In 2025 the UK’s existing phone network infrastructure, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), will be switched off.

This will be the biggest shakeup of the country’s telecommunications industry since PSTN and ISDN were first introduced, moving the entire phone infrastructure online into an internet-based network – primarily known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

There are a few reasons this is happening. The main reason is that the existing phone infrastructure is outdated and unable to cope with the rising need for transferring more and more data (particularly when it comes to video calls and conferencing).

For any business that hasn’t switched to VoIP by the end of 2025, their phone systems will stop working – and many are already switching over to VoIP systems in preparation for the big switch-off.

But this is creating some confusion over what it means for phone-based business systems, like using a telephone answering service – and whether these services can be synced to an internet comms network.

In this blog, we look at how you can switch your call answering service over to VoIP when the time comes.

How will VoIP change the telecommunication infrastructure?

Simply, VoIP will remove the need for copper wiring installed from a box in the street directly into commercial premises and physically connected to a phone.

Instead, calls will be made over the internet, using a regular broadband connection or dedicated business connection if one is available.

Businesses will still have phone numbers, and there are specific VoIP phones you can buy.

But you can turn any mobile or smart device into a VoIP phone (like a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop) and answer calls from anywhere.

For businesses, it’s great because employees can work from anywhere but still be able to answer their business line, and calls can be easily transferred between devices as long as they’re connected to the internet or mobile network like 4G or 5G.

Is a telephone answering service compatible with VoIP?

While moving to VoIP will transform the telecoms infrastructure used in the UK, it will essentially still run in the same way.

The only difference is that a business’ entire voice, text, video and data requirements will be handled through one connection.

And this means your telephone answering service will be fully compatible with this switchover.

If anything, it will be more effective.

Your telephone answering service will be able to deal with all your incoming calls as usual and be able to transfer callers to the right person, wherever they are, just as now.

From a business perspective, VoIP will create more opportunities to organise where calls should be transferred to and can improve your call answering because there’ll be fewer individual numbers to deal with.

Getting the benefits of a telephone answering service

While 2025 signals the end of the current telecommunications infrastructure, it won’t affect how you can benefit from telephone answering services, and if you invest in this service now, it’ll be easy to switch everything over when you need to.

In the meantime, you can benefit from complete coverage of all your business’ incoming calls, ensuring nothing is missed and that every customer is dealt with quickly and professionally every time.

If you want to find out more about the benefits of using a call answering service or have more questions about how the upcoming VoIP switchover will impact you, get in touch.