital or analog phones.
VoIP phones excel in multi site business as they can easily be part of the same phone system
even if they are in different physical offices. Workers can be tied together easily in common
departments no matter where they are. As long as there is private network connectivity
between the sites (which there usually is in larger companies), the VoIP phones are a great
choice.
Another great use for VoIP phones is with a Hosted Phone System, where the main PBX is at
a managed phone company such as EarthLink. There is no installation charge and we can
have residual monthly revenue from based on the customers monthly MRC (Monthly
Recurring Charge). These systems typically require that the connection to the remote PBX be
provided by a separate high capacity phone line provided by the same company providing the
hosted service. Both T1 and DSL line delivery methods are possible.
ANALOG PHONES
Analog phones are often part of a legacy system where lobby phones, shop phones, hotel
room phones, have always been analog. They are the most rugged of phones, as they have
only the number key buttons and no display or power needed. They operate on one pair.
Analog phons are the wired phones have been installed in homes from the beginning of the
1900’s and another type of analog wired phone is the modern day cordless phone used in
homes.
These legacy phones may be connected into most modern PBX systems if they are equipped
with analog phone ports. With modern VoIP systems, having a large number of analog phone
ports would be cost prohibitive. Systems such as the Avaya IP Office are more readily
adapted for large numbers of these phones. While analog phones can be used in any properly
equipped PBX, digital phones require a matched PBX typically.
EXPANSION UNITS (Phones, Lines)
Expansion Units are connected to PBX’s. These PBX’s may have a starting capacity of how
many and what types of phone lines or telephone extensions may be connected. The
expansion units or cards are usually single purposed such as adding 30 digital phones, or 4
analog trunk lines. The various PBX’s have a maximum limit of modules, phone extensions,
and phone lines that may be connected, so care needs to be taken as to how many and what
type of expansion modules are considered.
Expansion units come in different form factors. Some are similar looking modules to the PBX
that stack on top of the PBX, while others are circuit cards that plug into the PBX chassis. Still
others are circuit boards that are affixed to the motherboard of the main PBX. For PC or
5

6.
server based PBX’s, expansion units may be cards that are inserted into the machines spare
PCI card slot, so you must know how many spare slots are available in the PC.
Your sales support specialist will assist you in making sure the system is configured properly
and that the chosen system is right sized for a business while allowing for future planned
growth.
MUSIC ON HOLD (MoH)
Music on Hold may be connected or sourced in a few different ways:
● Built in wav or MP3 file on PBX ­ this may be a limited time file or unlimited time
length.
● Beeps generated by the PBX
● Silence
● External jack or terminals on a PBX connected to a radio, CD, or MP3 player, or MoH
device
● External jack or terminals on a PBX connected to a MoH device that is rented to a
customer by a MoH centric service provider such as Telphonetics ­ they also provide
royalty free musical content with spoken company specific ads or info interspersed in
the audio file (which repeats). These files are uploadable remotely and are changed
periodically to suit different seasons or sales cycles.
We can provide royalty free music and the spoken parts such as the last bullet point describes
above, or provide a connection to a customer provided source. Customer should be warned
that they may be liable for using copyrighted music or re broadcasting radio programs as that
is illegal.
PA CONNECTIONS AND SYSTEMS
PA systems can be quite simple or very advanced. Existing customers can be asked if they
have speakers in the warehouse and if they have any special buttons on their phone to page
through the warehouse or factory floor. There may be multiple zones that allow them to page
different zones or all zones together. Additionally, they may also page through the speakers of
individual or all phones in the business.
For new systems or upgrades, we can install the more basic systems ourselves where there
are only a few speakers needed and the height to reach the desired speaker locations is no
more than 10’ or so. Speakers may be in a speaker “horn” form factor or a recessed flush
mount speaker that would be mounted in a hallway drop ceiling for example. They would be
spaced out to provide the coverage desired. For larger systems we have subcontractors
available to design and install the system.
For VoIP only systems such as the Askovia, there may not be a method of connecting exterior
6

7.
PA speakers, so contact your sales support specialist for compatibility.
HEADSETS
● Headsets come in a variety of styles and connection methods, these include
● Wired
● Wired with inline amplifier and volume controls
● Wireless (proprietary)
● Wireless (bluetooth)
● Over the ear
● On the ear
● With boom microphone and pop screen
● Integrated pickup
● Lifter pickup
All these are options to consider when specifying a headset solution. We provide brands such
as Plantronics, GN Netcom, Avaya, and others.
SIDECARS
Sidecars are known by a few different names such as “phone expansion units” or BLF’s (Busy
Lamp Fields). Their main purpose has been for operators to readily see the status of users
on the phone system and transferring to these users by pressing their associated button. The
indicator light for the user may show whether their line is ringing, off hook, on hook, or on hold
by changing color, blinking, arrowed, underlining etc.
These buttons may have paper labels for the names or an adjacent LCD window showing the
name on the screen. Some have shift keys which double the number of users visible.
Newer models of these sidecars can also be used to provide additional buttons for features
such as speed dial, do not disturb, or the hundreds of other features available in a modern
PBX system.
They come in a few different form factors such as attached to top of the phone, attached to
the side of the phone or a similarly styled and sized standalone unit that is placed next to the
main phone but not physically connected. In some phone systems, a limited number of
sidecars can be stacked next to the main phone (of a particular model) and there may also be
limits to how many sidecars may be installed on a particular system. Both digital and VoIP
phones may have sidecars.
For compatibility with certain phones and systems, please ask your sales support specialist.
System Programmed Features ­ Solution Selling
7

8.
LINES, POOLS, DEFAULT DIAL OUT
With POTS analog phone trunks, the lines are often assigned into pools of phone numbers so
a user simply has to pick up the phone and a free line is automatically chosen for them. With
digital phone lines, less attention needs to be given to groups of analog numbers since this is
working on the “number of concurrent calls (typically 23) and phone numbers can be many
waiting to take up one of this concurrent channels.
On some system, programming needs to be done to tell the system what happens when
someone picks up a phone, for example, does it default to an intercom call or an outside
phone line.
EXTENSION NUMBERS
When initially setting up a phone system, the programmer will will initially need the list of
users and also an associated extension number, if it is needed to keep the same one as an
older system. This may be necessary in the event printed literature has an individuals
extension number listed.
Extension numbers should be in a specific range, such as 201­299 and not jump around to
other numbers such as 324 etc. This numbering plan or dial plan enforces a logical method
which aids in routing calls. Also the number of digits in an extension number needs to be the
same for all aspects of the phone system. A programmer can change the number of digits in
most systems, but this is not done quickly.
HUNT GROUPS (collective or group, sequential, rotary, least busy)
Hunt groups are used in departments or where groups of users perform a similar task, as in a
customer service department. Calls come in when a customer dials a single number and the
phone system rings groups of users either all together (collective group) or in sequence
(sequential) or the agent who has handled the fewest calls (least busy). A sequential group
may start at the first agent defined in the hunt group (sequential) or it may go to the next one
in line after the agent who received the last call (rotary) The order of which the agent is
defined in a list under the hunt group in the system programming.
CALL QUEUING, CALL CENTERS, REPORTING, AND WALLBOARDS
In larger companies, hunt groups may be set up for “call queuing”, which means that the
phone system will pick up a call and play a message that “all agents are busy please wait for
the next available agent”, for example. Also there are agent supervisors who can access a
program that shows them live metrics on how many customers are waiting, how long an agent
has been talking on the phone, how many calls were dropped (the customer hung up) and
8

9.
other items. The program that shows these live statistics is called a “wallboard”. The wall
boards and statistical features of queuing usually involve extra licences and costs. Larger
queuing systems are typically called “Call Management Systems” or CMS Systems. In IP
Office it is known as CCR (Custom Call Reporting). The IP Office version also includes
canned reports that can be emailed to the supervisor at predetermined intervals so that they
can more effectively manage their agents.
VOICE MAIL (user)
Every user in a PBX or hosted phone system can be assigned a mailbox. After an adjustable
period of a users phone ringing, the call is picked up and the caller hears either the users
personal voicemail greeting or a system default greeting, if the user has not taken the time to
record their own greeting.
The user then presses their voicemail button and optionally enters a password to play back
their message. The user may be alerted that there is a voicemail message by a red light on
the phone, by a “message waiting” message on the users phone display, or an email
notification. The email notification may also contain an attachment that the user can playback
to hear their message. Also, users can remotely retrieve their messages by either dialing a
“back door” phone number, which is a special phone number that takes them to a spoken
prompt in the system that asks them for their extension number and password. They then
follow additional spoken prompts to retrieve their voicemail. Depending on the system
installed, a user may also get their messages by calling into the system and when an
automated voice comes on for the phone system, entering a special code, then they are
transferred to the voicemail part of the system where they once again enter their extension
number and password to retrieve their messages.
In addition to how many messages are left, most system’s voicemail will have folders for old
messages and saved messages and work similarly to a cell phone's voicemail. There are
submenus for recording greetings and assigning different pre­recorded greetings as being
active. Users may also forward messages they receive to other users that have voicemail.
VOICE MAIL (group)
Group voicemail is used when a customer calls into a hunt group and no one picks up the
phone for a programmable time such as 90 seconds for example. The call then goes to the
hunt group mailbox where they hear a message such as, “There is no one available in the
service department, please leave a message after the tone and a representative will call you
back shortly”
This type of mailbox can work separately from a users individual mailbox. The message
waiting light will be lit, but the user will not be able to tell whether its their own message or a
group message. Only by entering the extension number and password of the group and
9

10.
listening if there are any messages waiting will the user be able to tell which message lit the
light.
On IP Office systems, the users screen will separate the additional group mailbox the user is
assigned, and list them with how many new messages are waiting in each, so that the user
can easily see where the messages were left for.. groups or personal
AUTO ATTENDANTS (day and night modes)
Auto Attendants provide an automated means of answering calls either immediately when a
customer calls in, or if a receptionist is busy or does not answer the phone within a certain
number of seconds. A “night” button can be put on the receptionist's phone, so that when
pressed, calls go immediately to a special auto attendant that says that the business is closed
and gives them an option, for example, to reach someone on their cell or dial a number to
reach a user's voicemail box. The night button can also be set to send all calls to a remote 24
hour location where someone can pick up at all times.
Auto Attendants can do many other functions, only limited by the programmer or user’s
imagination. Auto Attendant called “trees” may be nested, allowing a user to access a
submenu with even more choices. It is easy to be carried away with how many layers down a
caller can go before they get frustrated and hang up so we recommend only two layers down.
From an auto attendant some typical choices are:
● You may dial the extension number of the person you are trying to reach
● Press 3 for the company directory
● Press 4 for the service department
● Press 5 for our company hours
● Press 6 for directions
● Press 7 to reach our on call emergency technician after hours
● Press 8 to leave a message in our general delivery mailbox
● If you are an employee, press 9 to access the voicemail system (usually not said ­ a
hidden choice)
● Press 0 for an operator
● Press * to repeat this menu
And much more. The auto attendant is often used to generalize the departments within the
company, even if there is only one person involved in service or another person handles both
HR and Accounts Payable such as this example:.
● Press 1 for Service (dials ext 101 John Wilson)
● Press 2 for Sales (dials ext 102 for Sally Limson and 103 for George Johnson ­ rings
as a group)
10

11. ● Press 3 for Accounting (dials ext 104 for Helen Jones)
● Press 4 for HR (dials ext 104 for Helen Jones)
CALL ROUTING or CALL FLOW
Inbound calls may be routed to different destinations based upon phone number called in on,
or even a users caller ID in some advanced applications. Calls usually are routed to
destinations such as:
● The main number which rings the receptionist or operator phones
● A users unique number that only rings at their phone
● A department direct number such as the Service Department
● A back door, so that a user can access company functions such as checking and
receiving their voicemail remotely
● A number routed to a fax machine
FORWARDING (cell phone, other extension, home phone)
DND
PARKING
PAGING
CALL APPEARANCES, CALL PICKUP (for secretaries for example)
DID’s
Other Options (adjuncts)
Call Accounting
Call Center
Call Recording
Multiple Sites (4 digit dialing and presence)
Desktop Integration
SERVICES
Monthly Revenue + Possible Bonus or Spiff
● Internet (Multiples of T1’s ­ T1 is 1.5MB upload and download ­ 4.5M = 3 T1’s)
● Internet + Phone Service (POTS lines, PRI service, SIP Trunks) + Multiples of T1’s
● Internet + Hosted Voice Service
● Call Center with Hosted Voice
● Server space or co­location
11

12. ● e­Fax
● Other services listed in MicroCorp
Plenty of sales training materials, cut sheets etc for this... visit MicroCorp site.
SALES PLAN
Visit Existing Customers
What are other sources of leads?
Lists?
Email Campaigns
Web Enhancement ­ more info
Operations Onboarding
1. Discuss our offerings: new systems, used systems, hosted, T1 etc, adds and
upgrades.
2. Discuss in­house training, online, seminars etc.
3. Discuss sales support and process to approve design and price
4. Discuss timeline for install
5. Discuss and agree upon pipeline times and quota
6. Discuss timeline for commissions and salary.
7. Discuss advertising budgets, mileage reimbursement, business cards
8. Discuss and demo Salesforce
9. Review sales stages
10. Discuss phone lines DID, message retrieval etc.
11. Discuss presentation materials
12. Discuss proposal generation, brochure printing, use of websites
12