As I was listening to some Scott Hanselman’s podcast with Richard Campbell, they mentioned Microsoft’s Response Point phone system. Yes, it seems that I have been under a rock since I really didn’t know anything about Response Point until last night. Response Point is a phone system which includes all the software and hardware you need in a box. This phone system was created by Microsoft to offer small businesses a solution of a phone system that is easy to use at prices very competitive compared to those of bigger phone solution businesses.
Response Point is targeted to small businesses with 1 to 50 employees, combines traditional phone functionality with your computer by having the ability to integrate with Outlook, an advanced call-management functionality and VoIP. The system can be purchased online at places such as Costco and D-Link at a very reasonable price. One of my favorite features is that this is perfect for a home based business. For example, one of the features is that when someone call you, you can setup this phone system to ask the person who’s calling you who do they want to talk to, and then based on the name the caller spells, the phone call is transferred to an specific unit… and the best of all is that the phone does not actually rings until the call is transferred to the right person or room, now that is awesome!
My wife has a home based tax preparation business, during tax season she gets a LOT of calls, with this system we don’t have to hear all the phones in the house ring when someone calls, once the system identifies who the call is for then it only rings in that specific unit, nice.
If you are a small business owner or just someone who would like to have a very functional phone system to manage all the incoming calls (this is especially useful if you have teen age kids), this system might be what you have been looking for.
Microsoft Response Point website