UK dental PSTN switch-off and VoIP migration checklist
By Oral Connect ·
If your dental practice still uses a traditional phone line, now is the time to confirm its replacement with your provider. For services using the Openreach public switched telephone network (PSTN), the migration deadline is 31 January 2027. If your service uses another network, check its timetable directly with your provider. Start with the services your practice depends on, then agree a migration and testing plan. Openreach's PSTN switch-off guidance
For a practice manager, the job extends beyond choosing a new reception phone. You need to know which numbers patients call, what else uses the old lines, who is responsible for each change and how the team will work if something goes wrong.
Use the checklist below to organise those conversations with your telecoms, IT and equipment suppliers.
Understand what is changing
Digital voice services carry calls over an internet connection. You may see the term VoIP, which means Voice over Internet Protocol. The government's connectivity timeline confirms the 31 January 2027 migration deadline for Openreach PSTN users.
PSTN retirement does not mean every copper broadband connection disappears on that date. The House of Commons Library's broadband briefing, page 28 distinguishes the landline switchover from the rollout of full fibre. Ask your provider what is changing at your address, including the broadband service on which your new phones will depend.
Avoid planning around an emergency fallback. Openreach describes Emergency Voice and Access Continuity, or EVAc, as a temporary basic voice-only service that some customers may be moved to if they have not migrated. It may not support their existing calling features. That is a reason to confirm your own arrangements, rather than assume normal practice operations will continue unchanged. Openreach's explanation of EVAc
1. Make a list of your lines and connected equipment
Start with recent bills, your phone system settings and the people who maintain the building. Record the main patient number, other published numbers and any separate lines used around the premises.
Check whether payment terminals, alarms, lift emergency phones or door-entry equipment use a PSTN connection. Do not assume that every device does, or that a new phone system will make an older device compatible. Openreach identifies these kinds of dependencies in its October 2026 warning to businesses.
For each service, write down:
- What it does and where it is used.
- Its number or service reference and current supplier.
- Who can confirm compatibility with the replacement connection.
- The agreed change, responsible person and target date.
- The test that will establish it works afterwards.
A device with an unknown connection is an unanswered question. Ask the relevant equipment supplier to investigate before treating the inventory as complete.
2. Agree number transfers and responsibilities
Your familiar practice number matters to existing patients. Ask the receiving provider to confirm whether each number can be transferred, what information it needs and when the transfer is expected to happen.
Get the sequence in writing. Include the broadband change, equipment installation, number transfer, staff training and checks after the move. Ask both providers what should happen to the old contract; do not independently cancel a service that is still needed for the transfer or another device.
Name one person at the practice to coordinate the work. Keep supplier contacts and escalation details accessible outside the phone system being changed.
3. Plan for power and broadband problems
Digital landlines need mains electricity and will not work in a power cut without an appropriate backup. Ofcom's digital landline guidance explains the dependency.
Ask your IT and phone providers to walk through a power failure and a broadband failure separately. Which equipment needs backup power? What happens to inbound calls? Can staff use another connection or device, and has that arrangement been tested at the practice?
Do not treat a mobile app, a second internet connection or a battery as a complete continuity plan by itself. Record what the proposed arrangement can support, how long it is expected to last and what staff must do to activate it. Confirm how the practice will contact emergency services if the usual service is unavailable.
4. Choose the calling workflow your team needs
A migration is a useful moment to review how calls reach the right person. Start with opening hours, busy periods, unanswered calls, transfers and messages. For a group, include what happens when a call goes to the wrong location.
Suppliers describe different combinations of these functions. MicroMinder's dental VoIP overview discusses routing, app access and call analytics. VoiceStack's UK feature and pricing page describes telephony and call intelligence. Core Cognitics' Intelinteract dental page describes a phone system with AI receptionist functions. These are examples of supplier-described services, not a ranking, endorsement or list of Oral Connect integrations.
Ask each shortlisted provider to show the same fictional call. Can reception answer, transfer it, find a message and assign a callback? If AI answering is included, establish which tasks it may carry out, when it must hand over and how staff correct a mistake. Clinical questions need the practice's approved escalation process.
Provide a practical route to a person for callers who cannot use automated menus. For example, ask the supplier to route callers who make no selection to reception during staffed hours, with a clearly explained callback option when reception is closed. Test that route with the team rather than assuming the default menu provides it.
5. Check the connection to your practice software
An integration name does not tell you what happens during a call. Ask which patient or appointment information the phone system can read, whether it can make changes and what staff see when an update fails.
Use fictional records for demonstrations. If booking is part of the offer, ask the supplier to show how it distinguishes a requested appointment from a confirmed one and how it avoids duplicate actions.
Keep this check separate from the decision to replace your practice management system (PMS). For a fuller discussion of follow-up tools and PMS connections, use our guide to choosing a dental customer relationship management system (CRM).
6. Review recording and the complete cost
Before recording or transcribing calls, identify and document an appropriate UK GDPR lawful basis and, where calls contain health information, an applicable special-category condition. Ask your privacy lead to assess supplier contracts, international transfers and whether a data protection impact assessment is required.
If you plan to record or transcribe calls, include the practice's privacy lead in the review. Establish what callers are told, who can access recordings, where information is processed, how long it is retained and how it can be deleted or exported. Have the proposed arrangements reviewed for your practice rather than relying on a general compliance claim.
Ask for a written quote covering the same requirements from each supplier. Include setup, handsets, numbers, users, calling allowances, messaging, AI usage, support, VAT and extra charges. Check the minimum term and exit arrangements. A starting monthly price alone will not show the cost of your proposed service.
7. Test before signing off
Agree an acceptance check with the providers and keep the results. At a minimum, work through:
- Incoming calls to each published number.
- Outbound calls and the number presented to the recipient.
- Transfers, queues, opening-hours rules and voicemail.
- Callback ownership and access to messages.
- Any agreed PMS actions and their failure handling.
- The approved connectivity and power contingency arrangements.
- Connected building or payment equipment, with its supplier.
Confirm emergency-calling arrangements with the provider. Do not place test calls to emergency services unless following an expressly approved procedure.
Finish by giving the team a short set of instructions: how to answer and transfer calls, find messages, report a problem and use the agreed fallback. Record unresolved issues and who owns them before relying on the new setup.
Your next step
Ask your current provider to confirm which of your services still depend on PSTN. Use the inventory to agree a dated plan with the people responsible for the phone system, internet connection and any connected equipment. Keep enough time for testing and corrections before the network deadline.