How to Switch Business Phone Providers

Switching a business phone provider is not the same job as buying a new cell plan. The published number is already on the van, the Google listing, invoices, and a stack of paper estimates. The people who answer it are already in a habit. The risk is a silent week while the old account dies and the new one is not ready. This guide is the sequence: inventory, stand up the new seats, port or replace the number, run both systems, then cancel the loser last.

The site already has how to port your business number for the carrier paperwork and VoIP vs landline cost for the bill comparison. This page is the full switch: who still needs a seat, what rings during the overlap, and when it is safe to close the old account. It uses only published XI jobs and the pricing-page cards: $17 Starter, $20 Business, and $23 Business Plus per user / 30 days.

Inventory the line you actually publish

Write down every number customers can still reach: the Google listing, the website, invoices, truck magnets, hold music, and the fax-era DID that somehow still rings. Mark which of those you will keep. Most shops keep one local published line. A second city or a toll-free vanity is optional — see toll-free vs local and business numbers.

Then list people, not devices. Who answers today? Who is supposed to answer after hours? Who only needs voicemail? Count seats as people who pick up, not every helper on a truck. XI Starter includes one DID. Extra DIDs start at $1. Shared appearance of one line across many people is shared numbers, listed on Scale.

Copy the current behavior onto paper: hours, busy hop, no-answer hop, after-hours greeting, and whether SMS lives on the same DID. You will rebuild that map on XI. If you cannot describe it, the new system will guess. The FAQ lists what each public plan includes so you can match the map to a card before you buy seats.

Stand up XI before you touch the old account

Create the XI account and put every answering person on a seat. Install the mobile and desktop apps. Place a test call to a new DID or to a temporary number so you know audio works on the shop Wi-Fi and on LTE. XI calling runs in the apps and the browser. Desk phones are optional. This is a virtual phone system, not a truck roll.

Build routing next, still on the new side. Routing can use team, schedule, sequential ring, or simultaneous ring. Forwarding covers busy and no-answer hops. A spoken menu is the virtual receptionist, listed on Scale — see how to set up an auto attendant if you need one. Do not change Google until this map answers a live test call the way you expect.

Turn on SMS only after you have a consent path you can explain. XI supports two-way SMS and MMS on the business number. US A2P 10DLC brand and campaign registration is required for application-to-person texting. Inbound SMS is $5/30 days on the pricing page. The business texting guide is the same-number walkthrough. Do not assume texts follow the number on day one of a port.

Port the published number, or replace it on purpose

If customers already save the line, port it. You will need the losing carrier account details and a recent bill. Keep that account paid and unlocked. A rejected port is usually a name mismatch or an unpaid invoice, not a mystery. The porting guide is the paperwork checklist. This page is the surrounding plan: the new seats must already ring before the DID arrives.

If the published number is a personal cell you do not want on the van anymore, buy a new local DID and move print and Google after the new routing works. A business number without a landline is that path. Do not do both at once — port the old line or introduce a new one. Mixing those stories during the same week is how listings split.

While the port is pending, forward the losing carrier to XI so inbound calls still reach a human. That overlap is the point of a switch. There is no published XI promise that every losing carrier completes a port on a given calendar day. Plan the Google edit for after the port shows complete, not for the day you submit the form.

Run both systems, then cancel last

During the overlap, treat XI as the real phone. Return missed calls from the XI app on the published caller ID. Read voicemail on the new side if you are on Business ($20/user/30 days), which also includes recordings, a personalized greeting, and 24/7 support. Keep the old handset only as a safety net until you have a quiet week of correct inbound.

Check the work the way a customer would. Call the Google number from a line that is not on the account. Send a test text if SMS is in scope. Call after hours. Confirm caller ID outbound says the shop, not a helper’s mobile. If outbound looks like spam, STIR/SHAKEN and spam labeling is the related guide. This page does not invent a reputation score XI does not publish.

Cancel the old carrier only after the port is complete and you no longer need that account as a forward. Canceling first is the usual way a shop goes dark. If the old contract has an end date, keep paying through the port rather than arguing about a day of overlap. Compare the new cards to the old bill: Starter $17, Business $20, Business Plus $23 per user / 30 days. There is no second “switch edition” price.

What to tell the team

Give each answering person a seat login on day one of the overlap. Tell them the published number now rings the app, not the old desk set. Tell them where overflow goes. Put the paper map on the shop wall: hours, who rings, busy, no-answer, after-hours. When someone is on a job, change the map in XI instead of forwarding Google to a personal cell.

Notes belong next to the call. XI CRM is contacts, notes, and history. If you already live in HubSpot, Slack, Jobber, or Zapier, those connectors are listed on the site. This guide does not invent a cutover wizard that copies every old voicemail. Export anything you still need from the losing carrier before you close the account.

If you are leaving a personal-style number, XI vs Google Voice is the compare page. If you are leaving a larger UCaaS brand, XI vs RingCentral and XI vs Vonage are the others. The compare index lists the rest. This site does not invent win rates for a switch.

A switch week, not a switch hour

Day one: inventory numbers and answering people. Day two: XI seats, apps, and a test DID. Day three: rebuild hours and overflow, then call yourself. Day four: submit the port or point a temporary forward at XI. After the port completes: confirm inbound, outbound caller ID, and after-hours, then cancel the loser. That is a week of work for a small shop, not a lunch-break cutover.

Do not change the Google listing, the website, and the van wrap on the same morning you submit a port. Do not assume SMS arrives the hour the voice DID does. Do not leave the old voicemail PIN unknown until the day you need an export. Write the PIN down during inventory. None of that is dramatic. All of it is how shops go dark for a Friday.

If the shop has more than one published city line, switch one DID at a time. A second local number is another extra DID at $1 once the first line is quiet. See home-services solutions if the business is trucks-and-jobs rather than a single office. The sequence does not change: new seats first, port second, cancel last.

Pricing on the new side

Starter is $17 per user / 30 days: a ready-to-use calling system, one DID, unlimited US/CA calls, mobile plus desktop apps, and standard support. Business is $20 per user / 30 days and adds recordings, voicemail transcripts, voicemail, a personalized greeting, and 24/7 support. Business Plus is $23 per user / 30 days for higher threshold limits. Scale is custom.

Virtual receptionist, shared numbers, and API access are listed on Scale and as not included on the three public cards. Extra DIDs start at $1. Inbound SMS is $5/30 days. Call recording is included on Business and listed as a $1/user/30 days add-on. Follow the consent rules that apply in your state if you record. See features and small-business solutions for product language. Call +1 (833) 776-0111 if you want the inventory walked through before you submit a port.