Moving Office: Phones and Internet
The connectivity is what makes an office move go wrong. Everything else can be carried in on the day; a leased line cannot, and it is the one thing with a lead time measured in months.
Request a quoteStart with the line, not the furniture
An office move has one item on it that cannot be hurried. Desks, chairs, computers and phones can all arrive the week before. A new fibre or leased line involves a survey, potentially civil works, and a provisioning process that runs to weeks at best and several months where digging is required. Businesses that start planning the move six weeks out discover this too late, and open the new office on a mobile hotspot.
The phones are far easier than people expect, provided the system is cloud-based. Numbers are not tied to the building, so they move with you — handsets are unplugged at the old site and plugged in at the new one, where they register on their own. There is no engineer visit for the phone system itself and no reconfiguration. If the current system is on-premise, that is a different conversation, and generally the move is the natural moment to change it.
Two other things are worth doing while the building is empty. The cabling should be surveyed before anyone moves in, because putting sockets where the desks will actually be is far cheaper with no furniture in the way. And the old site’s services need ceasing properly with a date, not merely abandoned — a surprisingly common outcome of an office move is being billed for the old building for months afterwards.
The order it should happen in
Connectivity first
Order the line as soon as the lease is signed. It is the only item with a months-long lead time.
Survey the new site
What is already installed, what the building will allow, and whether civil works are needed.
Cable while it is empty
Sockets where the desks will be. Far cheaper before the furniture arrives than after.
A temporary link if needed
A 4G or 5G circuit keeps the new office trading if the fixed line will not land in time.
Phones just move
On a cloud system, numbers are not tied to the building. Unplug, plug in, they register themselves.
Cease the old site
With a date. Being billed for an empty building for months is a common and avoidable ending.
What actually goes wrong
- Ordering connectivity six weeks before the move, when the lead time is four months
- Discovering the new building needs civil works after the lease is signed
- Cabling the office after the furniture arrives, at several times the cost
- Assuming the phone numbers cannot come — on a cloud system they always can
- Leaving the old site’s services running and paying for an empty building
- No fallback plan for the fortnight when the new line has not landed
Moving Office: Phones and Internet — Common Questions
How early should we order the internet connection for a new office?
As soon as the lease is signed, and earlier if you can. Full fibre and leased lines involve a survey and often civil works, and lead times run to weeks at best and several months where digging is required. It is the only part of an office move that genuinely cannot be hurried.
Can we keep our phone numbers?
Yes. Numbers are not tied to a building, so they move with you regardless of where you are going — including to a different area. On a cloud system there is nothing to move at all beyond the handsets themselves, which register on their own when they are plugged in at the new site.
What if the new line will not be ready in time?
A 4G or 5G circuit can be live in days and will keep the new office trading — phones, email, card payments and normal working — while the fixed line goes through survey and installation. It comes out when the permanent circuit lands, or stays on as the failover afterwards.
When should the cabling be done?
Before anybody moves in. Putting sockets where the desks are actually going to be is straightforward in an empty building and expensive once the furniture and staff are there. It is also the moment to add a few more points than you think you need, since the incremental cost while the work is happening is small.
What happens to the services at the old office?
They need ceasing with a date rather than being abandoned. Being billed for an empty building for months after a move is common, and it happens because the move consumed everybody’s attention and nobody served notice. It is worth putting on the plan alongside the new site.
Do we need an engineer on moving day?
For a cloud phone system, generally not — handsets plug in and register themselves. Where the move involves new cabling, a new firewall, or an on-premise system being decommissioned, an engineer on site is worth having. The right answer depends on what is being moved, and it is worth deciding rather than assuming.
More Support Services
Tell us the date and the postcode
Those two things are enough for us to say what is available at the new building and whether the timescale is realistic. If it is not, there is a workable answer — but only if we know early enough to arrange it.