VoIP numbers for business

What is a VoIP number?

Most business VoIP numbers are the normal UK numbers your customers already know. A VoIP number is one that a VoIP provider routes to your phone system over the internet rather than down a copper line to one building. Callers cannot tell the difference, and they pay to call it on the same basis as any other number of that type.

Because the number belongs to the phone system rather than a socket on the wall, it can do much more:

• Ring anywhere. One number can ring a desk phone, a laptop app and a mobile app together or in turn.
• Move with you. Office moves, home working and new sites do not mean new numbers.
• Route intelligently. A number can go to a person, a hunt group, a call queue or a menu, with different rules in and out of hours.
• Scale easily. Adding a direct number for a new starter is a setting, not a new line.
• Present a consistent identity. Staff calling from the app on their mobile can show the business number rather than their personal one.

What is a VoIP phone system explains the system the number sits on.

UK number types you can use on VoIP

Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, describes the main business number ranges like this. Each can be used on a VoIP phone system.

Platforms differ in the numbers they accept. Microsoft, for example, does not currently accept UK numbers beginning 0843, 0844, 0845, 0870, 0871 or 0872 into Teams Calling Plans, and in the UK assigns toll-free numbers to auto attendants, call queues and audio conferencing rather than to individual users. We can check your numbers against the platform before you order. Mobile (07) numbers are ported between mobile networks; that is a separate process from VoIP numbers.

New numbers or keep your existing ones

You have two ways to get VoIP numbers, and most businesses use both.

New numbers. Your VoIP provider allocates numbers from its own ranges. You can usually choose an area code for a local presence, an 03 number for a national one, and a block of direct dials for staff. New numbers are also useful as temporary numbers while a port is in progress, so the new system can be tested before your main numbers arrive.

Ported numbers. The numbers customers already know can move onto VoIP. Openreach's advice to businesses is that you can usually keep your existing business phone number when you switch to digital lines. The new provider requests the numbers from your current provider with a letter of authority, and the account details must match. Port your landline number to VoIP covers the details, and switching from landline to VoIP puts the port in the context of the whole move.

Direct dials, main numbers and departments

A typical VoIP number plan has three layers:

• A main number that goes to a menu (auto attendant), a receptionist or a hunt group
• Department numbers for sales, accounts or support, each routed to its own group or queue with its own opening hours
• Direct dials (DDIs) for individual users, so regular contacts can reach them without going through reception

Each user can have their number on several devices at once: a desk phone, the desktop app and the mobile app, ringing together or in sequence. A single VoIP phone can also show several numbers on its line keys, which is how a receptionist answers calls for different companies or departments. Multi-line VoIP phone systems explains how many calls can run at once and how groups and queues share them out.

Caller ID on outbound calls

With a VoIP phone system you choose which number appears when staff call out. Most platforms let administrators set it per user, per group or for the whole business:

• The user's direct dial, so customers can call the same person back
• The main or department number, so call-backs go to a team rather than one person
• A local number for each site or region
• Withheld, where there is a reason not to show a number

Choose a number that customers can ring back and that reaches someone, or a menu that routes them. Staff using the app on a mobile can present the business number, so their personal number stays private.

Each number also needs the correct emergency address registered with the provider, so the emergency services are given the right location on a 999 or 112 call. Keep the addresses up to date as people and offices move.

Numbers when you move, grow or work from home

Because a VoIP number lives on the phone system, the usual reasons for changing numbers fall away:

• Moving office. The numbers stay on the phone system, so they keep working in the new building once its connection and phones are in place.
• Home and hybrid working. Staff answer their direct dial, or a group number, from the app on a laptop or mobile wherever they are working.
• A new site. Add local numbers for the new area, or route an existing number there, and include the site in the same system and dial plan.
• Seasonal or campaign numbers. Add a number for a campaign or event and point it at the right team, then retire it when it is no longer needed.
• A new starter or leaver. Give a new starter a direct dial from the admin portal, and when someone leaves, their number stays with the business and can be pointed at a colleague.

VoIP phone system features covers the call handling behind these numbers, and softphone vs desk phone helps you decide which devices each person needs.

How to get a VoIP number

1. Choose your platform. 3CX, Teams VoIP, Webex VoIP, Forever UC or Forever Teams; the best VoIP phone system guide helps you decide.
2. Plan your numbers. Main number, department numbers, direct dials and any 03 or 0800 numbers.
3. Decide new or ported. List the existing numbers to keep and collect a recent bill for each account.
4. Register emergency addresses for each number and site.
5. Set the routing. Menus, groups, queues, opening hours and outbound caller ID.
6. Test and go live. Ring every number from outside and check outbound caller ID before ported numbers arrive.

Contact us with the numbers you have today and how you want calls answered, and we will plan your number set-up.