Hybrid working is now a normal part of how many UK businesses operate, with Office for National Statistics data showing that 28% of working adults were hybrid workers between January and March 2025. For many organisations, that means teams now split their time between home, office, and client locations as a standard way of working, not a temporary arrangement.
The challenge is that many phone systems haven’t caught up yet. Legacy desk phones and older PBX setups were built for fixed offices, not for employees who need to stay reachable across multiple locations. If calls don’t follow your people, hybrid working becomes harder than it needs to be.
Why Traditional Phone Systems Hold Hybrid Teams Back
Traditional phone systems are tied to physical offices, fixed handsets, and location-based infrastructure. That creates friction for hybrid teams because calls, voicemail, and availability are still organised around buildings instead of people business.
In practice, this often leads to avoidable problems:
- Employees rely on personal mobiles on home days.
- Customers get an inconsistent experience when teams are split across locations.
- Simple changes such as call rerouting or hunt group updates become manual and time consuming.
- Older systems become less future proof as the UK moves away from PSTN and ISDN services.
This is why hybrid working problems are often telecoms problems in disguise. When your phone system is still office-first, productivity, responsiveness, and customer experience all take the hit.
What Microsoft Teams Calling Changes
Microsoft Teams phone adds cloud-based PBX capabilities to Teams, allowing employees to manage business calls alongside chat, meetings and collaboration. Features include call hold, transfer, delegation, voicemail, call queues and reporting. To make and receive calls to landlines and mobile numbers, businesses also need suitable Teams Phone licensing and PSTN connectivity.
For hybrid teams, the main benefit is flexibility. Your staff can use the same business identity across the Microsoft Teams app on laptop, desktop, and mobile, helping calls follow the user rather than a desk phone in one office. That makes it easier to support home working, hot desking, travel, and multi-site operations without creating a fragmented calling experience.
How Cloud VoIP Supports Hybrid Teams
Under the surface, Teams calling works through internet-based telephony rather than old analogue infrastructure. This cloud model is better suited to modern organisations because it is designed for distributed users, simpler scaling, and centralised management.
This is also important because the UK’s analogue PSTN network is due to be retired by 31 January 2027. Businesses using services that depend on PSTN, ISDN or other WLR-based products will need to migrate to suitable digital, IP-based alternatives before the deadline.
Where Alfonica Fits
Alfonica can integrate Microsoft Teams with its hosted telephony platform or support Teams Phone through SIP trunking. It can also manage number porting, call routing, connectivity and mobile services as part of a joined-up communications solution.
This approach is especially useful for organisations that want only one provider to support their whole entire migration from legacy telephony to a more flexible cloud model.
Ready to Assess Your Setup?
Talk to Alfonica about hybrid communications or book a Microsoft Teams calling review to see how Teams Phone, cloud VoIP, broadband, and mobile can work together for your business.
