Hosted Business Phone System for UK SMEs

It is the natural upgrade as the old analogue network is retired, and it sits inside our wider business VoIP service for UK SMEs.

What is a hosted phone system?

A hosted phone system (also called hosted PBX or cloud telephony) gives you every feature of an office phone system — extensions, hunt groups, IVR menus, call recording — without owning any on-site hardware. Your handsets and apps connect over the internet to a platform the provider runs, manages and updates for you.

That means no PBX server to maintain, no engineer visits for moves and changes, and the ability to add or remove users in minutes. It is the foundation most UK businesses now choose ahead of the PSTN switch-off.

What's included in a hosted phone system from AMVIA?

Every AMVIA hosted phone system ships with the full enterprise call-handling feature set, configured to match how your business actually answers calls — not a generic default template. You get cloud control over routing, so changes are instant.

• Auto-attendant and IVR — route callers to the right team without a receptionist
• Hunt groups and call queues — distribute inbound calls and hold callers in order
• Voicemail-to-email — voicemails delivered as audio to the inbox
• Call recording — all calls, inbound-only, or on-demand, stored securely in the cloud
• Softphone and mobile apps — make and take calls from a laptop or smartphone
• Number porting — keep your existing geographic and non-geographic numbers

Recording can be set up for FCA-regulated firms with tamper-evident storage and searchable archives, which supports FCA compliance for dispute resolution and call-quality review.

How does AMVIA set up your hosted phone system?

AMVIA deploys a hosted phone system in five to ten working days from order, including number porting, handset delivery and user configuration. There is no on-premises server to install, which removes most of the cost and disruption of a traditional PBX project.

1. Requirements and number porting — we capture your call flows and extension structure, then begin porting your existing numbers 2. System configuration — auto-attendants, hunt groups, voicemail and routing built around your workflow 3. Handset deployment — pre-configured IP handsets or softphones shipped to each site, ready on plug-in 4. Training and support — staff training, then ongoing support for moves, adds, changes and call-quality monitoring

Temporary numbers can run while porting completes, so there is no gap in service.

Why are UK businesses moving to hosted phone systems?

The biggest driver is the retirement of the old analogue network. Openreach is withdrawing the traditional PSTN and ISDN phone network, with the industry switch-off scheduled for the end of January 2027, after which legacy analogue and ISDN lines stop working permanently (Ofcom).

Any business still running a legacy on-site PBX must migrate to an IP-based hosted phone system before that deadline. The shift is already well underway, with cloud calling platforms such as Microsoft Teams Phone increasingly displacing desk-bound hardware.

For multi-site organisations, hosted telephony also unifies every office onto one platform — see our multi-site VoIP and Microsoft Teams direct routing options.

Hosted phone system vs traditional on-site PBX

A hosted system moves the cost, maintenance and upgrade burden off your premises and onto the provider. The table below compares the two for a typical UK SME.

How much does a hosted phone system cost?

Hosted phone systems are priced per user per month, which scales cleanly with headcount and removes the large upfront capital cost of a PBX. Final pricing depends on user count, handset choice, call-package and recording requirements, so we quote against your actual call profile rather than a headline rate.

If you run Microsoft 365, calling can be added to your existing tenant. Microsoft 365 Business Premium — the security-first bundle AMVIA recommends — lists at £16.90 per user per month (ex VAT, annual) (Microsoft), with Teams Phone licensing added on top. AMVIA's own hosted phone system pricing is confirmed at quotation. For a like-for-like comparison against analogue lines, see VoIP vs landline.

Is a hosted phone system secure?

Yes — when it is configured and monitored properly. Because calls travel over the internet, a hosted phone system needs the same disciplines as the rest of your network: encryption, fraud monitoring, strong authentication and secure session controls. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre publishes guidance on protecting VoIP and unified-comms services (NCSC).

AMVIA hardens every deployment and monitors for toll fraud and abnormal call patterns. Read more on our VoIP security page and how telephony fits with your wider Microsoft 365 calling setup.