Is VoIP Cheaper Than a Landline? What’s Better For Your Business

Last Updated on January 31, 2025

VoIP, or virtual phone numbers, are now by far the most popular way for businesses and individuals to make and receive voice calls when compared with traditional landlines provided over the older PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), which is due to be switched off in January 2027. 

With the progression in technology over the last decade or so, VoIP is now considered the cheapest, most effective and professional way to make calls, and often leads customers to ask, is voip cheaper than a landline? 

VoIP calls can be made from anywhere on any device and aren’t tied to physical locations, unlike traditional landlines. 

Overview

The older traditional landline services have been transmitted over physical lines and fibre cabling through exchanges and switching centres for decades.

This has worked perfectly well, however, it brings some significant drawbacks and cost implications. 

Due to the fact that older landlines need physical infrastructure and it is expensive for BT Openreach to maintain the costs, they tend to be higher than those of getting a VoIP number.

How does VoIP stack up against traditional landlines?

Voice Over IP is an internet protocol for transmitting calls over the internet as signals and packets rather than across physical telephone wires and exchanges. 

Originally, these numbers were allocated according to your physical location, hence the term ‘area code’. 

For example, if you wanted a landline phone number and lived in Manchester, you’d be allocated a number beginning with 0161, Birmingham 0121, and so on.

VoIP has eradicated the need for this, and so when selecting a VoIP number, you can now choose which area code you’d like.

Is VoIP cheaper than Landline?

On the whole, Yes! 

For starters, there’s no line rental to pay, and the cost of making and receiving calls is much cheaper than with a traditional telephone provider. 

Air Landline, for example, provides unlimited call forwarding on your VoIP number at no extra charge.

Depending on the provider, this feature with a traditional provider could potentially cost at least a per-minute amount. 

What is the difference between VoIP and Landline?

In simple terms, a traditional landline is the physical phone line that comes into a property, either at a residential property or a business premises. 

This BT Openreach line connects the property to the local phone network, and the calls are then transmitted across this network accordingly.

This means that when you’re connected by a telephone provider, they allocate you a number based on your physical location. The network has dedicated lines and fibre cables that carry the voice signal to its intended destination.

A VoIP number, by comparison, is simply an identifier and isn’t based on physical location.

The calls are sent as packets of data across the internet, which generally results in better quality calls, cheaper calls and tons of advanced call features. 

For example, with Air Landline, you get a huge set of features included with your number as a standard that isn’t available with a traditional landline. 

Call recording, personal greeting, unlimited call forwarding, business call screening, and call queuing are just a few examples.

How can businesses benefit from VoIP phone systems

One of the big changes in phone provision has been businesses preemptively switching their services to VoIP in anticipation of the PSTN switch-off but also due to the fact that VoIP offers much better value, more features and is future-proof. 

Here are some key benefits of VoIP phone systems compared to traditional landlines.

Cost Savings

VoIP systems significantly reduce communication costs, particularly for long-distance and international calls.

With VoIP, businesses can make calls over the Internet rather than relying on traditional telephone lines, eliminating many fees associated with traditional phone services. 

Additionally, VoIP allows for scalability without hefty infrastructure costs, meaning voip is cheaper than a landline for growing companies.

With Air Landline, call forwarding is unlimited and doesn’t cost any extra on top of the monthly subscription, which is just £9.99 + VAT, which is considerably more affordable when compared to a landline.

Better Features 

With Air Landline, you get all these features included at no extra cost:

• Choose your own area code – With Air Landline, you can choose any local area code you want from anywhere in the UK, giving you the options of hundreds of different area codes. All you need to do is select which one you want, and we’ll generate a number quickly and easily. 
• Divert your calls – Simply tell us which number(s) you want your new VoIP telephone number diverted to, and we’ll set up call forwarding almost instantly. Not only that, you can quickly and easily change this in your user panel, set up a welcome message, hold music and even call recording if you need it. 
• Call Queuing – If you get multiple calls at the same time then you’ll be able to set them into a queue so that you’re not missing calls from customers. You can also assign this to multiple users. 
• Local and national numbers – Choose where you’d like your business number to represent you. If you need a local number, then we offer all area codes across the UK as a prefix, but if you prefer a national number, we also offer 0330 numbers that are not fixed to a geographical location. 
• Welcome message – You can set a personalised welcome message for your customers to hear as soon as they reach your UK  number. If you’d prefer the personal touch, then you’re able to record your own voice, which will play automatically. If you’d rather, you can use our AI voice generator to send your message directly to your customers.
• Call management system -Call management is a sophisticated technology solution that enables businesses to effectively handle incoming and outgoing calls. It encompasses a suite of features designed to optimise call handling, including call routing, voicemail, call forwarding and more. By integrating call management, businesses can enhance customer service, improve response times, and increase communication efficiency. 
• Missed call notifications – If you miss a call, then you’ll get an instant email update from us telling you who called and when so that you can return the call as quickly as possible.
• Custom Greeting – Record your own custom greeting for when customers connect their call or, alternatively you can use AI voice generation or even a voice actor so that your system sounds professional. 
• Missed call email alerts – If a customer calls you but doesn’t stay on the line to be answered or go through to voicemail to leave a message, then you’ll get an instant email alert to let you know. 
• WhatsApp Business integration – If you’d like the ability to WhatsApp your customers with your Air Landline number, that’s not a problem. We can get that set up so that you’re able to interact over WhatsApp Business with your professional business number, which gives far superior and professional service compared to traditional methods. 
• Call Recording -Call recording is one of our free features. You can optionally turn on call recording for incoming calls by enabling it in the “Routing” page of the Control Panel. Recordings will appear on the “Calls” page of the Control Panel. Recordings are automatically deleted after 30 days, however you can download your call recording directly to your computer before the 30 days if you’d like to keep them.. 

Future Proof

VoIP is scalable and allows businesses to navigate the phone network switch-off in 2027. 

Business customers love that they can set the service up in minutes and have it routed straight to their mobile hassle-free. 

Air Landline doesn’t need an app or even an internet connection in order to receive calls, it simply routes calls to your mobile instantly.

If you’re growing your team, you can have multiple forwarding numbers to make sure that your calls are never missed, for example. These are features and abilities simply unavailable with most traditional landlines. 

FAQ

Summary –  Is VoIP Cheaper Than a Landline

Technology has now advanced to the point that it no longer makes much sense to have a traditional landline over a VoIP number. 

VoIP numbers are generally considered cheaper, more effective and of better quality than traditional landline numbers. 

With Air Landline, you can sign up for a business VoIP number in less than 3 minutes and get 7 days completely free. 

There’s no contract, and you get a mountain of features, including our offer of unlimited call forwarding at no extra charge.