“Switching your business landline can be fast and hassle-free? What trickery is this?”

You wonder.

No tricks. Just a simple truth – an easy switch can be achieved when you move to the right provider.

Ofcom agrees:

“Telecommunications services are an essential part of every business, with 83% of small and medium-sized enterprises agreeing that they would not be able to achieve their goals without them.”

Perhaps you’re not happy with your current package. You want:

  • An all-inclusive plan to get more from your investment
  • A robust line rental that can handle high-call volume
  • The latest tech that can revitalise your customer support operations

But isn’t changing your business line rental supposed to be a mammoth task? You fear it’s a tedious process in which you’ll experience downtime. You’re worried too-good-to-be-true bills will rise after switching.

These are all legitimate concerns. However, we can debunk them all.

Changing your business landline can be a seamless process with negligible disruption to your working day. And we’re going to tell you how.

Before we get stuck in, here’s a quick rundown of the landlines available.

The Best Landline for You

business landline

The size of your business and call volume dictates which landline is needed. Use this information to make better decisions about changing your business phone line.

Single Analogue

For businesses that only need one telephone line for inbound and outbound calls, sending faxes and acquiring broadband.

Multi-Line Analogue

Installation of several standard lines to increase call capacity. For example, if a call comes through and the first line is in use, the system will automatically reroute the call to the next available line.

ISDN2e

This is a digital line used for small offices. In addition to making calls, it allows you to watch videos and use data. You gain a higher voice and data quality than analogue.

ISDN30

For a larger business and those with call centres. Works exactly the same as ISDN2e but can handle eight to 30 channels at once.

You might have also heard of SIP trunking which stands for Session Initiation Protocol. Unlike analogue and ISDN lines, calls aren’t carried by a physical line, they’re transmitted over the internet:

“By leveraging SIP, PBX systems – the most common phone system used by businesses around the world – are allowed to aggregate multiple calls, screen shares or video conferences over a single Internet connection.” – CenturyLink Bright Ideas

More and more businesses are using SIP trunking because of its easy scalability, money saving and flexible capabilities. It also enables VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

If this leaves more questions for you, no sweat – we can help.

During an initial call, we’ll assess your business needs, go over the different phone line packages available and help you shape the right landline for your business.

Keep reading to discover how switching providers can be plain sailing in this digital age, and how expert support can make the transfer highly beneficial for your business – no matter your size.

Concern No.1: You’ll Lose Time Switching

Before 2015, if a business wanted to change its line rental they would have to opt for ‘cease and reprovide’. This meant cancelling the entire service with one provider before switching to a new one. One big consequence of this was downtime.

Ofcom has since simplified this process. Now, all services can be transferred at the same time. This ensures you’ll have an operational phone line at all times throughout the switch.

Concerned you’ll be spending too much time liaising with providers during the move? Don’t be. Our customers rarely lift a finger throughout this process. This is how it works:

  1. You call to tell us you’d like to make the business line rental switch
  2. We contact your old provider to notify them
  3. They will send you a letter advising when your contract will end alongside any early termination fees
  4. We will send you a new contract with a start date

That’s it. Once you’ve chosen an option from a range of phone line packages and approved the switch, we take it from there.

It doesn’t matter how many lines you have, we can help you move with minimal fuss so your chances of missing an important call or losing business from downtime are dramatically reduced. That doesn’t mean you won’t feel in control of the process, though.

You’ll be kept in the loop throughout the entire switch, and you will receive written confirmation regarding any changes from your old supplier and us.

For example, if any current services you’re receiving are affected, you should be notified by letter. This ensures the switch causes you no stress, helping you feel confident every step of the way.

Concern No. 2: You’ll Lose Your Business Phone Number

Only if you want to. You might want to change your business number for a couple of reasons: to go national, to target a new location, because you’re moving offices etc (read this for guidance on different phone numbers and their uses).

If you don’t want to lose your number, you won’t. Since Ofcom modernised the switching process, transferring your old number to a new provider is a piece of cake:

“Switching between particular providers used to result in losing your phone number. This was because the same phone line had to have its service stopped and then restarted by a new provider as if it was a new line. Under the new system this should never need to happen, so your phone number shouldn’t be at risk.” –Broadband.co.uk

These days cutting the cord isn’t necessary. When you switch providers, an engineer won’t be sent to your house to install a new line because you don’t need another one. You can still use your existing line after the switch.

As long as you have an existing line, you’ll experience no call-out fees and you don’t have to pay for expensive equipment.

The only thing you might be charged for is a termination fee by your current provider – almost always if you haven’t adhered to the minimum service period stated in the contract. Contact your provider if this is unclear.

Concern No. 3: Your Bills Go Up After Switching

It’s a bad day when a new service raises its rates. It’s even worse when it happens right after you switch.

You understandably fell for the bait and after they reeled you in their story changed. Cheap prices have been bumped up by extras. It’s now a highly-expensive option and you want out.

What can you do about it? Choose a provider that is one-hundred percent transparent regarding their fees from the get-go.

At 24 Seven, our customers are given a rate card before we begin the switch. It’s our word on paper that the fees for your business line will never increase.

Also, the way your rates are calculated is fair. We review your latest bill and realistically advise where cost savings can be made. Additionally, we can check with your current provider for a smoother transfer.

More for Your Money

Choose a telecoms provider that shares your values. When there is a genuine desire to help businesses of all shapes and sizes succeed, this is reflected throughout the phone line packages on offer.

For example, at 24 Seven our landlines are synchronised with the latest technology – we manage all of them through the 24 Seven Live Portal.

This ensures our customers benefit from a fast and reliable connection and real-time call data enabling them to:

  • Process more orders
  • Take more calls
  • Record calls and play them back
  • Build your customer base
  • Measure performance

Always on the move? All our customers have access to their accounts on their mobile through our 24 Seven Live portal. In addition to all their account details, they can check caller statistics – such as number and duration of calls – to measure performance on-the-go.

You don’t need four different people handling your account. Repeating yourself gets tiring fast. You should have one dedicated account handler who assists you with all your needs and acts as one point of contact throughout the switch.

When you want to budget as accurately as possible, knowing exactly how much money is leaving your account every month is a necessity. Which is why we give our customers a fully-itemised monthly bill for all their lines to eradicate any question marks.

How About Now?

How do you feel about switching your business landline? Not as daunting as you expected, right?

Also, it’s totally necessary. If your laptop became slow and unreliable, wouldn’t you replace it? It’s an essential tool for work, and so is your landline.

Make the switch easy using a provider like 24 Seven that handles the transition. We do the paperwork, handle all things technical and ensure your line is secure 24/7.

You receive a personalised service that’s time and cost effective, supporting your business as it grows.

Your turn. Talk to us. Send any landline queries to info@24seven.co.uk or give us a call on 08000 247 247.