Switch your phone system while the timing is still yours
An IP system on your premises or in the cloud. Your numbers stay with you. Fax and the lift emergency line keep running. Several sites, one number for callers.
Book an intro callSooner or later the letter arrives. The provider is terminating the line on a fixed date, three months' notice, and suddenly half the company is hanging off it: the phone in accounts, the fax machine that still receives order confirmations, the emergency call in the lift. Start planning at that point and you work under time pressure, taking whatever the provider happens to be offering. Start earlier and you can pick what actually suits the business.
We begin by recording what lines and numbers actually exist, which is often more than the paperwork shows. You then decide with us whether the system belongs on your own premises or in the cloud. We handle the porting of your numbers, along with connecting fax and the lift emergency call. For the property management firm KF Properties we brought several sites together under a single number.
What is included.
On your premises or in the cloud
We work through both options using your own figures: how many extensions there are, what the line at each site can carry. We then tell you which option we consider right in your case and what argues against it.
Taking your numbers with you
Porting runs on forms and deadlines set by the losing provider. We file the applications, keep track of the dates and place the switchover in a window when few calls are being made. In most cases you keep your direct dial numbers. Whether that holds for your lines is something we check before the changeover.
Replacing what is left of ISDN
Some companies still have old single lines that nobody looks for on the invoice any more: the door intercom in the yard, a second fax machine in the warehouse. We go through the contracts and the cabling and convert each line individually.
Fax and lift emergency calls
Neither service takes the changeover well. We test every fax destination with real transmissions rather than a test page, and we check with the lift company which connection it approves for the emergency call. Where an analogue signal has to stay, we say so.
Several sites, one number
Branch, warehouse and home working all run on the same system. A call to the main number rings where someone is responsible for it, and internal calls go through short codes. We secure the link between sites with equipment from Fortinet or Ubiquiti.
The line and a fallback
Telephony over IP stands or falls on the connection. Where fibre is available we use it, plus a mobile route that takes over if the main line fails. For cloud systems we also set up a diversion to mobile phones.
How we work.
Survey on site
We walk the sites and look inside the comms room, not just at the invoice. You receive a list: every number, every handset, every special line and the contract behind it.
Deciding on the system
You get two or three possible routes described, each with the equipment, effort and contract commitment attached to it, plus our recommendation. If we advise against an option, the reason is stated alongside it.
Changeover
Setting up the system, handing out the handsets, showing people how to use them. We schedule the porting for a date you know in advance, usually outside business hours. On the first day afterwards we are available until the usual questions from the departments have been worked through.
Running it and making changes
A new employee, a new extension, another site added: we make changes like these for you, or we show someone in your company how to handle them. The logins for the system and for the provider account sit with you, not with us.
Common questions.
Our system works fine. Do we really need to do anything now?
As long as your provider has not given notice on the line, you do not have to do anything. The catch: spare parts for older systems are getting scarce, and once notice arrives, the clock runs on a deadline you did not set. We suggest recording now what lines you actually have and placing the changeover in a quarter that suits you. The survey on its own commits you to nothing.
If the system runs in the cloud, are we then tied to you?
No. The contract with the provider is in your company's name. The numbers belong to you as well and can be taken to another provider. You can give notice or appoint a different service provider, and the access credentials and the documentation for the system sit with you. We work this way because clients should stay while the work is good, not because they cannot get out.
We still send faxes to public authorities. Does that work over IP at all?
In most cases yes, though rarely with the old machine plugged into the new socket. Fax was designed for analogue lines and reacts badly when signals are broken into packets. We move your fax traffic to a service that sends documents directly and returns the transmission report, and we test every recipient you write to regularly. Where a machine has to stay, we provide the right adapter.
What about the lift emergency call? Surely that is the lift company's responsibility.
They are responsible for the approval; we are responsible for the line behind it. The emergency telephone in the lift has to work even when the power in the building is out, which is why an ordinary IP line is not enough on its own. We agree the connection with your lift company and implement only what they approve in writing. Without that approval we do not touch the emergency line.
Can you do this if we have sites in several federal states?
Yes. The system itself and the numbering plan are built independently of location, so it makes no difference whether your sites are in Rostock or in Stuttgart. Someone is needed on site for cabling, handsets and showing people how it works, and we plan that as travel dates and group them together. Based in Schwerin, we look after clients throughout Germany.
Before the provider sets the date
Tell us how many sites and extensions you have and what is still running on analogue. We will then work out whether fax and the lift emergency call need special handling, and tell you how long number porting takes with your provider.
Book an intro call