❓ Start With the Right Questions
Before talking to any provider, define what you actually need:
- How many users need phone access, and will this change significantly in 12–24 months?
- Do you use Microsoft Teams? Do you want calls to work within Teams?
- What's your current monthly spend on phone lines, calls and broadband?
- What's the cost to your business of an hour of phone downtime?
- Do you have compliance requirements (FCA call recording, GDPR)?
📋 Contract Terms to Scrutinise
| Clause | What to Watch For | Red Flag |
|---|---|---|
| Price rises | Annual CPI+3.9% clauses | Accepting auto-increases without cap |
| Minimum term | 12–36 months | 36 months for an unproven provider |
| Exit fees | Remaining months rental | No pro-rata exit rights |
| Price guarantee | Is the headline price locked? | 'Price on application' without guarantee |
| SLA credits | How are outages compensated? | Credits < £50/hour for total outage |
| Termination notice | 30-day notice sufficient? | 90-day rolling notice periods |
🛡️ SLA — What's Actually Meaningful
Every provider claims 'industry-leading uptime'. What matters is: what happens when they fail? A '99.9% uptime SLA' allows 8.7 hours of downtime per year. If the compensation for that downtime is one month's credit (i.e., £50–£100 for an SME), the SLA is commercially meaningless.
More useful questions: What's the P1 response time (complete outage)? Do they have 24/7 NOC support? What's the escalation path if an issue isn't resolved within 4 hours?
🚩 Red Flags in Provider Pitches
- 'We're switching off your current service in 30 days' — high-pressure tactics used by PSTN migration salespeople. Never sign same-day.
- Headline price that excludes common features (calls, recording, Teams integration) as expensive add-ons.
- No published case studies or reference customers they'll connect you with.
- Can't give a clear answer on where support calls are handled (UK vs offshore).
- Pricing that requires a consultant visit rather than being publicly available.
🏆 Single Provider vs Best of Breed
The single-provider argument: simpler billing, one support number, potential bundle discounts, easier contract management. The best-of-breed argument: specialist providers are often technically superior in their niche and more responsive.
For most UK SMEs, a single provider that covers VoIP + broadband + failover (like Telexico) delivers better value than managing 3–4 separate providers. For enterprise businesses with specific needs, best-of-breed may justify the complexity.
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