Business communications guides for Australian businesses.
119 articles
If you're on Telstra for your business phone and wondering whether there's a better option, you're not alone. Most small businesses that switch away from Telstra do so for the same reasons: prices set for enterprise customers, slow support, and contracts that don't suit a 5-person office. This guide covers what the alternatives actually cost and what you get instead.
31 March 2026
If you're on an NBN connection and wondering whether your current business phone setup is good enough, this guide explains the three different tiers of business phone available over NBN. They're not the same product. Most small businesses end up on the cheapest option without knowing there are better ones, or knowing what they're missing.
31 March 2026
If you're wondering whether your business still needs a traditional phone line, or whether you can just use your mobile, the short answer is no landline needed. The copper phone network is being switched off across Australia. But your business almost certainly still needs a dedicated number separate from your personal mobile, and there is an important difference between those two things.
31 March 2026
If your business is on a TPG phone plan and you're not getting the features or support you need, this guide covers the main alternatives. Most small businesses that move away from TPG do so for three reasons: call quality issues, limited support options, and plans that don't include the call handling features a proper business phone system provides. This guide covers what the alternatives cost and what you get instead.
31 March 2026
If you have just registered your business and are setting up a phone for the first time, this guide covers the cheapest setup that works from day one, what to spend in year one, and the point at which you need to upgrade. Most new Australian businesses can get a proper business number running in under an hour for less than $30 per month. No existing phone infrastructure needed.
31 March 2026
If your business is on Optus for your phone service and you're looking for better value or more features, this guide covers the main alternatives. Most small businesses that move away from Optus do so for the same reasons: support response times, per-call charges that add up faster than expected, and plans that bundle features you don't use while leaving out the ones you do. This guide covers what the alternatives cost and what each one gives you instead.
31 March 2026
If you're looking for the cheapest business phone service in Australia that still handles calls professionally, this guide covers the lowest-cost options and what you give up at each price point. The cheapest setup (a basic NBN add-on at $10 to $15 per month) only handles one call at a time with no hold queues or call routing. A proper cloud phone system starts at $25 to $40 per month and handles multiple simultaneous calls.
31 March 2026
If your business is on Telstra for its phone service and you've never sat down to add up what you're actually paying, this guide does the line-by-line breakdown for you. A typical 5-person business on Telstra can spend $400 to $600 per month across line rental, call charges, and hardware, often without realising it. This guide shows where the cost is going and what a comparable cloud phone system would cost instead.
31 March 2026
If your business phone is plugged into the modem your ISP supplied and it seems to work, this guide explains why it's probably not good enough for a growing business. When Australia moved to the NBN, most businesses were automatically switched to a basic phone line built into the modem. This handles one call at a time, has no hold queue, no voicemail to email, and no call routing. Most businesses don't know there is a better option at a similar price.
31 March 2026
If your business phone stopped working after an NBN changeover, or after your ISP made a change to your plan, this guide covers the most common causes and how to fix each one. Business phones fail after NBN changes for three reasons: the adapter settings need updating, the phone service wasn't migrated correctly, or the new connection type doesn't support the phone setup you had before. Most of these are fixable in under an hour without a technician.
31 March 2026
If your business is still using Telstra for its phone service and you haven't sorted out what you're switching to, this guide covers what is actually being shut down, when the deadlines are, and what your migration options are. Telstra's copper and legacy VOIP services are being wound down in stages. The specific deadline that applies to your business depends on which Telstra service you're on.
31 March 2026
If your business has switched to a cloud phone system (where calls go over your internet connection instead of the copper phone line) and you're not sure whether your phones can still call 000, the short answer is yes. But there is one critical difference from a traditional Telstra landline that most businesses miss when they switch. This guide tells you exactly what to set up and check.
30 March 2026
If your office has switched to a cloud phone system (where calls go over your internet connection instead of the old copper phone line) and you're not sure which headset to buy, this guide is for you. We've selected the best options for Australian businesses, matched by connection type and use case, so you don't waste money on the wrong one.
30 March 2026
If you have existing analogue handsets that you want to keep when switching to a cloud phone system, an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) lets you connect them without replacing the hardware. Most businesses switching to VOIP (phone calls made over your internet connection, instead of the copper phone line) don't need to replace their existing desk phones. This guide covers which ATAs work with Australian VOIP services, what they cost, and how to set them up.
30 March 2026
If you're comparing business phone systems and trying to figure out what you'll actually pay over the next few years, the monthly plan price is only part of the story. Most providers advertise per-seat pricing but omit hardware, setup fees, 1300 number charges, and porting costs. This guide breaks down the full 3-year total cost of ownership for hosted VOIP, on-premise PBX, and the basic ISP phone add-on.
30 March 2026
If you're looking for a phone for your business reception desk and don't know where to start, reception desk phones have different requirements than regular office phones. A receptionist handles multiple calls, transfers calls quickly, and needs to see at a glance whether colleagues are available. This guide covers the best options for Australian businesses with real AUD pricing.
30 March 2026
If your number port has been rejected and you don't know why, or you're about to port your business number and want to avoid the most common rejection reasons, this guide covers every reason a port fails in Australia and exactly how to fix it. A rejected port resets the clock entirely: you lose the 5 to 10 business days already spent waiting and start again from scratch.
30 March 2026
Childcare centres have phone requirements that most business VOIP guides never cover: emergency routing, after-hours parent calls, multi-room communication, and compliance with ACECQA emergency procedures. This guide covers the setup that actually works.
30 March 2026
If your business uses a 1300 or 1800 number and you're not sure what the ACMA rules actually require of you, this guide covers the key obligations. ACMA (the Australian Communications and Media Authority) controls how these numbers are assigned, transferred, and used. Getting the compliance requirements wrong can result in your number being reclaimed. This guide covers the three things that catch businesses out most often.
30 March 2026
If you're setting up a cloud phone system (where calls go over your internet connection) and trying to decide between buying physical desk phones or using a phone app on computers and mobiles, this comparison gives you the answer. A desk phone is a physical handset on your desk. A softphone is an app on your computer or mobile that does the same job. Most small businesses end up with a mix of both.
30 March 2026
If you run a vet clinic in Australia and you're looking at upgrading your phone system, this guide covers what your practice actually needs, not what a generic business phone guide recommends. Vet clinics have three communication modes that most phone setups get wrong: appointment booking calls, after-hours emergency routing, and internal calls between consult rooms. Getting the emergency routing wrong has real consequences.
30 March 2026
If you've set up a business phone system and you're wondering whether you need a phone menu and what to say, this guide has the decision framework and the exact scripts to use. An IVR menu is the recorded greeting callers hear when they first ring your number. A well-designed one makes a small team sound professional. A badly designed one drives callers away.
30 March 2026
Running a phone system across multiple office locations used to mean expensive leased lines and a separate PBX at each site. Hosted VOIP changed that completely.
30 March 2026
If you have your own PBX, whether that's 3CX, FreePBX, or a hardware appliance, you need a SIP trunk provider to connect it to the phone network. This guide compares the major Australian SIP trunk providers on price, reliability, and the features that actually matter for business deployments.
30 March 2026