From Landline to Cloud in 7 Days: A Step-by-Step Diary of a Real UK Migration

This is the actual day-by-day diary of migrating a 35-person solicitor's firm in Bristol from BT landlines to DialPhone. I kept detailed notes throughout. Nothing is embellished.

Day 1 (Monday): Signed Up and Started Configuration

9:15 AM: Created DialPhone account online. Self-service — no sales call needed. Chose 35 user licences at £24/user.

9:45 AM: Assigned to migration specialist (Sarah). 15-minute call to discuss their setup: 3 ring groups (conveyancing, litigation, family law), auto-attendant with 4 menu options, call recording for all users, integration with Clio (practice management).

11:00 AM: Sarah had the auto-attendant configured, ring groups created, and Clio integration connected. I reviewed it in the admin portal. Two changes needed: added the managing partner to all ring groups, changed after-hours routing from voicemail to mobile forward.

2:00 PM: Changes made. System ready on temporary numbers.

Notes: Total time I spent: 45 minutes (15-minute call + 30 minutes reviewing configuration). Sarah did the rest.

Day 2 (Tuesday): Phones Arrived and Testing

9:00 AM: Box of 12 Yealink T33G desk phones arrived. Pre-configured with auto-provisioning. First phone plugged in at 9:08 AM. Booted, downloaded config, ready at 9:10 AM. 2 minutes.

9:30 AM: All 12 desk phones plugged in and working. Remaining 23 users set up with desktop softphone + mobile app.

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Testing phase. Called every extension from my mobile. Tested transfers between all ring groups. Tested voicemail (transcription appeared in email within 20 seconds). Tested Clio integration — call popped the client record. Tested mobile app from the car park.

Issues found: One desk phone showed the wrong caller ID on outbound. Sarah fixed it in 5 minutes (wrong DID assigned to that extension).

2:00 PM: Submitted number porting request for 8 numbers (main number + 7 direct lines). Estimated completion: 7-10 business days.

Notes: Total time I spent: 3 hours. 1 issue found and fixed same day.

Day 3 (Wednesday): Staff Training

10:00 AM: 30-minute group training via video call with Sarah. Covered: making calls, transferring (blind + attended), voicemail, mobile app setup, Do Not Disturb.

Questions asked by staff:

• "How do I transfer to someone's voicemail directly?" (Sarah showed them — 2 button presses)
• "Can I use my personal mobile and the app at the same time?" (Yes — they are separate)
• "What happens if the internet goes down?" (Calls failover to mobile app on 4G automatically)

10:45 AM: Quick reference cards distributed. Laminated. Both sides.

Notes: 3 staff members needed 1-on-1 follow-up (struggled with the softphone interface). Sarah scheduled 10-minute calls with each.

Day 4 (Thursday): Parallel Running on Temporary Numbers

Staff used the new system on temporary numbers for internal calls and outbound to clients who would not be confused by a different caller ID.

Feedback:

• "Transfers are actually easier than the old system" (receptionist)
• "The mobile app rang every time. I am impressed" (partner who is usually sceptical)
• "Clio integration is magic — the client file just appears" (conveyancer)
• "The hold music is horrible" (everyone) — changed to a better track in 2 minutes

Issues: None.

Day 5 (Friday): Business as Usual

Continued parallel running. Old BT system handled inbound on real numbers. New DialPhone system handled outbound and inter-office calls.

Notes: No issues. Staff becoming comfortable with the new system. Two people asked if they could stop using the old phones already.

Day 6-7 (Weekend): Nothing

Nothing happened. No weekend work required.

Day 8 (Monday, Week 2): Port Completed

7:00 AM: Received email from Sarah: "Port completed overnight. Your numbers are now live on DialPhone."

7:15 AM: Tested main number from my personal mobile. Rang the reception ring group. Receptionist answered on the new system. Caller ID correct. Audio clear.

7:30 AM: Tested all 8 numbers. All working. All routing correctly.

8:00 AM: Office opened. First client call at 8:04 AM. No issues.

5:00 PM: End of day. 147 calls handled on the new system. Zero issues reported.

Day 9-14: Monitoring Period

DialPhone kept us on priority support for 14 days. Two minor issues:

• Day 10: One user's mobile app stopped receiving calls after a phone update. Reinstall fixed it (3 minutes).
• Day 12: Managing partner wanted a different ring sequence (sequential instead of simultaneous for his direct line). Changed in admin portal in 1 minute.

Day 15: Old System Cancelled

Called BT. Cancelled all lines. Confirmation received.

The Final Numbers

DialPhone made this easy. Not because the technology is simple (it is not — there is complex routing, encryption, and integration happening behind the scenes) but because their migration team has done this 200+ times and they handle the complexity so you do not have to.