What a Business Phone System Actually Costs

A per-user figure and a per-channel figure are both honest answers to "what does a phone system cost", and they cannot be laid side by side. Much of the difficulty in comparing quotes comes from that one difference rather than from anything a supplier is hiding.

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The first question is what unit the quote is priced in

A cloud phone system is priced per user per month. Everybody who needs an extension carries a licence, whether they make forty calls a day or four. SIP trunking is priced on something else entirely: it keeps the phone system you already own and replaces only the lines into it, and one channel carries one concurrent call. A forty-person office is forty licences on the first model. On the second it is however many calls happen at once, which for most businesses is a fraction of the headcount. Both figures are honest and neither compares with the other, so establishing which unit you are being quoted in comes before anything else.

Within the per-user model, the tier mix moves the number more than the headline rate does. Platforms sell a basic seat and a fuller one, and what sits in the gap is usually call recording, reporting beyond the basic counts, CRM integration and the deeper routing features. Very few businesses need the fuller tier for everybody — a warehouse extension and a sales desk want different things — so one supplier quoting a mix and another quoting one tier across the board will differ substantially for the same headcount on the same platform. Ask which tier each user is on rather than what the average works out at.

Then there is everything that is not the monthly figure. Handsets are usually the largest part of it and the most over-bought: a desk phone for somebody who takes three calls a day earns nothing back, when the softphone and mobile app are already inside the licence. Desk phones also need Power over Ethernet or an individual plug at each desk, so on a site whose switches do not supply it, injectors or replacement switches quietly become part of the phone system budget. Alongside that sit number porting, building the call flows and auto attendant, recorded announcements and training. Some suppliers absorb these and some itemise them, which on its own can make the cheaper-looking quote the dearer one.

Contract length is the last lever and the most misread. One-off costs are commonly spread across the term, so a five-year quote shows a lower monthly figure than a three-year quote for identical service — the same money divided by more months. Worth asking alongside it is whether the licence count can come down as well as up, because for a business whose headcount moves that matters more than the rate does. Four questions put any two quotes on the same basis: what unit is this priced in, which tier is each user on, what is one-off and what is monthly, and what is excluded that we will still have to buy.

Where the money actually goes

The unit it is priced in

Per user for a cloud platform, per concurrent channel for SIP trunks into a system you own. The two do not compare line for line.

Licence tier mix

Recording, deeper reporting, CRM integration and advanced routing usually sit in the fuller tier. Very few businesses need it for everybody.

Handsets and power

Usually the largest one-off, and the most over-bought. Desk phones also need Power over Ethernet, which can mean injectors or new switches.

What the call bundle excludes

International, non-geographic and premium-rate ranges commonly sit outside an inclusive bundle. The out-of-bundle rate is where a bill parts company with a quote.

The connection underneath

Frequently not in the quote at all, and a separate cost if the current line will not carry the calls. Rarely about buying more bandwidth — voice needs very little.

Term and licence flexibility

A longer term divides the same one-off costs across more months. Ask whether the licence count can fall as well as rise during it.

Who we work with

We are independent of any single network or vendor, so the recommendation follows the requirement.

Telephony platforms

Hosted, on-premise or Microsoft Teams — the right answer depends on the building, not on what we prefer to sell.

Network and vendor names and logos are the trademarks of their respective owners, shown to describe the services SCG Solutions supplies.

What a Business Phone System Actually Costs — Common Questions

What does a business phone system cost per user?

There is no useful single figure, which is why this page does not quote one. The per-user rate depends on which licence tier each person needs, whether they take a desk phone or use the app, whether you are keeping an existing phone system, and the length of the term. A figure published without those assumptions stated cannot be compared with anything, including ours.

Why do two quotes for the same office differ so much?

Usually because they are priced in different units, or on different assumptions about tiers. One may be per user on a cloud platform and the other per concurrent channel feeding a system you already own. Even within the per-user model, one supplier quoting a mix of tiers and another quoting the fuller tier for everybody produces a large gap for what is otherwise the same service.

Do we have to buy handsets?

No, and most businesses buy more than they need. The softphone and mobile app come with the licence you are already paying for, so the question worth asking is who genuinely takes enough calls to want a physical phone on the desk. Reception, a busy sales desk and anyone transferring calls all day usually do. A great many people do not.

What is usually excluded from a phone system quote?

Most often the internet connection it depends on, network work such as switches to power desk phones, reporting at contact-centre depth, professional recordings, and — where the route is Microsoft Teams — the Microsoft licence each user needs for external calling. None of this is hidden. It is simply not part of a telephony platform, and it still has to be paid for by somebody.

Is there a charge for keeping our numbers?

Porting is a one-off rather than a recurring cost, and it is sometimes included in a quote and sometimes itemised. Where it is charged it may be per number or for a range as a whole, so a business holding a block of DDIs should establish which applies before comparing two quotes. Ask as well what it costs to keep the old service running until the port completes.

Is it cheaper to keep the phone system we already have?

Frequently, yes. If you own a system that is IP-capable and doing its job, replacing only the lines into it with SIP trunking costs considerably less than replacing the whole platform, and we would not sell against it without a reason. Where the system is old enough that it would need replacing before long anyway, the arithmetic reverses and the trunks only postpone the bill.

Where we cover what a business phone system actually costs

We deliver this across the UK. These 8 are where a director is actually based — each page names who you would be dealing with, and what the local economy is made of.

Want a quote you can actually compare?

Tell us the headcount, how many calls happen at once and what you are running today, and we will quote it broken into monthly and one-off so it lines up against whatever else you have been sent.

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