GuideVoice · 6 min
We have phone systems everywhere. How do we consolidate them, and the vendors, into one?
Inventory every system, line, number and contract end date with Clectiv AI. Then bid one cloud phone system for everyone and move site by site, no numbers lost.
The Clectiv team ·
Five phone systems mean five vendors, five bills and five end dates. Count them all once, bid one system for every site, and let the contract dates set the order of the move.
What goes in the voice inventory?#
Every system, line, number and contract, site by site. Acquisitions leave you with phone systems nobody chose together. Until they're on one list, nobody can price what replaces them.
| What | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| System | The make, the age, and whether it's on-premises, cloud or in Teams. |
| People and lines | Desk users, mobile users, shared phones, fax and alarm lines. |
| Numbers | Every main, direct and toll-free number, and the carrier that owns it. |
| Contract | The vendor, the end date, the notice window and the cost of leaving early. |
| Call flows | The auto-attendant, the queues and the after-hours routing. |
Include the lines that aren't phones. Fax machines, alarm panels and elevator phones can hang off the same systems. Find them now, or they go dark when the old system does.
The vendors count as much as the systems. Each has its own bill, its own support line and its own end date. Those dates decide when each site can move.
Before you call anyone#
Get the whole inventory into Clectiv AI before any vendor, yours or new, hears there's a project. Next, Clectiv AI runs the process: it bids the job out to the providers that fit, they compete on the same plan, and you choose. Call one first and it prices only the sites it can see.
Can one provider cover every site, country and Teams user?#
Sometimes one provider covers everything, and sometimes it takes one system plus help. RingCentral, Zoom, 8x8, Nextiva and GoTo all sell cloud phone systems.
Voice aggregation covers the gaps. One provider brings voice from many carriers onto one bill, so one more carrier doesn't mean one more vendor to manage. Granite does that.
Teams users don't need a second phone system. Their calling comes from Microsoft itself (Calling Plans), from a carrier in Microsoft's Operator Connect program, or from carrier lines you choose (Direct Routing).
AT&T, Verizon and NTT sell Operator Connect. Each Teams user also needs a Teams Phone license. Those names are a sample of our voice providers, and Clectiv AI runs the process with them for you: start a project.
This is familiar ground for us. Clectiv AI runs the process we've run many times, so you start where other companies finished. Taking the plan straight to these providers is how you get the best pricing, terms and contract we can.
Count your users by country and platform with Clectiv AI, and the plan shows which option covers whom.
Every proposal has to answer four things:
- Countries. Which ones the provider serves itself, and which it hands to a partner.
- Teams. How those users get their calling, and whether it lands on the same bill.
- Bills. How many you'll receive when the move is done.
- 911. Emergency calls have to reach the right place from every site. US rules cover direct dialing with no prefix (Kari's Law) and a location responders can use (RAY BAUM'S Act).
The plan asks the rest, from number rules by country to local support.
How do we move site by site without losing a number?#
Sites move in the order their contracts end, with old and new running side by side. People at a moved site still need to reach people at a site that hasn't, so calls between the two systems have to work.
Every number gets an owner, a carrier and a date. After acquisitions, numbers sit with several carriers, and each moves on its own request. Keep a site's old system until its last number has moved.
Map the sites and the numbers with Clectiv AI, and the plan builds the schedule, from testing to who at each site hears about the move first.
One hint: treat every vendor's notice window as a deadline. Miss one and a site you've already moved can renew for another term.
Common questions#
How do we consolidate multiple phone systems into one?#
Can one provider cover all our locations and countries?#
Can Microsoft Teams users be on the same system as everyone else?#
How do we move numbers that sit with different carriers?#
What is voice aggregation?#
How does Clectiv AI get this done?#
Take it to Clectiv AI. Tell it how many phone systems you have and where they are. It scopes the consolidation with you and writes your plan: what each site has, who needs what, which numbers move, and when each contract ends.
Then the Clectiv team takes your plan to the cloud phone and voice providers that fit, all at once, through our partner network of 620+ providers. Their bids land in one view, they compete for the work, the team pushes on terms, and you choose.
Other companies already made this move. Clectiv AI runs the process we've used with them, so you start where they finished. The best pricing, terms and contract we can get come from the plan going straight to the providers that fit.
You pay nothing: it's free to you, and it's days, not months. For all of voice, see the voice page.
Teams users in the mix? Read how to add phone calling to Microsoft Teams.
Still choosing the system everyone lands on? Read what your best options are for a new phone system.
Sources and method. No prices appear in this guide. The two 911 laws are US federal law, listed below. Provider names are examples of who sells cloud phone systems, voice aggregation and Teams calling, from Clectiv's provider directory, not a ranking.
- Kari's Law Act of 2017 (direct 911 dialing from multi-line phone systems)
- RAY BAUM'S Act of 2018, Section 506 (a dispatchable location with every 911 call)