What Microsoft 365 Apps for Business Come Included?
Fixed landlines are on their way out. The UK’s PSTN copper network is being switched off in January 2027, and the businesses still on it will need to move, whether they plan to or not. A lot of them are running on a system that was set up years ago and has not been looked at since, which is fine until the network it relies on starts to age, or until the deadline makes the decision for them.
A cloud phone system routes your calls over the internet instead of a copper line. Your number stays the same wherever you are working, your running costs come down, and there is no hardware to maintain on your premises. Ofcom’s Communications Market Report 2025 found that outgoing calls from fixed landlines fell 23% in 2024 alone [1].
Here is what you need to know before you make the switch.
A cloud-based phone system, also called VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), sends your calls over the internet rather than over a copper phone line. Your number stays the same wherever you work because the system runs online rather than via a physical exchange on your premises.
Our cloud-based phone systems cover single-site and multi-user setups, with configuration handled by our team and 24/7 support included from day one. For businesses running more than one site, a hosted phone system is the multi-site variant, managing calls centrally so that separate offices share the same number and call-handling setup.
Most cloud phone providers now offer transcription, call summaries, and AI receptionist tools as standard. These are genuinely useful for logging calls and freeing up admin time.
We pair those automated features with a 24/7 helpline staffed by our own team, built on 30 years in the industry. An unexpected outage or a tricky setup question gets a straight answer from someone who knows your account.
Fraud monitoring is worth pairing with any new setup, too. After all, phone fraud costs UK businesses over £1.2 billion a year, and it’s easier to build protection in from day one than bolt it on later.
VoIP sends and receives your calls using your internet connection instead of the traditional phone network. Costs and installation vary between providers. Making or receiving a VoIP call typically costs a fraction of what a traditional line charges.
If your business makes frequent international calls to contacts on other VoIP systems, the savings are usually more noticeable again. VoIP calls are not routed through the same international tariffs as a landline.
Take a business running a small back-office team with two or three staff regularly on calls to suppliers abroad. Moving those calls onto a VoIP system alone, without changing anything else about how the team works, is often enough to bring the phone bill down noticeably within the first billing cycle.
The UK’s ISDN network was switched off in 2025, and the older PSTN copper network is being retired in January 2027. If your business still runs on a traditional landline, that deadline affects you directly [2].
Government guidance on the switch to digital landlines points to a few figures worth knowing.
If you are still on a traditional landline system, moving to a cloud-based alternative before the deadline means you choose your own timeline, on your own schedule, before the network retires and makes that choice for you.
A cloud phone system needs a stable, business-grade internet connection rather than any particular top speed. Checked against your call volumes, a standard connection is usually enough to run the phones alongside your normal internet use.
For most small businesses, a business-grade superfast fibre broadband connection gives you the bandwidth a cloud phone system needs, provided it is a business line rather than a residential package. One thing worth building in from the start is a 4G broadband backup, a secondary connection that cuts in automatically if your main line goes down, so your phones stay running when your primary broadband does not.
A cloud-based VoIP system is usually the better fit for smaller and medium-sized businesses, because the technology is hosted and maintained by a separate provider rather than by your own team. That removes the maintenance overhead, which matters most for businesses without an in-house technical team.
A premise-based system means buying the equipment upfront and maintaining your own phones on site, which suits businesses with the resources and team to keep the technology in-house and full control over it.
Two options are worth knowing about if you are weighing this up:
Because a cloud-based phone system works over the internet, your number stays the same wherever you are working. Customers reach you on the number they already have, whether you are in the office, at home, or working from a client site.
Setting it up wherever you are working is straightforward. You plug your office phone in, as long as there is an internet connection, and it is ready to use.
Your cloud phone system is hosted in secure, off-site data centres rather than on hardware at your premises. A break-in, fire, or hardware failure in your office does not put your phone system out of action.
Our VoIP phone systems include a set of features as standard that make a practical difference to how a small business handles its calls.
You can check the numbers yourself day to day, then bring the pattern to us when you want advice on scaling up or improving coverage. For CRM and calendar integration, our systems connect with Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Salesforce, so contact details and call history sit in the screen you already use rather than needing a separate login. If you also want help getting the wider Microsoft 365 suite working together, our Microsoft 365 support covers setup and ongoing management.
Calls between extensions on the same cloud system are included at no extra cost. External calls, to mobiles and outside landlines, are charged at your plan rate, usually lower than what businesses were paying on a traditional line.
Cloud phone pricing typically runs on a per-user monthly fee, rather than the upfront hardware and PBX costs of a traditional system. That fee usually covers ongoing maintenance and support too, so there is no separate call-out charge every time something needs looking at.
Most small businesses thinking about this are not starting from zero. They have a phone system that works well enough, a bill they have not questioned in a while, and a switch-off deadline arriving in January 2027 whether they act on it or not. The difference a cloud-based system makes is not dramatic in isolation. Your number stays the same. Calls cost less. Maintenance comes off your plate. What changes is the position you are in when something goes wrong: a cloud system does not go down because a copper line failed, and it does not leave you exposed when the PSTN network is retired.
Town & Country Communications has been matching businesses across Dorset, Hampshire, and Wiltshire to the right phone system since 1992. If your current setup still works, we will tell you that. If a cloud-based system would save you money or reduce your risk before the 2027 deadline, we will show you what that looks like with a free bill analysis before you commit to anything.
Call 01202 514444 or arrange a free consultation to find out what a cloud phone system would cost your business and whether it makes sense to move now.
[1] GOV.UK, Office of Communications (Ofcom), Communications Market Report 2025 (2025): https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/multi-sector/cmr/cmr2025/communications-market-report-2025_pdf.pdf?v=400305
[2] GOV.UK, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), UK Transition From Analogue to Digital Landlines (2024): https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-transition-from-analogue-to-digital-landlines
[3] Openreach, Time for a “Big Switch-Up” as PSTN Switch-Off Looms (2026): https://www.openreach.com/news/time-for-a-big-switch-up-as-pstn-switch-off-looms/
