Few things in life are more quintessentially British than BT: the clue’s in the name! From the emblazoned phone boxes found on each street corner to the vast network of phone lines powering an entire nations’ communications, British Telecom synonymous with all telecommunications for decades.    

But all good things must come to an end.  With the rise of the mobile phone, those glass boxes now stand empty or have been snapped up by communities and repurposed to house quirky tiny gardens or lovely village libraries. And what about that big old ISDN network? 

With most individuals holding the entire internet in their pocket these days and having no need for a landline at home, domestic lines have been in decline for years now, however things have moved a little slower in the business world.  

Many commercial businesses are still relying on those traditional lines BUT now is the time to retire that old tech and switch to something a little more modern. Why now? Well, from next year BT will stop installing those traditional lines altogether, with the entire system being switched off from 2025.  Businesses delaying the move over to something else will undoubtedly get caught up in the rush when the switch off happens. 

But what do we switch to? The internet of course! 

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is not new technology but it is going to absolutely revolutionise your business communications. In short, it means that all of your phone calls are placed via the internet rather than through those traditional copper lines.  Internet based calls are cheaper, more reliable and offer so much more versatility than the traditional system, you’ll wonder why you waited so long. 

What are the benefits? 

Using VoIP for your business communications is significantly cheaper than using traditional phone lines. Some businesses have reported savings of as much as 80% on recurring costs. You could also save on international calls if this is part of your business model.  

VoIP also allows huge flexibility for your staff, really important in this brave new post covid world.  Your team can simply take their VoIP handset home with them and plug into a broadband router to recreate their office at home! They’ll have access to your business network as though they were in the office and customers will still be able to use the same numbers to reach them.

The quality of a VoIP system does not diminish as more users are added. So if you need lots of staff to be making lots of calls, VoIP is better quality and far cheaper. If you’re experiencing fluctuations in your staffing – whether due to seasonal or economic factors – all your new team members need is a handset and phone number to get up and running. It’s quicker, easier and cheaper than it has ever been to onboard new staff. 

If you’d like to talk to the team about switching your business comms now ahead of the rush next year, please do get in touch for a no obligation chat.