In seven years of working with charities on VoIP migrations, the single most common reason we hear for putting it off isn’t cost. It isn’t the PSTN deadline. It isn’t even uncertainty about whether the system will work.
It’s this: “We don’t have anyone technical enough to manage it.”
That concern is completely understandable. And it’s almost entirely unfounded.
With the right provider, switching a charity to VoIP requires almost nothing from your team in terms of technical knowledge. The complexity sits entirely with the provider — who sets up the system, ports your numbers, configures your call routing, and trains your staff. Your job is to make a few decisions and show up for a walkthrough.
This blog walks through exactly what a charity VoIP migration looks like in practice — from the first conversation to the day you go live.
What the provider does — and what you do
The fundamental difference between a VoIP migration and a traditional IT project is where the work sits. A traditional phone system upgrade involves hardware, installation engineers, on-site configuration, and ongoing technical maintenance. A well-managed VoIP migration is almost entirely handled remotely by the provider, with nothing installed in your office at all.
Your charity’s team does the following:
- Confirm the phone numbers you want to keep
- Confirm who needs to be set up as a user
- Confirm your preferences for call routing (e.g. what happens when a call goes unanswered)
- Attend a brief walkthrough of the new system
The provider does everything else — including keeping your existing numbers active throughout the migration so there is no gap in service.
A typical charity VoIP migration — from sign-off to go-live — takes 2–4 weeks. Number porting (transferring your existing numbers to the new system) takes 7–14 working days. The rest is configuration and testing, handled by the provider.
What a managed migration looks like, step by step
Step 1: The audit (week 1)
Before anything is set up, a good provider will audit your current situation. This means understanding how many users you have, what phone numbers you’re currently using, what devices your team works on, and whether your broadband connection is adequate for VoIP (it almost certainly is — each VoIP call requires around 1Mbps, and most standard business broadband connections comfortably exceed this).
This audit is also where any non-phone devices connected to your phone line get flagged — alarm systems, door entry, lift alarms — so they can be planned for separately. A thorough provider will raise this proactively rather than leaving it to you to spot.
Step 2: System configuration (week 1–2)
Your new VoIP system is set up in the cloud by the provider. Users are created, call routing is configured, voicemail is set up, and any auto-attendant messages are recorded. For most charities, this takes a matter of hours on the provider’s side — it just runs in parallel with the number porting process, which takes a little longer.
At this point, your team doesn’t need to do anything. Your current phone system is still fully operational.
Step 3: Number porting (week 2–3)
This is the part that takes the most clock time — not because it’s complex, but because porting involves coordinating between your old provider and your new one. The process typically takes 7–14 working days. Throughout this period, your existing numbers remain fully active on your current system. There is no period where calls go unanswered.
Your provider handles all communication with your old provider. You don’t need to call anyone, cancel anything, or manage the handover.
Step 4: Staff set-up and training (week 3–4)
Each member of staff or volunteer who needs access downloads a free app to their smartphone or laptop. The provider sends them a link and login. Within minutes, they can make and receive calls through your charity’s number from any device, anywhere with an internet connection.
Training for a non-technical team typically takes 30 minutes — often less. The apps are designed to be intuitive. Most people are comfortable within their first day of use.
Step 5: Go-live and handover (week 4)
On the agreed go-live date, your numbers transfer to the new system. The switch happens overnight or over a weekend in most cases. When your team arrives on Monday morning, everything works — same numbers, same call routing, new system underneath.
Most charities we work with describe the go-live day as anticlimactic. The phones ring. People answer. Nothing feels dramatically different — except the bill at the end of the month, which is typically 30–50% lower.
The three things that trip charities up — and how to avoid them
1. Not knowing your existing contract exit terms
Before you can port your numbers and fully switch over, you need to notify your existing provider. If you’re still within a contract term, there may be an exit process to follow. A good provider will help you navigate this — but you need to know your renewal date and notice period before starting the migration. Pull the contract first.
2. Forgetting about devices beyond the phones
Alarm systems, door entry, and lift alarms connected to your phone line need to be handled separately from your phone migration. They won’t automatically transfer to VoIP — they need their own digital alternatives. Raise this at the audit stage, not after go-live.
3. Choosing a provider who doesn’t understand charities
The technical side of a VoIP migration is broadly the same regardless of who does it. What varies enormously is the support experience — how well the provider communicates, how much hand-holding they offer non-technical teams, and whether they understand the specific context of a charity environment. A provider who mostly works with businesses will treat your migration like a business migration. That means less patience, less plain-English guidance, and less awareness of the things that make charity operations different.
Questions to ask any VoIP provider before signing
These four questions will quickly separate the providers who are right for a non-technical charity team from those who aren’t:
- What does your onboarding and training support look like for a team with no IT resource? A good provider will describe a specific, managed process. A poor one will direct you to a self-service portal.
- Will you manage the number porting process, or do we need to contact our existing provider? You want the answer to be: “We handle it entirely.”
- Will there be any period where our phones stop working during the migration? The answer should be no. If a provider can’t guarantee continuity of service during the transition, find another provider.
- Do you offer charity-specific pricing and flexible contract terms? If they pause before answering — or if the answer is no — you’re talking to the wrong provider.
How SwitchAid manages the whole process
Every VoIP migration SwitchAid manages is fully handled on behalf of the charity. We audit the current setup, configure the system, manage number porting, set up each user, and deliver a plain-English training session for the team — however non-technical they are.
We’re independent, which means we’re not tied to one VoIP platform. We recommend the system that fits the charity’s size, structure, and budget — not the one we get the best margin on. And because we also manage telecoms, mobile, broadband, and energy for the charities we work with, we can make sure the migration joins up with everything else rather than creating a new silo to manage.
If you’ve been putting off this switch because it feels technically daunting, the starting point is a conversation — not a commitment. We’ll tell you exactly what would be involved for your specific setup, what it would cost, and what we’d handle on your behalf.
Book a free review: switchaid.org | 0191 303 9404 | info@switchaid.org
