Business phone system
Business phone system
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Discussion

Powerkiter

Original Poster:

227 posts

241 months

Wednesday 7th October 2020
quotequote all
We currently operate a PBX phone system for two phone lines via broadband. We also have another BT broadband line that we use for the internet and our alarm system (BT Redcare type system but cannot remember what it's called now).

Because the two broadband lines are supplied via different providers, we couldn't rationalise them at the time. And the PBX phone system provider wouldn't use the BT broadband line with the Redcare. We're now out of contract on both systems.

We very rarely make phone calls these days. The only calls we receive are generally from phone service providers trying to sell us new systems. The vast majority of calls are now pre-arranged with our clients via Skype or Teams.

I don't know much about VoiP. We have lots of calls from companies trying to sell us systems that aren't much cheaper than we're paying, require upfront costs for the purchase of phones and 5 year contracts.

We are even contemplating shutting the office down completely and going to home working and hire an office for meetings as and when required.

Not sure what is the best way forward at the moment. Tempted to get rid of the PBX phone system/broadband and retain the other broadband line with the alarm. Is it possible to route our phone number through this broadband to VoiP phones or even mobiles? Or if we shut down the office, can we route the number through to a mobile number?


akirk

5,775 posts

131 months

Wednesday 7th October 2020
quotequote all
we got rid of BT line (and ported the BT number) to move to VOIP
three offices across three counties - one line which will call in those three places etc.
hugely cheaper

we have used Voipfone for many years now - very helpful, just call them and they will talk you through what you need to do...

andyb28

1,025 posts

135 months

Wednesday 7th October 2020
quotequote all
I would say you 100% want to move to a cloud based pbx, so that it works from anywhere.

When the lock down started, we already had most of our customers on cloud based pbx, so we were able to just set them up either a desktop phone or Bria app on their phones to enable them to work from home.

Lots of companies charge in different ways, but shorter term deals are out there. Ours is a minimum of 12 months and is charged £16 per user per month with all the calls included. In theory, doing your phones this way should save you money long term. I am certainly not trying to sell you our system, but wanted to give you an idea of costs for a benchmark.




quinny100

995 posts

203 months

Wednesday 7th October 2020
quotequote all
If you're a really light user and don't need many features you could just port the numbers to sipgate basic and access via an app on your mobile or a PC client, although you can use a VOIP handset or analogue gateway if you want.

There's no rental for sipgate basic - you only pay for the calls and sipgate-sipgate calls are free. It's marketed as a residential service but there's no reason you can't use it for business. IIRC there is a small charge to port the numbers in.

Powerkiter

Original Poster:

227 posts

241 months

Thursday 8th October 2020
quotequote all
Thanks for the comments.

It's just been suggested to me that porting the number through to Microsoft Team's might be the best way forward.

quinny100

995 posts

203 months

Thursday 8th October 2020
quotequote all
Porting UK numbers into a Teams calling plan wasn't available last time I looked, but it is now.

I've been involved in some larger Teams voice projects and it's works well.