Every physical asset of your company will need to be repaired and, eventually, replaced. Office phone systems have a long lifespan if you purchase high quality equipment, but even these will need to be repaired or replaced at some point.

There are several signs that your phone system is not operating at its best capacity. Don’t let it get worse or you may lose business by not being able to connect with your customers. Get your office phone system diagnosed to determine how to best address the issue.

Sign #1: If your phone system has been dropping calls regularly, your office phone system may need to be replaced. The equipment may be outdated or just deteriorating with age. Sometimes this problem can originate with the service provider or the phone lines, not the phone system. One of our technicians can help you find the source of the issue, regardless of the cause.

Sign #2: Voicemails disappear or can’t be saved at all. Depending on the business phone system you are using, this might be because one of the voicemail settings has been changed or reset. If you aren’t sure how to determine if this is the cause, call our office. For phone systems we are familiar with, we can tell you how to reset your voicemail. If this fails to fix the problem, your office phone system may need repair or replacement.

Sign #3: Water or some other liquid has damaged the phone. It can be easy to accidentally spill something on your phone when it sits on your desk, and many minor spills won’t cause damage. However, if you do spill something and your phone starts to malfunction, unplug it from it’s jack and give it a chance to dry. If after drying and plugging your phone back into the jack your phone continues to not operate properly, one of our technicians can recommend what to do next.

Office Phone System Troubleshooting You Can Do

There are some issues that don’t require you to call a technician to come out. Here are a few things you can try before determining your business phone system needs repair or replacement:

  • Interference from an alarm system can sometimes cause you to not hear a dial tone. This can often be fixed by disconnecting your alarm system for a few seconds and then reconnecting it. If this doesn’t fix the issue, then the alarm system is probably not the reason your phone is “dead” and you should call a technician.
  • Hearing static on the line? If you are using a cordless phone, the batteries may just need to be replaced or charged. Give it some fresh juice and see if that solves the problem. If that doesn’t fix the issue, it is likely a hardware or phone line issue.
  • If you need to unplug your phone from its jack for any reason, use a sticky note or some other method to temporarily mark the jack. This eliminates the guess work when it comes time to plug your phone back in.
  • If every telephone extension on your system is “dead,” check to see that your PBX/KSU is plugged into an outlet that is providing power. A circuit may have been blown, a battery backup may have failed, or there may simply be a loose connection.