Avoiding disruption to business communications
One of the reasons businesses shy away from making big changes is that they often wish to avoid anything that may cause interruptions to the ebb and flow of business. Disruptions to service and the potential for delays or loss of business are hassles that nobody wants.
Making changes to company telephone numbers is a great example of this. With so many businesses relying on voice calls with customers, suppliers and delivery partners, the last thing anyone wants is something that may disrupt telephone communication, impacting your business with your upstream and downstream supply chain.
One standout example of this from the UK was the expansion of the national telephone system which took place in 2000. This added new codes to create more capacity and was known as the ‘Big Number Change’. This involved the introduction of a new set of area codes and phone numbers to accommodate the growing demand for telephone lines.
The change resulted in some disruption and consequential costs for businesses:
- Print and digital updates – Updates to any printed materials or digitally published content that included phone numbers.
- Couldn’t connect – Some customers also experienced difficulty reaching businesses that had changed their phone numbers, as they were not aware of the new number.
- New numbering – Some confusion and frustration among customers, as they were required to dial a longer number, including the new area code, even for local calls
Overall, the Big Number Change was a significant but necessary event in the evolution of the UK’s telephone system, and while it resulted in some disruption and challenges, it helped to ensure that the system could accommodate the growing demand for telephone lines and services.
Keep your number and avoid disruption when switching to Soho66
Today, migrating a business over to the latest VoIP voice calling technology creates a lot less fuss and avoids the disruption that accompanied the Big Number Change.
Porting mobile phone numbers, where you keep your number when you change network provider is a standard practice we all expect from mobile network service providers.
But did you know, the same also applies when you want to migrate your number from a conventional POTS service over to Soho66 VoIP B2B voice call services?
You can simply bring your number over with you! There’s no updating printed materials or online content with new number information, no missed connections through ‘old’ numbers being dialled, and no confusion from different number codes or formats.
Why wait for 2025? Go VoIP and enjoy the benefits now
Sometimes, making a change is unavoidable. Such a situation is coming up rapidly as the legacy POTS copper line infrastructure is being turned off in December 2025.
Besides the ease of porting to bring your existing business number(s) with you over to a Soho66 VoIP solution, you’ll get these enhancements that boost your business finances and productivity, as well as the experiences of users (UX) and customers (CX):
- Cost savings – VoIP services are often less expensive than POTS lines, both in terms of monthly service fees and calling charges.
- Flexibility – With VoIP, you can make and receive calls using a variety of devices, such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets, as long as you have an internet connection and you can stay connected when you’re on the move.
- Enhanced features – VoIP services offer advanced features, such as call forwarding, voicemail, call waiting, and conference calling, that are not available with POTS lines.
- Scalability – VoIP services can easily be scaled up or down to meet the needs of your business, making it easier to add or remove lines as your business grows or changes.
- International calling- VoIP often makes it less expensive to make international calls compared to POTS tariffs.
Find out more about porting your number(s) over to a Soho66 VoIP solution here.
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