Home phone from a separate VoIP provider

Home phones are moving off the old analogue network and onto broadband, a change our guide to the digital landline switchover explains in full. Once calls run over broadband anyway, your broadband provider is no longer the only possible supplier. ISPreview noted at the end of 2022 that broadband was now treated as the main service and the phone as an optional add-on, and that a growing number of people planned to move their home phone to a dedicated VoIP provider.

Some big providers no longer include a phone service with broadband as standard. On their own pages:

• BT says there is no call service with its home broadband unless you add Digital Home Phone (checked 9 October 2026).
• TalkTalk says its Full Fibre works without a landline and its Digital Voice phone service is for existing customers only (checked 14 October 2026).

So if you are moving to a broadband-only deal, or your full fibre package has no phone, a separate VoIP provider is one way to keep a home number.

The reasons given by ISPreview and the providers:

• The number stops being tied to your broadband. ISPreview said in 2019 that porting your home number to VoIP saves you changing it when you move between certain fixed-line networks. If you might move house to another area, ask the VoIP provider whether you can keep the number there before you rely on it.
• You can use the number away from home. ISPreview said in 2019 that calls to and from the home number can work almost anywhere with an internet connection, including through an app on a mobile or laptop. A&A says its service is not provided at a fixed location and can be used at more than one place at once.
• Shorter commitments. Voipfone says all its services are monthly rolling and can be cancelled at any time (checked October 2026). ISPreview said in 2019 that most VoIP providers didn't lock customers into long contracts. Check the minimum term and notice period of any provider you consider.
• Paying for what you use. ISPreview highlighted pay-as-you-go plans in 2022 for people who rarely use the home phone. Our guide to home phone call charges explains how calls to 03, 08 and 09 numbers are charged.
• Features included. Voipfone's residential plans include voicemail, call forwarding, call recording and call blocking; A&A lists voicemail, caller display and call recording as standard. ISPreview said in 2019 that calls between customers on the same VoIP platform are usually free.

One warning: ISPreview said in 2022 that most VoIP providers are business-focused, though just as usable at home.

The VoIP provider gives you connection details, usually a server or registrar address, a username (often your number) and a SIP password, which you enter into a device or app. Some providers send equipment already set up: Voipfone says its adapters come pre-configured, and A&A offers pre-configured cordless handsets for home users.

Number porting means moving a number from one provider's network to another's. Ofcom treats it as a regulated facility, with the rules in its General Conditions B3 (number portability) and C7 (switching). Voipfone says it can port almost any landline number, including BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media numbers, and makes no charge to move a number to it; A&A says it can port most numbers (both checked October 2026). For the general rules, including moving home, see our guide to keeping your landline number when you switch.

Check the provider supports 999 calls before you sign up. Both providers we looked at say 999 and 112 work on their VoIP services; Voipfone says from the moment you sign up.

The extra step is your address. A traditional landline is fixed to your home; a VoIP number can be used anywhere with an internet connection. So providers ask you to register the address that should go with your number for emergency calls:

• ISPreview said in December 2022 that address registration for 999 at sign-up was often part of joining a VoIP provider, and mandatory to comply with Ofcom regulations.
• Voipfone says customers may register their number and address with the emergency services database so the operator sees the location, and can update it after moving.
• A&A tells customers to make sure they have set their 999 address details in its control pages.

Whatever the wording, do it on day one and update it if you move. If you call from somewhere else, for example on the app while away, tell the operator where you are: Voipfone says the operator will always ask what the emergency is, where you are and your phone number.

Any internet phone depends on electricity and a working broadband connection. Voipfone warns that emergency calls may fail in a power cut or if your broadband fails, and Sky says the same of its own Internet Calls service. Cordless DECT phones stop working without mains power too. A&A adds that because its VoIP doesn't include the line to your home, you need to think about how you would reach the emergency services during a power cut or loss of internet access.

Why a split service is different. Ofcom's General Condition A3 requires providers to take all necessary measures to ensure uninterrupted access to the emergency organisations, including in a power cut; our guide to whether a digital landline works in a power cut explains the back-up Ofcom's guidance expects and who gets it free. When the line and the phone come from different companies, the same guidance (10 October 2018) puts primary responsibility on neither: both are responsible. The network provider should tell customers a VoIP phone on its network won't work in a power cut, and take appropriate and proportionate steps to protect customers who rely on their landline, such as working with the VoIP provider. The VoIP provider can work with the network provider or supply something that works on any network, such as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS, a battery unit) or a mobile handset.

Ofcom expects both to identify customers who rely on their landline, so tell both if anyone in your home does. Ask each what back-up it offers and who pays, and get the answers in writing.

Practical back-up.

• A charged mobile. GOV.UK says telecoms companies recommend a mobile as the back-up for most people, and that national roaming is switched on for emergency calls, so 999 can be called on any mobile network with signal.
• Battery back-up that covers everything. ISPreview noted in 2022 that broadband battery back-ups often last only about an hour, and may not cope if they can't power the fibre box (ONT), the router and the handset or adapter together. If you buy one, check it can run all of them.
• Broadband faults count too. If the phone goes quiet but the broadband seems fine, our home phone not working guide helps you work out which part has failed.

It tends to suit:

• people who use a mobile for most calls, with good signal at home, and want to keep the home number for the people who still ring it;
• people who switch broadband often, or expect to;
• anyone who wants home calls on their mobile when away, by app or by diverting calls to a mobile.

Think twice, and talk to your providers first, if:

• someone in the home uses a telecare alarm, personal alarm or other device that relies on the phone line (see our guide to telecare and alarms after the landline switch-off);
• a monitored security alarm such as Redcare uses the line;
• there is no reliable mobile signal at home, so you would have no easy back-up in a power cut;
• nobody at home is comfortable setting up a device with account details.

Check who you would complain to. Ofcom says communications providers that serve households must be members of an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme: an independent, free service that looks at complaints a provider hasn't resolved. It approves two: CISAS, run by CEDR (the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution), and the Communications Ombudsman. Ask which one a VoIP provider uses before you sign up. ISPreview also noted in 2022 that members of the VoIP trade body Comms Council UK are required to follow certain guidelines. Our guide to complaining about a provider explains how ADR works.

1. Check the broadband underneath. If it is ADSL or FTTC over your phone line, settle how it survives the port first: full fibre as a new connection, or SoGEA or re-numbering agreed with both providers. If you need a new connection, compare broadband deals at your postcode.
2. Ask your current provider about any early-termination charge and whether the rest of the bundle changes price.
3. Choose the VoIP provider: 999 support, ADR scheme, porting terms, contract length and call charges.
4. Set up and test calls each way on the temporary number.
5. Register your 999 address in the provider's control panel.
6. Request the port through the new provider, details copied exactly from your bill. Clear any Redcare service first.
7. Keep both services running until the port completes; don't cancel the old phone service yourself.
8. Afterwards, test calls again, ask both providers about power-cut back-up if anyone depends on the phone, and keep a charged mobile handy.

With the phone sorted separately, the broadband no longer needs to include calls. Look at broadband-only deals and fibre broadband deals, see who serves your area on our broadband deals by area pages, or browse the broadband providers list. If you'd rather have one bill, compare broadband and phone deals. We compare deals through a partner's tool; we don't switch you ourselves, and we don't supply or compare VoIP phone services.