Do offices still use intercoms?

[Chris P]

Or do they just all have cell phones and text or call each other? My office is too small and my boss just sits at his desk and yells until someone responds to him.

 

[AmsterdamAssassin]

Most of the time, you can call on the speaker phone to announce a guest to the host.

 

[Becca_H]

Intercoms are mainly used on the door to control who comes in.

Internally, we use phones, shouting, instant messaging, and occasionally the throwing of pens.

 

[alleycat]

In my office, yes. It's used to page someone. They first try the speaker phone, then if the person doesn't answer, they will page them over the intercom.

Most of the time people just say, "I'll page Jim," or whoever, when they use it.

 

[Psychomacologist]

Most offices I've worked in have networked landline phones on a switchboard. If you want someone, you dial their extension and because the phones are all linked to go through to their desk phone. Same way as if you dialed the number from outside with the extension.

I agree intercoms are mainly used for letting people in and out of doors/gates.

 

[Chris P]

So gone are the days of Tim Conway pressing a button and saying "Mrs. HuWiggins?"

I was thinking more about desk-to-desk or office-to-office communication. Are those still used?

 

[Becca_H]

So gone are the days of Tim Conway pressing a button and saying "Mrs. HuhWiggins?"

I was thinking more about desk-to-desk or office-to-office communication. Are those still used?

We make internal calls on our desk phones.

Because it's a VoIP system, an internal call is anything inside the company, even if the phone is the other side of the world. We don't pay anything for the calls.

Even for non-VoIP systems, internal communication is still via the telephones. Although, I think instant messaging is more and more common.

 

[alleycat]

So gone are the days of Tim Conway pressing a button and saying "Mrs. HuhWiggins?"

I was thinking more about desk-to-desk or office-to-office communication. Are those still used?

The way it works in our office is everyone has a three-digit number. To talk to someone over the speaker phone you just enter their number from your phone. The person on the other end can even talk without picking up the receiver, or they can pick up.

We also used e-mail within the office. Sometimes it easier to use that for certain things (say, a list of tasks that needs to be done on a project).

 

[Psychomacologist]

So gone are the days of Tim Conway pressing a button and saying "Mrs. HuWiggins?"

Nowadays it would be more like picking up the desk phone, dialing a three-digit extension number and saying "Mrs. HuWiggins?"

But yes, I'm afraid the button is gone. Sad times.

 

[jaksen]

Is this a school? Yes, and too much. In fact so much we asked that the intercom only be used when necessary, and if the office wanted a specific person, to only 'buzz' into the rooms where he/she would probably be.

But when I retired we all had phones in the classrooms, so that removed a lot of unnecessary use of the intercom. The intercom system was used mainly only morning and afternoon for 'announcements.'

Intercom systems still have a place and a use today in places like schools and hospitals, though I'm not sure about places of business. I suppose in an emergency, it would be handy to have.

 

[bettielee]

In our office we heavily use our phone system. It has a page function that pages in the warehouse or the office. And when we transfer calls or need to talk to someone, we call their line and it isn't like using the hand piece - you can talk over the speaker - is that what you mean? That's what we do.

 

[WriteKnight]

An intercom is an intercommunication device - meant to be used between two different locations. The secretary's desk and the boss' office for instance. Between the boss' office and the accountant's office.

A PA is a public address system. That would broadcast over loudspeakers into an entire space - Across the entire showroom floor, across the factory floor, across the retail shopping mall - across the parking lot or cafeteria.

This is the distinction between the two systems.

 

[skylark]

In both the offices I work in (a tiny one with 5 people in the whole company, and a big building with several hundred employees which is itself part of a huge multinational) you just make internal calls on the phone system if someone's not in the same room as you. Assuming you want an out-loud conversation - Messenger or email are more common.

 

[SJAB]

Our Office has been testing, "Spark", it's a type of MSN, but with only our office as members. The team is moving to what is called, 'remote working', so it is for us to keep in touch. (Though what is wrong with using mobiles and emails I don't know...) You can 'page' a member of the team by clicking on their name (makes their computer screen shake and a buzzing noise ensues or a squeal if you wake them up! )

We also have the normal internal telephone system, used as others have said.

 

[AmsterdamAssassin]

In most office, everyone communicates by the handsfree speakerphone of their desktop telephone - they only pick up the receiver if the conversations turns 'private'. For conference calls, there are special telephones that have more speakers in different directions, so everyone at the table can talk without raising their voice. Coupled with video conferencing, this is a pretty good system.

Intercoms are used in old buildings and at [outside] doors.

PA systems are most often used from the security office, and are also used to issue emergency warnings/evacuations.

 

[MostlyMisha]

At my office if I just dial an extension the other person has to pick up the phone for us to connect. However, if I push a button on my phone called "Voice" before I dial the extension then their phone will automatically answer on speaker and I can just start talking.

We also have an interoffice instant messaging system~ I think these types of communication systems are the norm now.

 

[ironmikezero]

There are security oriented systems that integrate intercoms and PA systems, sometimes linked to CCTV applications. Some are very sophisticated, incorporating digital recording capability. These are neither as rare nor as expensive as one might expect.

 

[Selcaby]

In my office, most people don't even have phones on their desks, only the people who take outside calls do. The rest of us use email or instant messaging.

 

[JennieRose8]

and occasionally the throwing of pens.

LOL!!

 

[Stijn Hommes]

When I want to contact someone within my office without walking over, I typically use the phone or the internal instant messaging software. If neither is answered, I try their cellphone.

Only security uses an intercom to communicate with people at locked entrances.

 

[AmsterdamAssassin]

Only security uses an intercom to communicate with people at locked entrances.

Remote controlled doors, gates and shutters. Like delivery gates and night entrances.