Will a VoIP Phone System Work Without the Internet?

When companies are moving to a VoIP phone system for the very first time, one of the most common concerns is whether the system will work without the Internet. No one wants to be stranded when their Internet connection is offline, unable to connect with colleagues and customers.

In this article, we’ll talk through this concern and what can be done to mitigate it.

 

VoIP Without Broadband

Your VoIP service won’t work without an active Internet connection.

When you make a VoIP call, you are making that call over the Internet rather than over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). With PTSN winding down in 2025, this opens the door to much-improved functionality but does require an Internet connection.

This doesn’t mean that you need a wired broadband connection though. VoIP apps (aka softphones) make it possible to make and take business calls from wherever you are using WiFi or mobile data whilst roaming.

You might even decide to set up an LTE network at home or at the office to act as a redundant backup in the event of losing your main connection. Many companies do this as a failover measure and it’s an affordable and useful backup to have on hand, especially when so much of modern business relies on an active Internet connection.

Be proactive and have the right systems in place, and you’ll never find yourself disconnected from your colleagues and customers.

 

Managed Service Providers

Building on the above, some companies choose to go with a managed service provider (MSP) that offers a combination of broadband and VoIP services. These companies aim to save you the work of sourcing and combining the various components yourself for a price.

But which approach is better?

 

The Pros

A managed service provider can be helpful if you’re looking to consolidate your vendors and are trying to build deeper relationships with fewer suppliers.

Alternatively, you might have more financial capital available than time, in which case it makes sense to pay the higher price of using a combined service in exchange for the time-save of not having to hunt for multiple services.

There’s also the value-add of this third-party managing these services and systems for you, meaning you never have to touch them.

 

The Cons

Since a managed service provider is reselling other providers’ VoIP and broadband services, the additional markup means that prices are going to be higher.

Plus, by shifting responsibility for these systems to that third-party, you’re leaving business-critical functions in the hands of someone with less vested interest than your business’ staff.

In the event of a crisis, this might not be a good thing. It pays to have a responsible party from your own business who is knowledgeable enough to make fixes or changes over the weekend, for example.

The alternative might be to write off any weekend business until your MSP returns to the office on Monday morning, works through their queue of messages and tickets until they come to yours, and then deals with it.

In this sense, the costs of using an MSP could run much higher than you’d think.

 

What Do We Recommend?

We always advise that businesses work with specialist professionals when they can. That means a separate Internet Service Provider (ISP) and VoIP provider.

When you choose well, your providers will offer dedicated support, a wealth of experience, and a real passion for what they do. We believe it’s these factors that deliver the best results over the long term.

However, if the pros discussed above apply to you, then there’s no harm in using an MSP. When the value-add on offer makes sense for you and the time-save is significant, the premium price you’ll pay becomes acceptable.

 

Wrap Up

While you need an active Internet connection for your VoIP phone system to run, you can use a traditional broadband connection, the mobile network on your phone, or an LTE network that takes over when your main connection is down.

Managed service providers might offer combined VoIP and broadband services. They’ll charge more than if you were to find great deals for each service separately, but they’ll add in value of their own.

Most businesses will do best sourcing their broadband and VoIP services separately, though, and using a platform like ours to power HD quality voice calls, granular call management options and more for an affordable price.