- Where it hides
- Remaining-term payouts, hardware balances, automatic renewals
- Porting fees
- A provider choice, not a regulated charge
- Small business
- Unfair contract terms law covers many standard-form contracts
- The one question
- What does it cost me to leave in month four?
Every comparison of business phone systems, ours included, leads with the monthly price per seat. It’s the right place to start. But there’s a second number that decides whether the first one ever matters: what it costs to walk away.
A cheap seat on a contract you can’t afford to leave isn’t cheap. It’s a price you’ve agreed to pay whether or not the service is any good. That’s why we print every price in our comparison table on a month-to-month basis and say so, and why this piece exists.
Six places exit costs hide
1. The remaining-term payout
The big one. Some contracts bill out every remaining month in full if you leave early. Others charge a percentage, or a fixed fee per service, or a sliding scale. On a 36-month term the difference between those clauses can be most of the original contract value. The wording is usually under a heading such as early termination, cancellation charges or minimum term.
2. Hardware on repayments
Handsets described as included on a long term are often being repaid inside the monthly fee. Leave early and the remaining balance falls due. Check two further things: who owns the handsets once they’re paid off, and whether they’re locked to the provider's platform. A locked handset is a paperweight on the day you leave.
3. Automatic renewal
Many business contracts roll over for another full term unless you give notice inside a set window before the end date. Miss the window and you’ve signed up again without signing anything. Find the clause, find the notice period, and put the date in a calendar now.
4. Number charges
Porting fees are a provider choice, not a regulated cost, and they vary. Some providers port numbers in for free; others charge per number. Ask both your current and your new provider what they charge, if anything, and check that every number, including any 1300 or 1800 number, is held in your business's name rather than a reseller's. Our porting guide covers the timing.
5. Bundles that unwind
If your internet is on the same contract as your phones, leaving one can reprice the other. A discount that only applies while both services are active disappears with the first cancellation. Ask what the internet service costs on its own before you move the phones.
6. Your data
Call recordings, voicemail, call logs and call-flow settings live on the provider's platform. Once the account closes they may be deleted on the provider's schedule, not yours. Get an export, in a format you can open, before you give notice. If you’re required to keep recordings for a set period, this is the step that can’t be skipped.
What the law says, briefly
Since November 2023, unfair terms in standard-form contracts with small businesses have been illegal under the Australian Consumer Law, with penalties attached. For this purpose a small business is one with fewer than 100 employees or turnover under $10 million. A term that lets one side change the deal while the other side is locked in can be the kind of term the law is aimed at, though whether any particular clause is unfair is for a court to decide.
Separately, the telecommunications industry's consumer protection code extends to some small business customers. Ask your provider whether you’re covered by it. None of this is legal advice, and if a large payout is at stake it’s worth paying for some.
The questions to ask before you sign
Get these answered in writing
What is the total cost to leave at month four, month twelve and month twenty-four? Who owns the handsets and are they locked? When does the contract renew and how much notice do I need to give? Are all my numbers in my business name? How do I export my recordings and call logs, and how long do you keep them after I leave?
A provider that answers all five quickly and plainly is telling you something about how the rest of the relationship will go.
How the market splits
In our comparison, three of the ten providers, Telstra, Optus and 8x8, sell on two or three-year terms only. Most of the rest offer a month-to-month rate and a discount for a term; our per-seat price check sets out the gap for each. Microsoft has its own version of the same trade-off, covered in our Teams Phone renewal piece.
Uniden Voice over Cloud and VOCPhone both offer month to month at $34.90 per user, with free porting, and a twelve-month option at $28.30 for businesses that want the discount. Our scores were set before any commercial conversation and the method is published in full under how we score, so you can check the working. Whoever you choose, the advice is the same: price the exit as carefully as the entry.
The two that topped our 2026 scorecard
Uniden Voice over Cloud scored 95/100 at $34.90 per user per month with calls, AI agents and 40+ call-flow features included. VOCPhone scored 92/100 and is the one to shortlist if the phone is a sales tool.
Questions
Can my provider stop me porting my number because I am still in contract?
Porting the number and settling the contract are separate things. Your number is yours to move, but leaving doesn’t cancel what you agreed to pay, so a payout may still be owed after the port. A port request can also be rejected while account problems, such as arrears or unreturned hardware, are outstanding. Clear those first.
Is a month-to-month plan always dearer?
Per seat it usually is, because the provider is pricing in the risk that you leave. That’s not universal: in our comparison the two Australian platforms at the top are the cheapest seat on a month-to-month basis as well as on a term. Price the exit as well as the seat and the gap often closes or reverses.
What should I get in writing before I sign?
The total cost to leave at month four, month twelve and month twenty-four; who owns the handsets and whether they’re locked to the provider; the automatic renewal clause and its notice period; confirmation that numbers are held in your business name; and how you get your recordings and call logs out.
Related articles
- Porting a business number in Australia: how long it really takes (Guide, 6 min read)
- Price check: what Australian businesses are actually paying per seat in 2026 (Pricing, 9 min read)
- Renewing Teams Phone this year? Read the licence terms before the price (Pricing, 7 min read)
Or go straight to the 2026 comparison table, try the phone system finder, or browse all news and analysis.