The 2025 Telecom Landscape: What Businesses Need to Know

We’re well into 2025 now, and for businesses across the UK, it’s time to start thinking carefully about how to communicate best with clients and customers as the months progress.

With VoIP set to replace traditional telephony outright within the next two years, business owners have a few big steps to take so that their infrastructures are future-proof. However, that’s not the only thing they should be focusing on!

So, let’s take a quick overview of some of the most important beats in 2025 telecoms that businesses should be aware of and prepare for in the months to come. Are you prepared? Let’s find out.

The PSTN Shutdown

By 2027, all traditional PSTN and ISDN telephony will be shut down. That means all companies operating within the UK will need to be registered with a reputable VoIP provider so that business can proceed as usual.

However, it pays to make the leap to VoIP now, rather than to leave things as they are for two years. Ultimately, leaving the switch until the last minute could lead to extra business expenses and lost time – meaning that, for a simple transition, you’re left paying dearly.

Now is the time to start researching reputable VoIP providers who can move you over to faster, more reliable communications without risking any loss of business.

The Shift Towards Unification and Automation

Peak efficiency is always going to be a moving target. As customer needs and technology evolve, so should business communications. And, as the past few years have already proved, we’re moving more and more towards a faster, more unified, more convenient way of managing calls and workflows.

UCaaS, or Unified Communications as a Service, refers to bringing all your comms tools and platforms together under one umbrella. Instead of leaping from one program to another, with a reliable VoIP service backing you up, you can access conferencing, instant messaging, and call data from a single platform.

If you’re not already familiar with automation and AI when it comes to communications, you might be missing out. It’s getting easier for business owners to delegate call reporting and to automate queue management – freeing up human time and effort to actively support customers.

We are still in the infancy of how much automation and AI – and unification – can improve business operations. However, keeping your head in the sand regarding the benefits of modern tech is only likely to harm your business.

Delegating areas of your business communication strategy to AI or automating processes doesn’t mean that people will lose their jobs! In fact, speeding up certain processes will make their work easier, and what’s more, you can keep pace with the competition.

The Future of Business Numbers

If you run a business with a geographic landline, then you likely have a firm, local customer base. However, thanks to the continued shift towards virtual numbers, these lines could become a thing of the past sooner than you might imagine.

The shift towards VoIP away from PSTN means that there will be less of a need to cement businesses with physical numbers and connections, too. UK businesses can simply register with a VoIP provider, take out a business number based in the cloud, and take calls from just about anywhere.

From the inside – no, physical, geographic business numbers won’t be going anywhere fast. However, virtual business numbers will continue to grow in popularity, mainly thanks to their ease of setup and flexibility.

Unless you have a specific office or need to tie your business to a physical landline, there really are no barriers to you setting up a virtual number of your own. And, chances are, your rivals are already taking advantage.

VoIP and Remote Work

Hosted telephony and VoIP are already changing the way that businesses are providing connectivity to remote workers. Given the boom in remote work since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s reasonable to expect many businesses to continue operating on hybrid platforms.

And yet, managing and connecting remote workers has continued to prove difficult for many businesses of all shapes and sizes. Thankfully, however, completely hosted comms and VoIP allows business owners to keep everyone on the same page without any awkward or costly maintenance.

For example, an off-site VoIP provider can offer a business owner an online portal to log in and access comms services, such as queue management and departmental transfers.

Imagine the benefits of delivering that login to off-site teams – no matter where your employees are based, they can log into the same system as the rest of the office. That means, even if half your team is off-grid, you are all still working through the same systems.

VoIP is making it easier than ever for traditional office setups to embrace remote working – and a massive bonus considering that so many people prioritise looking for remote-friendly workplaces when applying for jobs.

Cybersecurity in Telecoms

In a world where hacking and malware are becoming increasingly sophisticated, there, too, needs to be protection and remediation that are just as advanced and reactive. In telecoms, businesses are at risk from all manner of threats and scares, often without realising it.

Even through slight vulnerabilities in software or password control, hackers can gain access to comms systems and listen in on calls, sap network usage, and steal data. This is all possible when you use a comms service that’s insecure or verging on being completely outdated.

Thankfully, there are VoIP providers out there that keep comms secure and updated around the clock. Secure voice and data networks from reputable providers make sure that agents only ever speak to clients and customers on protected protocols. What’s more, regular updates keep your business one step ahead of hackers who have already exploited the previous release.

Unfortunately, cybersecurity is never going to be a done deal. You’ll always need to update your programs, run scans, and train your team on best practices. However, with a leading VoIP team by your side, half the battle is already won with secure software and regular patches to keep your comms healthy.

5G and IoT

The Internet of Things, or IoT, continues to revolutionise the way that devices connect to each other and communicate. And, with the rise of 5G, communication has never been more seamless or more efficient.

That’s already had a huge knock-on effect for businesses across the UK. Many firms now have automated systems set up to share analytics data between each other, ensuring that insights are delivered accurately and within a fraction of the time you might expect through human personnel.

5G ensures that IoT devices and systems can communicate across large expanses with efficiency and accuracy – and businesses are taking advantage by effectively delegating mundane and repetitive tasks, again, saving time that human personnel can better use elsewhere.

Always-connected infrastructures are allowing businesses to provide a near-constant service to customers. That means they can provide a truly 24/7 support system – which can also open them up to international trade, and ensure they are more ‘available’ than their competitors.

Provisioning IoT and 5G can be complex despite the far-reaching benefits. It’s all the more reason, therefore, to work with leaders in business telecoms that can help you become more efficient and scalable as customer needs evolve.

Sustainable Telecoms Solutions

Last, and certainly not least for the year ahead, businesses are increasingly leaning into greener telecommunications technologies. Instead of running power-hungry servers on site, for example, firms are outsourcing data and server management to managed cloud teams.

One off-site team could, hypothetically, take several power-draining servers out of physical offices across the country. Companies are striving to be more sustainable and conscious about the effects they have on the planet without ‘green washing’ (i.e. being seen to do good for the sake of it).

Beyond this, companies are increasingly investing in tech companies that offer renewable energy provision, or are at least certified as doing their own part to help save the planet.

What’s more, companies are recycling more and more of their obsolete, in-house tech to minimise waste outright. By moving towards a less hardware-intensive operation (e.g., by moving telecoms off-site to a Hosted VoiP provider), there’s also less waste overall.

All the more reason – again – to partner with a VoIP agency that can help you reduce your carbon footprint.

Now is the Time to Embrace the Future of Telecoms

If all of this has you slightly concerned, there’s no need to worry. Planet Telecom provides a futureproof, scalable VoIP solution that is sustainable, cost-effective, and secure. We will keep your business competitive and ensure your customers get the ongoing support they need.

Want to know more about how VoIP could change the way you manage your firm’s communications strategy overnight? Get in touch with our team for a free consultation.