Voice and video
Hosted VoIP phone systems and SIP trunks
A business phone system that lives in the cloud instead of a cabinet in the office: your numbers, auto-attendants and call routing run by Odyssey, ringing on desk phones, laptops and mobiles.
Who it is for
Businesses in Teesside and the North East with phone lines on ISDN or analogue that stop working on 31 January 2027, with a phone system in a cupboard that costs money to keep, or with staff who now work from home, on the road and on holiday while customers still expect someone to answer. From a single office to a group with several sites.
What you get
Odyssey Voice, a hosted phone system we run: your existing numbers ported across, auto-attendants and hunt groups set up to match how you work, and every extension ringing on a desk phone, a softphone on a laptop or a mobile app, showing the business number. Or, if you own a phone system that supports SIP, SIP trunks that connect it to the internet so you keep it after the switch-off. Set up, changed and supported by our own engineers in Stockton-on-Tees.
The problem
Traditional ISDN and analogue phone lines are being switched off, and an on-site phone system tied to them is costly to keep. You need calls that reach the right person wherever they are working.
BT and Openreach retire the PSTN and ISDN on 31 January 2027, and no new analogue line can be ordered now, so a line that fails cannot be replaced like for like. Every phone line, and everything else that runs over one (the alarm, the lift phone, the fax, the card terminal), has to move to a digital service before then, and the numbers your customers know have to keep working through the move.
A traditional phone system ties a number to a handset and a handset to a desk. Now calls ring at empty desks and go to a voicemail nobody checks, staff working from home give out personal mobiles so customer calls leave the business with them, and holiday cover means remembering to divert the line and remembering to undo it. Changing any of it needs an engineer's visit.
With hosted voice the phone system lives in the cloud and the numbers belong to the business, not to a desk. The same extension rings on a desk phone, a laptop and a mobile; hunt groups ring a team together or in turn; time rules route calls differently at lunchtime, in the evening and on bank holidays; and a change is a quick remote job for our service desk.
To see what still runs on the old phone network, take the PSTN switch-off check: ten questions, and a list of what has to move before the switch-off.
What Odyssey provides
- Hosted telephony with no phone system to buy or maintain on site, run by Odyssey from our own network
- Your existing numbers ported across, plus new local, 03 and 0800 numbers if you want them
- Auto-attendants, hunt groups, call queues, voicemail and time-based routing set up to match how you work
- Every extension on desk phones, softphones and mobile apps, showing the business number wherever the person is
- SIP trunks for a phone system you already own, if it supports SIP, so you keep it after the switch-off
- Changes made by our service desk, answered within three rings and billed to the minute
What is included
| Included | Detail |
|---|---|
| Audit | The lines and numbers you have today and where each one goes, including the ones nobody remembers |
| Set-up | Users, extensions, auto-attendants, hunt groups, call queues, voicemail and opening-hours rules configured for you |
| Number porting | Your existing numbers moved from your current provider so customers keep calling the numbers they know |
| Devices | Desk phones supplied and configured if you want them, softphone and mobile apps set up for staff who do not |
| Connectivity check | Whether your internet connection has the capacity to carry calls as well as everything else, with a recommendation if it does not |
| Changes | New users, moves, call-flow and opening-hours changes handled by our service desk, remotely, usually there and then |
| Support | Faults and questions answered by our own engineers in Stockton-on-Tees within three rings |
Not included, or sold separately
- Call charges
- Billed separately on top of the per-user charge, on an inclusive minute bundle or pay per minute, whichever suits you
- Handsets
- Desk phones, headsets and conference phones are supplied and priced separately, purchased or on a monthly charge
- The internet connection
- Hosted calls need a reliable connection; business broadband or a leased line is a separate service, and a 4G or 5G backup keeps the phones ringing if the line fails
- Mitel MiVoice Business
- A system you own, hosted or on site, with the call handling a contact centre needs, is its own service
- Microsoft Teams calling
- Calls inside Teams through Direct Routing is its own service, and the two can work together through Teams Connect
- Call recording and reporting
- Added as a separate service where you need recordings for disputes or compliance, or reports on answer times and missed calls
- Alarm, lift and door-entry lines
- Each needs its own digital replacement before the switch-off, which we audit and arrange as part of the PSTN switch-off work, priced separately
How it is delivered
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Audit every line and number
Which numbers customers call, where each one goes, which lines carry something other than a phone, and who your current provider is. Nothing moves until every number is accounted for.
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Design the call flows
Who should answer what, in what order, at what times. Hunt groups, auto-attendants, queues and voicemail are set up to match how your team actually works, and we talk it through with the people who answer the phones.
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Check the connection
Calls need a connection with capacity to spare. We check what your address has and recommend business broadband, a leased line or a 4G or 5G backup if the phones would otherwise be the first thing to suffer.
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Port the numbers and go live
Desk phones and apps are set up and tested while your current lines still work. Your numbers are then ported on an agreed date and routed to the new system, so customers notice nothing. Porting usually takes 10 to 20 working days for single numbers, longer for ranges and multi-line numbers.
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Change it as you change
A new starter, a leaver, a different rota over the holidays: ring the service desk and it is done remotely. Calls are answered within three rings, holidays included, and billed to the minute.
Why trust Odyssey with this
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1987
Business telephony specialists since 1987
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3
Calls answered within three rings, and a director is always reachable
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In-house
All work completed by Odyssey employees, never subcontracted
- Delivered over our own business-only core network
Client story
Country Valley Foods
Two sites became one, with hosted Mitel telephony, cordless handsets across 36,000 sq ft and microwave internet.
Read the story
Questions people ask
Can we keep our phone numbers?
Yes. Existing numbers are ported from most providers to Odyssey Voice, so customers keep calling the numbers they know. We audit every number first so none is missed, including the ones on alarm and lift lines.
What happens when ISDN and analogue lines are switched off?
BT and Openreach plan to retire the PSTN and ISDN on 31 January 2027, and no new analogue lines can be ordered now. Calls move to internet-based services. Odyssey Voice replaces the lines and the on-site system they served; if your existing system supports SIP, SIP trunks connect it instead and you keep it.
Do we need a phone system on site?
No. Odyssey Voice is hosted, so there is no cabinet to buy, power or maintain. Calls work on desk phones, softphones on a computer and a mobile app, and changes are made remotely by our service desk.
What is the difference between hosted voice and SIP trunks?
Hosted voice replaces your phone system with one we run, including auto-attendants, hunt groups, voicemail and the apps. SIP trunks connect a phone system you already own, if it supports SIP, to internet calling, so you keep the system and only the lines change.
Can staff take calls when working from home or on the road?
Yes. The same extension rings on a desk phone, a softphone on a laptop and a mobile app, and outgoing calls show the business number rather than a personal mobile, so the record of the call stays with the business.
Will our internet connection cope?
It may need upgrading so it has capacity for calls as well as everything else. We check what your address can get and recommend business broadband or a leased line to carry it, and a 4G or 5G backup so the phones keep ringing if the line fails.
What if we want a phone system we own, or a contact centre?
Mitel MiVoice Business, hosted or on site, is the system we install where a business wants to own it or needs the call handling a contact centre requires. Several of our longest-standing clients run hosted Mitel; our client stories show what that looks like.
Can hosted voice work alongside Microsoft Teams?
Yes. Teams Connect lets Teams users and Odyssey phone system extensions call each other, so a business can put some people in Teams and keep others on handsets without running two separate systems.
Challenges this helps with
- Preparing for the PSTN switch-offWhat changes in 2027, and what to do first
- Moving your phones to Microsoft TeamsCalls in Teams, on the numbers you know
- Bringing an acquired business onto your systemsOne set of systems and one supplier
- A customer team that has outgrown its phonesEvery call routed, recorded and reported
Related services
Ask about hosted voice and SIP
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