Small businesses will be the big winners of the UK’s seismic digital transition
Sponsored by bOnlineThe UK is undergoing the most dramatic digital transformation in more than 100 years – and it’s freelancers, start-ups and growing businesses who stand to gain the most by becoming early adopters
Openreach, the organisation responsible for building and maintaining the UK’s phone network, has begun turning off the country’s 100-year-old legacy landline network ahead of the 2025 switch-off deadline.
It is the largest communications disruption for the UK in a generation. By 2025, every phone line in the UK will be digital, and all analogue PSTN landlines will be discontinued. Instead of copper wires, the country will use a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network for calls and full-fibre broadband connections.
As part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) mandate, “Building Digital UK”, the government is investing £5 billion to ensure that every UK home and business can access fast and reliable digital connectivity.
The UK has more than 2.4 million small businesses still using analogue phone lines, and these will need to be migrated to a digital solution prior to the shutdown. And businesses that become early adopters will be able to grow faster and gain an edge on their competition. A digital mindset today is a critical success factor for small and growing businesses.
Early adopters of a digital-first approach to phone lines will benefit in many ways:
- Big savings. Most businesses save an average of 68 per cent on phone costs when switching to a digital phone line or VoIP phone system. Call charges, including international ones, are cheaper than analogue phone lines. Small businesses have been paying more than £30 per month for “line rental” plus call charges on top for years, while a digital line with a local geographic number and unlimited calls costs just £12.95 plus VAT. Plus, being digital, the capability comes with free features such as call divert, call recording and conferencing and essential call analytics.
- Mobility. The ability to make and receive calls using a local number on any device makes digital lines a flexible post-pandemic essential for modern businesses. Directing calls can be done on the go as well as managing call flows and greetings for a stellar caller experience with apps designed to empower remote working. That allows competition on a level playing field with companies a thousand times bigger.
- Quality and stability. Digital phone systems now run entirely on cloud-based software, with enterprise-grade quality and reliability with an SMB price point. The HD call quality comes with near 100 per cent reliability because of automatic redundancy that quickly repairs and reroutes calls should a fault or technical issue arise. That means no downtime and zero charges for installation, engineers or maintenance.
The power of digital lines and cloud-based technology means new start-ups, freelancers and mobile businesses aren’t tied to physical locations to get a trusted landline number for trading. Selecting the right VoIP provider now means click-to-dialling in less than four minutes: choose your number, activate your phone line and start making and receiving calls instantly without engineers, installations or even speaking with a salesperson.
Those who don’t adopt face disruption and being left behind
For small businesses, delaying digital transition will be the difference between success and failure. The move to digital phone lines is also very much rooted in meeting customer demands. If a business is missing calls, sounds unprofessional or is unable to provide effective telephone support, its customers will leave or simply call the next number listed on Google – and will be gone for good.
And those running their businesses off a mobile number won’t even be seen online, because mobile business numbers are not search-engine friendly or trustworthy. You need a local landline number to be visible.
What’s more, small businesses can’t afford to ignore the power of data that digital provides to gain key insights into operations – for example, call analytics to manage calls while staffing more effectively at peak times and uncovering other trends. All are features that enterprises have been using for years to optimise and gain an edge on competition and costs.
It is an exciting time to be a business in the UK with the shift to digital, and now is the time to embrace the change to level up with big organisations that have traditionally enjoyed the benefits. Time is critical ahead of the 2025 deadline. Get one step ahead of your competitors and start with a high-speed fibre-optic broadband connection and digital phone system (such as VoIP) previously only available to enterprises.
If your business is looking to kickstart it’s digital upgrade transformation, getting set up with bOnline phone takes only minutes and includes award-winning onboarding.
by Anthony Karibian, Founder and CEO, bOnline.com
Business Reporter Team
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