Digital Telephony: VoIP, PBX and Conferencing

Voice over IP operates entirely over the Internet so is not coupled to a physically installed phone line. This allows calls to be taken easily and inexpensively from anywhere in the world, and is highly scalable so can accommodate changes in the size of organization or call volume. Hosted PBX systems also offer a wide range of low-cost features such as menus, ring groups, call centre functionality, call recording and voicemail-to-email transcription.

This is the UK plan to replace the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) including Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) by 2025 with Internet-based VoIP voice services. The PSTN is the traditional analogue phone network that has been in use for over a century, and ISDN is a digital phone network introduced in the 1980s (but still based on physical lines). The switch off is the transition to a fully digital Internet-based network providing better quality voice calls, improved reliability, and more flexibility in the range of services offered.

Hosted VoIP systems are generally highly reliable, more so than traditional phone lines, although the success of VoIP in general is dependent on the reliability of your Internet connection (which can be increased with a resilient leased line and/or backup cellular connection). We can mitigate an internet outage by automatically forwarding your inbound calls to a backup such as a mobile phone.

Most existing UK numbers can be retained and migrated through a process known as as "number porting". You will need to provide accurate information about your current phone service in order for this to succeed, and we may need to complete some investigative work with your current provider to validate the request. Once complete and accurate information is submitted, a date will be assigned for the porting to be completed; it is an Ofcom regulatory requirement that the porting be completed within this same business day. There may be some disruption (typically up to a few hours) to your phone number whilst it is re-routed, but it should be noted that the whole process can take several weeks to complete.