If you run or manage a UK charity, there’s a good chance your phone system hasn’t crossed your mind recently. It works. People call in, people call out. Job done.
But there’s a deadline coming in 2027 that will make the current system stop working entirely — and most charities we speak to have no idea it’s coming.
This guide covers everything you need to know about VoIP for charities: what it is, why it matters, what the switch-off means for you, and how to make the move without needing a technical background or an IT department.
What is VoIP — and why should charities care?
VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. In plain English: it means making phone calls over the internet instead of through traditional copper phone lines.
You’ve been using VoIP without knowing it every time you’ve made a WhatsApp call or joined a Zoom meeting. The difference is that business VoIP systems give you everything a traditional phone system offers — landline numbers, call routing, voicemail, hold music, multi-site setups — but run through your broadband connection instead of a physical phone line.
For charities, that distinction matters for three reasons:
- It’s significantly cheaper than traditional landline contracts — typically 50–75% less.
- Your team can make and receive calls from anywhere — the office, home, or in the field.
- From January 2027, traditional landlines won’t exist anymore. VoIP is the replacement.
What does VoIP actually cost for a charity?
Cost is the question we get asked most — and it’s the one that most often surprises charities in a positive way.
Traditional landline contracts charge per line — typically £15–30 per line per month, plus call charges on top. A charity with 10 lines and moderate call usage can easily spend £300–400 per month on phone costs alone.
VoIP works differently. You pay per user rather than per line, and most plans include unlimited UK calls as standard. For a charity with 10 users, a well-priced VoIP system typically costs £80–150 per month in total — a saving of £150–250 every single month.
The other cost advantage is hardware. Traditional phone systems require on-site PBX equipment that needs maintaining and eventually replacing. VoIP runs in the cloud — there’s no hardware to buy, no engineer callouts for upgrades, and no capital expenditure that needs trustee sign-off.
Typical VoIP savings for a 10-user charity: £1,800–3,000 per year compared to a traditional landline setup. For larger organisations, the saving scales proportionally.
For charities where every pound matters and funders scrutinise operational spending, that’s a meaningful number — not a marginal one.
The 2027 deadline every UK charity needs to know about
The UK’s traditional phone network — officially known as the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) — is being permanently switched off by Openreach in January 2027. This isn’t a rumour or a distant possibility. The date is locked in.
What does that mean practically? Any device connected to a traditional copper phone line will stop working. That includes:
- Landline phones
- Fax machines
- Door entry systems
- Security alarms connected to phone lines
- Lift alarm systems
Research by BT found that 91% of people surveyed were unaware the switch-off was happening. In our experience at SwitchAid, that number holds true across the charity sector — and the consequences of being caught unprepared range from service disruption to losing contact with donors and beneficiaries at critical moments.
The charities that move early will have more options, more time, and lower costs. Those that leave it late will face higher prices and reduced availability as demand spikes in 2026.
Read our in-depth guide to the PSTN switch-off for charities →
What VoIP does for charities that traditional phones can’t
The move to VoIP isn’t just about replacing what you have. For charities, it unlocks capabilities that were previously either too expensive or technically out of reach.
Your team can work from anywhere
Staff and volunteers can make and receive calls on your charity’s number from a laptop, mobile app, or desk phone — wherever they are. For charities with remote workers, field teams, or volunteers working from home, this is transformative.
Volunteers using personal mobiles is a safeguarding and GDPR risk
This is one of the most overlooked risks in the sector. When volunteers use their personal phones to make calls on your charity’s behalf, you have no record of those calls, no visibility, and no control. That creates real safeguarding and GDPR exposure. VoIP solves this — volunteers can make calls through your system, from their own phones, without ever revealing their personal number.
Why volunteers using personal mobiles is a bigger problem than you think →
You only pay for what you need
Traditional landline contracts charge per line. VoIP charges per user — and scales up or down as your team changes. For charities with fluctuating volunteer numbers, seasonal campaigns, or funding-driven headcount, that flexibility is genuinely valuable.
Call quality, routing, and features that make you look professional
Auto-attendants, call queuing, voicemail-to-email, call recording, time-based routing (so calls go elsewhere outside office hours) — all of this comes as standard with a good VoIP system. For charities running helplines or donor support lines, these aren’t luxuries. They’re what makes callers feel looked after.
Three reasons charities put this off — and why none of them hold up
In seven years of working with charities on VoIP migrations, we’ve heard the same hesitations repeatedly. Here’s the honest answer to each one.
“We don’t have anyone technical enough to manage it”
This is the most common one — and the one most easily addressed. A well-managed VoIP migration requires nothing technical from your team. The right provider handles the setup, porting your existing numbers, configuring the system, and training your staff. Your job is to show up for a 30-minute walkthrough. We regularly switch charities whose entire team consists of one part-time admin and a group of volunteers with no technical background whatsoever.
“We’ll have to change all our phone numbers”
You won’t. Every phone number you currently have — on your website, your letterheads, your fundraising materials — can be ported directly to your new VoIP system. To your callers, absolutely nothing changes. This process is standard practice and handled entirely by the provider.
“It’ll disrupt our operations during the switch”
A properly planned migration causes zero downtime. Number porting is scheduled in advance, the new system is fully tested before anything is switched over, and go-live typically happens overnight or over a weekend. The charities that experience disruption are almost always those who rushed the process or chose a provider who didn’t plan it properly. Take your time choosing the right partner.
Why charities need a different approach to VoIP
Here’s something most telecoms companies won’t tell you: the VoIP products they sell to businesses aren’t designed for charities. And the difference matters.
Charities operate differently. Funding comes in cycles. Trustee approval takes time. Headcount fluctuates with volunteers. And budgets are tight in a way that most business customers simply aren’t.
A supplier that doesn’t understand this will lock you into a contract length that doesn’t match your funding period, price you at business rates when charity-specific discounts exist, and offer support that assumes you have an IT department.
When you’re evaluating VoIP providers, ask these questions:
- Do you offer charity-specific pricing or discounts?
- Can contract lengths align with our funding cycles?
- What does your onboarding and training support look like for non-technical teams?
- Will you monitor our contract renewal dates so we don’t accidentally roll onto worse terms?
Are you paying business rates for your charity’s phone contract? →
How to switch to VoIP: a plain-English guide for charities
The most common thing we hear from charities who’ve been putting this off is: “We don’t have anyone technical enough to manage it.” The good news is that with the right provider, you don’t need to be.
Here’s a simple framework for making the switch:
- Audit your current setup. List every device connected to a phone line — phones, alarms, door systems, fax. Know what you’re working with before you start.
- Check your broadband. VoIP runs over your internet connection. A standard business broadband connection is sufficient for most charities. Your provider should check this for you before recommending a system.
- Choose a provider that knows the charity sector. Not just a provider that sells to charities — one that actively understands how charities work and has structured their service accordingly.
- Keep your existing numbers. You can port your current landline numbers to a VoIP system. You don’t need to change your published numbers.
- Plan your switchover window. A well-managed transition causes zero disruption. The right provider will handle the migration and train your team.
Switching to VoIP with no IT department: a step-by-step guide →
How SwitchAid helps charities make the move
SwitchAid was founded in 2017 specifically to help charities and good causes navigate the telecoms market — a market that, frankly, wasn’t built with them in mind.
We’re an independent social enterprise. That means we’re not tied to any single provider. When we recommend a VoIP system, it’s because it’s genuinely the right fit for your organisation — not because we get a better margin on it.
We support over 700 charities across the UK with telecoms, mobile, broadband, and energy. We hold a 4.9-star rating on Trustpilot. And every organisation we work with has access to a dedicated account manager who monitors their contracts, flags renewal dates, and handles the relationship with suppliers on their behalf.
If you’re not sure whether your current phone setup is right for your charity, we offer a free, no-obligation review. We’ll look at what you have, tell you honestly what we find, and only recommend making a change if it genuinely makes sense.
Get a free telecoms review for your charity — no jargon, no sales pressure, no obligation. switchaid.org | 0191 303 9404 | info@switchaid.org
Common questions from charity teams
A standard business broadband connection is sufficient for most charity setups. As a rough guide, each simultaneous call uses around 100kbps of bandwidth. A good provider will check your connection before recommending any system.
Yes. Your existing landline numbers can be ported across to a VoIP system. You won’t need to update any directories, websites, or printed materials.
If those systems run through your phone line, they’ll need assessing before the 2027 switch-off. This is one of the most commonly missed issues. A good provider will flag this during an audit.
For most charities, the migration takes 2–4 weeks from sign-off to go-live. A managed provider handles the transition — your team just needs to show up for a brief training session.
This is a fair concern and one a good VoIP provider will plan for. Most systems include automatic call failover — if your internet connection drops, calls are automatically redirected to a mobile number or an alternative site. For charities running critical helplines, this resilience planning is something you should ask about explicitly before signing anything.
Not necessarily. Many charities use a mix of desk phones, laptop apps (softphones), and mobile apps — often without buying a single new handset. If your team already uses laptops or smartphones, they can be set up to make and receive calls through your VoIP system at no extra hardware cost. New desk phones are available if you want them, but they’re optional.
Absolutely — and arguably more so. Small charities often overpay the most on traditional systems because they’re on the same per-line pricing as large organisations but without any negotiating power. VoIP’s per-user model is naturally suited to small teams, and the flexibility to add or remove users as volunteers come and go is especially practical. The 2027 deadline applies regardless of your size, so making the move on your own terms is always better than being forced into it.
VoIP isn’t the future for UK charities. It’s already the present — and from January 2027, it’s the only option.
The charities that move on their own terms — before the rush, with the right provider, at the right price — will come out ahead. The ones that wait will find fewer choices and higher costs.
If you want to understand where you stand and what your options are, SwitchAid is here to help — with no jargon, no pressure, and no obligation.
Book a free review: switchaid.org | 0191 303 9404 | info@switchaid.org