If your business relies on Telstra for internet connectivity, you’re working with Australia’s largest telecommunications provider and their industry-leading network infrastructure. However, when it comes to business voice services, Telstra’s offering has become increasingly complex and confusing in 2025.
Telstra has undergone significant changes to their business voice portfolio, discontinuing several products while pushing customers toward enterprise-grade solutions that may not suit smaller businesses. Understanding what’s actually available, and what additional licensing you’ll need, can feel like navigating a maze.
SIPcity provides a refreshingly clear Telstra business voice alternative: specialist VoIP services that work seamlessly over your existing Telstra internet connection, without the complexity, enterprise pricing, or mandatory Microsoft ecosystem lock-in.
What Happened to Telstra Business SIP?
Many Australian businesses were familiar with Telstra Business SIP as an accessible, carriage-agnostic voice solution. However, Business SIP is no longer available for new customers as of 30 May 2025. Existing customers can continue using the service on current terms, but Telstra has effectively shut the door to new small and medium businesses seeking this straightforward VoIP option.
This discontinuation has left many businesses searching for alternatives, particularly those who appreciated the simplicity of Business SIP’s approach: use any internet connection (including non-Telstra providers), connect your existing PBX, and manage everything through a straightforward online portal.
Telstra’s Current Business Voice Options
For businesses seeking Telstra voice services today, the landscape looks quite different from just a few years ago. Telstra no longer offers a simple, SMB-focused cloud PBX product comparable to what Business SIP once provided. Instead, they steer customers toward one of two enterprise-grade options:
Telstra TIPT (Telstra IP Telephony)
Telstra’s flagship business voice solution is Telstra IP Telephony (TIPT), a cloud-based UC platform built on Cisco Webex. Positioned for organisations with 50 to 500+ employees, TIPT offers voice, video, and messaging in a unified client, backed by Telstra’s network and Cisco’s collaboration stack.
However, TIPT is sold with 24 to 36 month contracts, requires mandatory Webex licensing, and uses tiered feature packs (Basic, Standard, Executive). For SMBs, the pricing complexity and contract length can be significant barriers.
Telstra Calling for Office 365 (TCO365)
Telstra Calling for Office 365, or TCO365, integrated Microsoft Teams with Telstra’s network for voice calls. Positioned as a modern replacement for legacy PBX systems, TCO365 worked well for businesses already committed to the Microsoft ecosystem. However, TCO365 stopped accepting new customers on 1 November 2024, with full withdrawal scheduled for 30 November 2026.
Existing TCO365 customers now face the same forced migration question: stay on a soon-to-be-defunct product, or find an alternative that integrates with Teams without the impending deadline?
Why Telstra Business Voice Has Become Complex
Telstra’s shift away from accessible SMB voice products reflects broader industry trends. However, it has left many Australian businesses grappling with decisions that once felt simple. The complexity stems from several interconnected factors:
Enterprise-Grade Pricing Structures
Telstra TIPT operates on a tiered licensing model: Basic, Standard, and Executive feature packs, each unlocking different capabilities. A 100-person business might need Standard for some users and Executive for others, then add Liberate for mobile integration, cloud recording, call centre features, and Webex packs. Each line item makes sense in isolation, but together they create a pricing matrix that finance teams must actively manage.
For many Australian businesses, the sticker price for TIPT looks reasonable, until you load it with the features most modern companies consider standard. The final bill often lands 40 to 60% higher than the published per-user rate.
Mandatory Webex Integration
Unlike standalone cloud PBX solutions, TIPT requires Webex as the unified communications client. For businesses already using Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, or another collaboration tool, this means running Webex in parallel or forcing a full migration. TCO365 addressed this for Microsoft-centric businesses, but with TCO365 retiring, Teams users face another forced change.
Contract Length and Lock-In
Telstra TIPT is sold with 24 to 36 month terms. Early termination fees can be substantial, often 50 to 100% of remaining contract value. For growing businesses, this rigidity makes it hard to scale or pivot as needs change.
What a Telstra Business Voice Alternative Should Offer
Given the complexity of Telstra’s current portfolio, Australian businesses seeking a Telstra business voice alternative typically want the following characteristics:
- Works over any internet connection: not locked to Telstra’s network
- All-inclusive pricing: one per-user price that includes Australian mobile and landline calls
- Month-to-month contracts: no early termination fees, exit when you want
- Modern features built-in: AI Voice Agent, call recording, voicemail-to-email, mobile apps
- Native Teams integration: for businesses committed to Microsoft 365
- Australian support: local team that resolves issues on the first call
SIPcity: A Clear Telstra Business Voice Alternative
SIPcity delivers exactly what the above checklist describes. The platform is purpose-built for Australian businesses with 1 to 500 users, with all the complexity of carrier-grade voice stripped out and replaced with transparent, all-inclusive pricing.
Keep Your Telstra Internet, Switch Your Voice
SIPcity works over any business-grade internet connection, including your existing Telstra service. There is no requirement to change network providers. For businesses happy with Telstra’s internet infrastructure, this means you can keep the network you trust and replace only the voice component with a simpler, more capable alternative.
All-Inclusive Pricing, No Hidden Tiers
Where TIPT charges per-feature with separate licensing tiers, SIPcity includes every feature as standard: auto attendant, call queues, hunt groups, voicemail-to-email, AI-powered transcription, call recording, mobile apps, desktop apps, and the AI Voice Agent. The published per-user price is the actual price. No itemised add-on stack.
No Lock-In Contracts
SIPcity operates on month-to-month terms. You can leave at any time and take your numbers with you. There are no early termination fees, no minimum revenue commitments, and no surprise exit charges.
Native Microsoft Teams Integration
For Microsoft 365 businesses, SIPcity provides native Microsoft Teams Direct Routing. Your existing Teams clients become fully featured business handsets, with all the SIPcity features (including the AI Voice Agent) accessible from within Teams. This replaces TCO365, which is retiring 30 November 2026, with a forward-compatible alternative.
Australian Support, On-Shore Data
SIPcity is 100% Australian-owned, with all infrastructure and support staff based in Australia. The network runs on-shore, and call data does not leave Australian jurisdiction. Support is delivered by a local team that resolves most issues on the first contact, with no multi-tier offshore escalation.
Migration from Telstra to SIPcity
For businesses currently on Telstra Business SIP, TIPT, or TCO365, the migration to SIPcity is well-trodden and typically completes within 2 to 4 weeks:
- Sign up at sipcity.com.au (5 minutes, no credit card required).
- Port your numbers: submit a porting request, we lodge it with Telstra, and the numbers move in 5 to 10 business days. Your existing Telstra service stays active during the port.
- Connect your devices: existing SIP handsets are supported, or use the SIPcity desktop and mobile apps.
- Configure call flows: auto attendant, call queues, time-of-day routing, voicemail-to-email, and so on, all set up through the self-service portal.
- Cancel Telstra voice once you are confirmed live on SIPcity. Keep your final invoice for your records.
During the transition, you can use SIPcity as an overlay service for a department or location, then migrate the rest of the business once you have validated the platform. Many Australian businesses use this phased approach to reduce migration risk.
Who Should Stay with Telstra
Telstra voice remains a sensible choice in three specific cases:
- Large enterprises (500+ seats) with multi-site redundancy, dedicated account management, and the budget to absorb premium pricing.
- Regulated compliance requirements that mandate Telstra’s network specifically.
- Cisco Webex-centric organisations whose workforce is fully trained on the Webex collaboration platform.
For most other Australian businesses, particularly those in the 1 to 500 user range seeking transparent pricing and modern features, a Telstra business voice alternative like SIPcity delivers better value with less complexity.
The Bottom Line
Telstra’s exit from accessible SMB voice products has created a clear gap in the Australian market. SIPcity fills that gap with a purpose-built platform that works over your existing Telstra internet, delivers all-inclusive pricing, and offers the modern features (AI Voice Agent, native Teams integration, mobile apps) that TIPT either charges extra for or simply does not have.
For Australian businesses evaluating a Telstra business voice alternative, the comparison comes down to three questions:
- Do you want to keep paying for features that SIPcity includes as standard?
- Do you want to be locked into 24 to 36 month contracts, or do you prefer month-to-month flexibility?
- Do you want your voice provider to also be the one managing your data sovereignty, with all infrastructure and support based in Australia?
If the answers are no, yes, and yes, then SIPcity is the right alternative for your business.
Looking for a full head-to-head? Read our complete SIPcity vs Telstra comparison guide for the full side-by-side breakdown, including pricing, contract terms, support, and migration steps.
