Challenges
Switching from an unresponsive supplier
When tickets sit for weeks and nobody calls back, it is time to move. A planned handover around your contract dates, then one number that answers within three rings.
The challenge
You raised the request a fortnight ago and heard nothing. The renewal came through anyway. Switching feels risky because the current supplier holds the passwords, the numbers and the domain, and you cannot afford a gap. The handover is the part that has to be managed well, and it is the part we have done many times.
If it is left
Most of the cost is in the waiting: the new starter without a laptop for a week, the phone line fault nobody chased, the Microsoft 365 renewal that rolled over at the higher price because nobody reviewed it. Over time the business adapts around the supplier, staff stop reporting problems, and the estate drifts out of date and out of support without anyone noticing. By the time a supplier is this quiet, nobody can say what they actually hold on your behalf, and that is what makes leaving feel dangerous.
What good looks like
Every password, number, licence, domain and contract listed and in your name, a handover scheduled around your contract end dates so you are not paying twice for longer than necessary, and from the first day one number your staff ring, answered within three rings by an engineer who can fix it. The monthly report tells you what was done, and a director is reachable when you want one.
What to do first
Before you call anyone
Write down what is not being answered
The open tickets, how long each has waited, and what it is costing. It is the evidence for the conversation with the current supplier and the brief for the next one.
Find the contract and the notice period
The end date and the notice period for IT support, for each phone line, for the broadband and for any licences bought through the supplier. These dates set the plan.
Check who owns what
Your domain name, your Microsoft 365 tenant, your phone numbers and your broadband should be registered to your business, not the supplier. Log in to each registrar or portal and look at the account holder.
Ask for the documentation
You are entitled to the admin passwords, the network diagram, the licence list and the backup configuration for systems you pay for. Ask in writing, and keep the reply.
Do not cancel anything yet
Nothing is ceased until the replacement is tested. The worst switch is the one where the old line goes before the new one works.
To see what your connection gives you now, run the speed test: download, upload, latency and jitter in under a minute, with no name or email needed.
What we would do first
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Tell us what is not being answered
A short conversation about what you have and what has gone wrong. We call back within the hour in office hours, and at any time out of hours.
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Audit what you have
Lines, numbers, devices, licences, domains and contracts, and who holds the keys to each, so nothing is a surprise on the day.
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Plan the handover around your business
Numbers ported, every device and user brought under management, and the work scheduled so it does not affect day-to-day operations.
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One number from then on
Calls answered within three rings by our own engineers, and a director you can ask for at any time.
How we approach it
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Audit and recover control
Every device, server, licence, domain, phone number and contract, and who holds the keys to each. Where the supplier holds something in its own name, we help you get it transferred before anything else moves.
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Agree the retainer and the split
Hours each month sized to the devices, servers and users you run, a cap so a month never surprises you, and a written note of what we take on and from when.
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Bring everything under management
Our monitoring and patching tools on every device and server, endpoint protection installed, Microsoft 365 security and compliance policies set to our standard, and the estate documented, scheduled so it does not affect day-to-day operations.
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Move the lines and numbers
Phone numbers ported on agreed dates and broadband or leased lines moved onto our own network, each one tested before the old service is ceased, in an order that fits your contract end dates.
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Go live and report
Your staff get one number and one email address. Calls are answered within three rings, and the first monthly report shows what was done, who did it and how long it took.
The services that apply
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Complete Managed IT
The usual destination for a business whose supplier has gone quiet: we become the IT team, with the service desk your staff ring and the monthly report the old supplier never sent.
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Co-managed IT
If you have an IT person who was let down by the supplier rather than replaced by it, the split keeps them in charge and puts our service desk and patching behind them.
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Telephone lines and numbers
The numbers and lines are usually with the same supplier; porting them on agreed dates is what stops the phones going quiet during the switch.
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Connectivity
Broadband and leased lines move onto our own network in an order that fits their contract dates, with the old line kept until the new one is proven.
How you would buy it
Every hour we work falls under one of four engagement models. These are the ones that fit this situation; How we work compares all four.
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02
Fixed price
A defined piece of work or project
The handover itself is a project, surveyed and priced as a fixed sum before we start, so the cost of switching is known before you give notice.
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03
Retainer
The way most of our clients work with us
How most businesses leave a poor supplier: a set number of hours each month at one rate whoever does the work, a cap you set, and unused hours carrying forward for three months.
Who you would work with
An account manager
Your first call and the plan, including the contract dates and who holds what, and the person you ask when something is not right.
A project manager
Runs the handover: the audit, the transfers, the porting dates and the schedule around your operations.
Our engineers
Odyssey employees, never subcontracted, who bring every device and user under management and then answer the phone afterwards.
A director
Reachable at any time, no questions asked.
A client who has been here
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Client story, Logistics and haulage
Prestons of Potto
A 20-year telephony relationship grew into full IT support, moving a nationwide haulage firm onto Microsoft 365.
Read the story →
Questions people ask
Can we switch before our current contract ends?
Often, yes. We look at each contract's end date and notice period and plan the move so you are not paying twice for longer than necessary. Where a contract has to run on, we tell you before you commit.
Our current supplier holds our passwords and domain. Is that a problem?
It is something to plan for, not a reason to stay. You are entitled to the credentials and documentation for systems you pay for; we audit what the supplier holds and help you get each item transferred into your name before anything moves.
Will switching disrupt the business?
The handover is scheduled so it does not affect day-to-day operations, with numbers ported and every device and user brought under management, and nothing is ceased until its replacement is tested.
Who does the work during the handover?
Odyssey employees. We never subcontract, so the engineers who plan the move are the ones who carry it out and the ones who answer afterwards.
Can we keep our phone numbers?
Yes. Numbers can be ported from most providers, so customers keep calling the numbers they know.
What if the current supplier refuses to cooperate?
Most do cooperate once notice is given, because the contract requires it. Where one drags its feet, the audit tells us what we can rebuild without them, and the order of the handover changes so the things they control move last.
How do we know you will not go quiet too?
Our commitments are in writing and measured live: calls answered within three rings, actively working within 2 hours on anything urgent, a monthly report of what was done, and a director you can ask for at any time. The live figures on our home page show how we are doing today.
What will it cost compared with what we pay now?
Often more per month than a fixed fee per user, because a retainer is sized to the work your business actually creates rather than to the cheapest line on a comparison. What it pays for is a short gap between a problem being logged and being solved, which is what you are missing now.
Talk to a human about switching supplier
Call and we answer within three rings. Or tell us what you need and we will call you back at any time.