If your business still has a copper phone socket on the wall, the clock is running. Openreach is retiring the old analogue network — the one that carries ordinary calls and, in many buildings, broadband, alarms and door entry systems too — with a target date at the end of January 2027. New analogue lines are already difficult to order in some areas as stop-sell notices roll out region by region.

Moving to VoIP, which simply means making calls over your internet connection rather than a dedicated phone line, is not hard in itself. Doing it without dropping calls, losing your main number or paying for two systems at once takes a little planning. Here is how to approach it.

What actually changes when the copper goes

Most of what your team sees stays familiar: handsets on desks, a number customers dial, voicemail, transfers. Underneath, the plumbing changes. Calls travel as data packets over your broadband instead of an analogue signal down a pair of wires.

That has one big consequence. Your phone service and your internet connection become the same thing. If the broadband fails, so do the calls. Plan for that before anything else.

Everything else is easier. Extensions are configured in a web portal rather than by an engineer in the comms cupboard. Adding a new starter takes minutes. Diverting the main line to a mobile is a couple of clicks. Call recording, auto-attendants, hunt groups and CRM screen pops usually come as standard rather than as an expensive add-on — though you should ask whether you genuinely need them, because unused features still cost you in subscription tiers.

Working out the real cost

The line items are different from an analogue bill, and comparing them badly is where budgets go wrong. Look for:

• Hardware. Desk handsets range from budget IP phones to video-capable models. Softphone apps cost nothing extra but need good headsets.
• Per-seat licences. Charged monthly for each extension, usually in tiers depending on features.
• Call charges. Often bundled for UK landline and mobile minutes, with international billed separately.
• Connectivity. A business-grade connection with solid upload speed, and ideally a backup route.
• Setup. Less cabling, but there may be a one-off configuration or number porting fee.

The savings normally come from line rental. A business paying for a dozen separate analogue lines usually finds per-seat pricing cheaper each month — but only if it cancels the old lines. Paying for both for six months is the single most common way to lose money on a migration.

Before you sign anything, list every line you pay for and what uses it: fax, alarm, lift phone, PDQ card machine, out-of-hours line, the one in the back office nobody will admit to using. Alarm and lift lines in particular need a conversation with the supplier that maintains them, because not every VoIP setup suits them.

Hardware and connectivity you will need

Check your upload speed, not just your download figure. Voice traffic is light, but it is sensitive to jitter and packet loss, so a stable connection matters more than a fast headline number.

Ask your provider whether the router can prioritise voice traffic. Most decent business routers can, and it stops a large file upload from turning your reception desk into a garbled mess.

Then think about the physical layer in the office. IP desk phones need power, so a modest uninterruptible power supply on the router and network switch keeps calls alive through short outages. If your cabling is old, budget for a switch upgrade rather than blaming the phone system later.

Spend the money on headsets before you spend it on handsets. Call quality is judged on how you sound, not on how the phone looks.

Resilience: planning for the day the broadband drops

Every VoIP deployment needs a fallback that does not depend on the same connection. Sensible options include a mobile app that rings on the same number, a second connection of a different type, or an automatic divert to a mobile or answering service.

Decide in advance who answers when the primary line is down, and write it on a card by the front desk. An emergency plan that only one person knows is not a plan.

Porting your numbers safely

Porting means keeping the number your customers already know. In the UK, the new provider leads the process, and it usually takes days rather than hours. Single lines are quicker than batches, and larger migrations are often staged over several dates.

1. Ask the new provider to confirm your numbers can be ported — most UK geographic numbers can, as can 03 numbers, provided you have the right to them.
2. Give them a recent bill. The account name and address must match exactly, or the request will be rejected.
3. Do not cancel the old service before the port completes. Cancelling early can release the number, and you may not get it back.
4. Agree a date, and avoid Fridays or the day before a busy trading period.
5. Test afterwards: inbound, outbound, caller ID, transfers, voicemail and any auto-attendant greetings that still mention an old address.

Mistakes that cost UK SMEs time and money

• Keeping the old lines running "just in case" and paying twice for months.
• Forgetting the lines that do more than carry voice.
• Choosing on price per seat alone, then discovering support hours end at 5pm.
• Testing only on a quiet Tuesday morning instead of at your busiest hour.
• Leaving one person's mobile as the only emergency line.
• Signing a long contract without checking exit terms and price rises.

Where to start

Pull your last three phone bills and mark every line and charge. That document, not a sales brochure, tells you what you actually need. Then ask two or three providers to quote against the same list of requirements, with the number porting included, and read the contract terms before you commit. Costs and contract lengths vary widely, so get quotes in writing and check what happens if you need to leave early.

Allow a few weeks rather than a few days. Run the new system alongside the old one briefly, test it properly, port the numbers on a quiet date — and keep the copper socket in mind only as a deadline, not a fallback.

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