Services
Business Phone Systems
One system for calls, voicemail and texts. Moving your existing number across is the slow part, and we would rather set that expectation early than surprise you with it.
- Hosted VoIP
- Number porting
- New numbers
Overview
What this is
The short version, before we get into what is included and how it runs.
A hosted phone system is one number that rings on desk phones, mobiles and laptops, with voicemail arriving as email and opening hours that stop the phone at closing time on their own. The old box in the cupboard does not have to come with you.
The part that catches people out is moving your existing number across from your current provider. That is a request they have to process rather than something we can switch on, and two to four weeks is normal. We file it, keep your old service running until it completes, and pick a sensible day to make the change.
We map out how calls should be routed, set up the handsets and apps, register your address for emergency calls, and stay on hand when someone cannot sign in. The number on your website and the one on your Google listing point at the same system, a small thing that is easy to forget and annoying to get wrong.
Deliverables
What you get
Everything below is part of business phone systems as standard, rather than something added to the invoice later.
- Hosted VoIP
- The phone system in the cloud, with users, extensions, and a number that can ring in more than one place. You do not buy a cabinet for the office.
- Number porting
- Your existing numbers moved to the new carrier. We collect the completion date the losing carrier gives us, we test before we drop the old service, and we tell you the week it is likely, not the hour.
- New numbers
- Local or toll-free numbers if you need them while a port is in flight, or for a second line. Tracking numbers for ads are scoped separately so they do not poison listings.
- Call routing and menus
- What happens when someone rings: who rings first, what they hear, how long we wait, and where overflow goes. Menus stay short. “Press 1 for a person” is a design failure.
- Business hours routing
- Open, closed, and holiday behavior. After hours can go to voicemail, an on-call mobile, or a message. It should not ring an empty desk until it dies.
- Voicemail to email
- A recording and a transcript, where the platform allows, in the inbox of the person who should return the call. Shared mailboxes get a shared voicemail, not five copies.
- Apps for laptops and mobiles
- The app on a laptop or a phone for people who are not at a desk. We set it up, we name the devices, and we show them how to sign in again after an update.
- Desk phones
- Hardware where you still want a handset: reception, warehouse, a quiet office. We provision, we label, and we do not order a crate of the wrong model.
- Emergency address registration
- The emergency address on each number, kept in line with where people actually sit. A home-office user needs their address, not the HQ pin. This is not optional.
- SMS
- Where the carrier and the number type allow it: texts to the business number, routed to the right person. 10DLC registration in the US is part of the job when it applies.
- Hunt groups and ring groups
- Sales, support, after hours. Simultaneous or sequential, with a voicemail at the end, not an infinite loop.
- Support
- Adds, moves, a user who lost a password, a phone that will not register. You get a way to reach us that is not a forum post.
Process
How it works
In order. Each stage starts once the one before it is signed off.
- 01
Numbers and People
Every number you must keep, every person who must ring, and where they sit. We write the port list and the user list before we order anything.
- 02
Flows
Hours, menus, ring groups, and voicemail. You hear the recording before callers do.
- 03
Port
We submit the port with the losing carrier’s paperwork filled in correctly. Incomplete names and old account numbers are why ports reject. Then we wait on the completion date they give us.
- 04
Devices
Desk phones and the mobile and laptop apps set up and tested on a temporary number, so launch day is not the first time a phone rings.
- 05
Cutover
The number transfer completes, we test calls in and out, emergency addresses and voicemail, then close the old service. Your site and listings get the number the same day.
FAQ
Questions we get asked
If yours is not here, use the contact form and we will answer it directly.
How long does number porting take?
Usually two to four weeks from a clean order. Simple local numbers on a cooperative carrier can be faster. A number still tied to a copper bundle, a disputed account, or a reseller can take longer. We keep the old service live until the new one is proven. We do not pick a go-live date before the losing carrier has given us a completion date.
Can we keep our current number?
Almost always, provided you control the account. The name and address have to match what your current provider has on file, and a mismatch is the usual reason a transfer gets rejected, so we will ask to see a recent bill before promising anything.
What happens if the internet drops?
Desk phones on that connection go quiet, but mobiles and the phone apps keep working on cellular if we set them up that way, and incoming calls can roll over to a mobile automatically. What nothing can do is ring a handset that has lost its connection, so it is worth agreeing where calls should go beforehand.
How does emergency calling work?
Emergency calling that sends a real, dispatchable address along with the call. Anyone working from a different location needs their address kept current. It is a legal requirement, so it is included rather than sold as an extra.
Do we have to buy new phones?
Not necessarily. Plenty of people work entirely from the app on their laptop or mobile, though reception and the warehouse usually still want a real handset. If you have existing phones we will check they are supported before telling you they can be reused.
Will callers hear a gap on cutover day?
A well-timed port is a few minutes, not an afternoon. We schedule inside the window the losing carrier gives us, we test, and we do not cancel the old trunk until inbound is clean. There is still a small risk they are late. That is why we do not cut over on the last day of a promotion.
Can you record calls?
Yes, where the platform allows it and where you have a lawful basis to tell callers. Recording is a setting and a policy, not a silent default.
Tell us what you need built.
No pitch deck and no discovery fee. Most engagements start with a single site, and we add the rest only when it earns its place.
- Send a short brief, or just a link to the site you have now.
- We reply within two business days with questions, or a time to talk.
- You get scope, sequence and a price range in writing before anything starts.