A virtual switchboard that lives on mobiles
Press 1 for sales, press 2 for support - except there is no switchboard cabinet, no desk phones and no VoIP app. ONSIM auto attendants and IVR menus answer your number in the network itself, then put the caller through to ordinary mobiles your team already carries.
It is the piece that makes a handful of mobiles sound like a company. Callers hear a professional greeting and choose a department; your staff just hear their phone ring, wherever they happen to be.
How it works on ONSIM
Your main number - usually a landline number on a Landline SIM account - is answered by the auto attendant at network level. The caller hears your greeting and menu, presses a key, and the network routes the call to the right destination: a person, a hunt group that rings several mobiles at once, or a call queue when things get busy.
Because all of this happens in the network, the phones on the receiving end are just phones. No app to install, no VoIP connection to drop, no desk phone tying anyone to a desk. Staff answer a normal mobile call; the switchboard logic has already done its work before the phone rings.
Advanced mode supports multi-level menus, and time-based features let the whole thing change behaviour by hour, day or holiday - so the same number that offers a menu at 10am can go straight to voicemail-to-email at 10pm.
What it costs
The base is a Landline SIM at £10/user/month + VAT, with unlimited UK calls and SMS. IVR menus and auto attendants are an optional paid add-on on Landline SIM accounts - priced when you set the menu up, so you only pay for it if you actually want callers to hear one.
Everything is monthly rolling with no contract - add the IVR when you need it, drop it if you stop, cancel any time. If you are not sure a menu is right for your callers at all, a plain hunt group (included with 2+ users) often does the job with less ceremony.
Virtual switchboard questions
What is a virtual switchboard?
It is the front door of a phone system without the phone system: an auto attendant answers your main number, plays a greeting, offers menu options and routes the caller to the right person. On ONSIM the people it routes to are on ordinary mobiles, using a Landline SIM, so there is no hardware to buy and nothing to install.
Is an auto attendant the same as an IVR?
They overlap. An auto attendant greets callers and offers press-1-style choices; an IVR (interactive voice response) is the broader menu technology behind it. ONSIM provides both, including an advanced mode and time-based features, so a simple greeting can grow into a multi-level menu as the business does.
Do my staff need an app or a desk phone?
No. The switchboard runs at network level, so calls arrive as normal mobile calls on the phones your team already carries. There is no VoIP app to keep logged in and no desk phone gathering dust - which also means nothing extra to fail.
Can the menu change by time of day?
Yes. Time-based features let the attendant behave differently in the evening, at weekends or on bank holidays - see timed call routing. Menu options can also point at a hunt group or a call queue rather than a single person.
How much does a virtual switchboard cost?
Landline SIM is £10/user/month + VAT, and IVR menus are an optional paid add-on on top of that - priced when you set it up, monthly rolling, cancel any time. If you only need simple forwarding rather than menus, a Virtual Landline may be all you need.
Sound bigger by Friday
Order SIMs today and add the attendant once your team is live, or request a quote and we will map the menu with you. Plenty of sectors run their whole front desk this way.
This is one feature of the ONSIM network - browse the full feature set, or see it in context on Landline SIM.