United Telecoms alternatives
Thinking of moving your business phones off United Telecoms – or just weighing up your options before you commit? Here are four South African providers worth comparing, each ranked by what it is genuinely best at: price, features, reliability, and how openly it is priced. (Cloud PBX just means a business phone system that runs over the internet instead of old phone lines.)
United Telecoms is a long-established South African provider (around 25 years trading) that publishes its hosted PBX rates and can also install on-site phone hardware, but it scores 6.9/10 in our review – and each of these four alternatives outscores it on our rubric. Which one is right comes down to the single thing that matters most to you.
- Lowest price – Switch Telecom
- Reliability & one supplier – Centracom
- Run it yourself – 3CX
- Busy phone teams – Telviva
Stay with United Telecoms only if you specifically need on-site PBX hardware and voice from one long-established supplier.
What is United Telecoms?
United Telecoms is a South African business telecoms provider that has traded for around 25 years. It sells a hosted Cloud PBX (a phone system delivered over the internet) under the United Voice Cloud brand at published per-extension rates – Essential from R65 and Classic from R85, month-to-month – and, unusually, it also installs and maintains on-site PBX hardware, with field technicians in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. It scores 6.9/10 in our review, with 4.7/5 on Google.
How do the United Telecoms alternatives compare?
Four vetted South African alternatives, with United Telecoms as the reference row. Every score breakdown below is the real per-dimension score from that provider’s WhichVoIP review – the green figure is where each one leads.
| Provider | Best for | From /line | Score breakdown | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switch Telecom | Lowest price | R52/line | 9.2PRICE
8.8FEAT
8.9RELY
8.7SUPP
|
8.6 |
| Centracom | Reliability & one supplier | On request | 6.8PRICE
8.5FEAT
9.2RELY
7.2SUPP
|
7.4 |
| 3CX | Run it yourself | Free <10 users | 8.0PRICE
8.5FEAT
7.2RELY
7.3SUPP
|
7.9 |
| Telviva | Busy phone teams | On request | 7.0PRICE
8.0FEAT
8.0RELY
6.8SUPP
|
7.3 |
| United Telecoms | Hosted or on-site PBX | R65/ext (Essential) | 6.5PRICE
7.5FEAT
7.3RELY
6.4SUPP
|
6.9 |
Score breakdown key: PRICE = pricing value, FEAT = feature set, RELY = reliability, SUPP = support quality. Each is scored out of 10, with pricing value and feature set weighted most (25% each), customer reviews 20%, reliability and support 15% each; the green figure is each provider’s leading dimension. Scores are pulled from each provider’s live WhichVoIP review, verified July 2026 and re-checked against the WhichVoIP record on 4 September 2026. Centracom, Telviva and 3CX are quote- or licence-based, so their per-line cost is confirmed on request; United Telecoms publishes its hosted rate but keeps on-site PBX pricing quote-only.
What actually pushes a business off United Telecoms?
Feature lists rarely explain a real switch. Businesses move providers for three structural reasons: no enforceable uptime guarantee, a hardware or ownership model that does not fit, or having to run voice and connectivity as two separate contracts. Here is how United Telecoms and the four alternatives actually compare on those three.
| Provider | Uptime SLA | Hardware & ownership | Bundled connectivity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switch Telecom | No published SLA with service credits – a “Business & Corporate” standby tier exists but carries no numeric guarantee. | Softphone from day one; desk phones are optional, bought outright (R897–R2,967), never leased. | No – voice/UC only, no connectivity of its own. |
| 3CX | No SLA to publish – it is software you or your host run, so uptime is whoever is hosting it, not 3CX’s promise. | Full control: on-premise, self-hosted, or 3CX-hosted, bring your own trunk. | No – BYO-trunk by design, always a separate purchase. |
| Centracom | Publishes a 99.9% uptime target – get it in writing as a contractual SLA with credits before treating it as a guarantee. | BYOD – works on your existing IP phone, softphone, or mobile app. | Yes – sells voice, data and connectivity as one contract, the same bundled model United Telecoms itself sells. |
| Telviva | No numeric SLA published – “uptime guarantees” are referenced qualitatively, without a percentage or remedy. | Device-agnostic – any device, any mode, no proprietary hardware required. | No – UCaaS/CCaaS only, connectivity is your own. |
| United Telecoms | Genuinely tiered, disclosed on its own site: “Lite” packages are explicitly best-effort with no guarantee; “Premium” is described as a managed service for optimal uptime – but neither publishes a numeric percentage. | Mixed – router included with connectivity packages; IP handsets available outright or financed month-to-month, your choice. | Yes – VoIP-over-Fibre/LTE bundles are the core product, though a voice-only option exists too. |
Structural facts verified against each provider’s own site, August 2026. Centracom’s uptime figure is presented as published by Centracom and has not been independently confirmed as a contractual SLA with service credits – treat it as a claim to verify, not a guarantee.
Which United Telecoms alternative fits you?
Answer two quick questions for a pick, or read the plain guide below it.
- Choose Switch Telecom if you want a published, low per-line price and only need voice – just know its uptime SLA is not published either, unlike United Telecoms’ disclosed Lite/Premium tiering, so the case for moving is price, not a stronger guarantee.
- Choose Centracom if you want the bundled model United Telecoms already sells, but from a Tier-1 carrier with a 24/7 service desk – ask for its 99.9% uptime figure as a written, credited SLA before treating it as confirmed.
- Choose 3CX if the real draw is not owning your own platform – on-premise, self-hosted or 3CX-hosted, you control it end to end instead of depending on anyone else’s SLA at all.
- Choose Telviva if what you actually need is contact-centre tooling – voice, video, chat and WhatsApp in one locally hosted platform. Like United Telecoms, no numeric SLA is published here either, so the case is capability, not a stronger guarantee.
- Stay with United Telecoms if the Lite/Premium tiering and bundled VoIP-over-Fibre already suit you – but confirm which tier you are actually on, since only Premium carries the managed-uptime commitment.
The four alternatives in detail
Switch Telecom
Strength: A published VoIP line from R52 a month, or a hosted switchboard at R260 per ten extensions (about R26 an extension), both with free installation on month-to-month terms – the lowest verified entry point in this group, and below United’s R65 Essential rate per extension.
Watch-out: Voice only, so you will source your internet or bundled UC from another provider.
Switching trigger: No published uptime SLA either – unlike United Telecoms’ disclosed tiering, there is no equivalent commitment to compare here at all.
I continue to be impressed with the wonderful service from Switch Telecom. Good personal service is rare these days.Di Kilpert, Google review, 2025
Centracom
Strength: Connectivity and voice from a single provider, with strong regional resilience and local presence – one supplier to call when something needs fixing.
Watch-out: Pricing is quote-based, so there is no published per-line rate to compare up front.
Switching trigger: Sells the same bundled voice-plus-connectivity model United Telecoms does, from a larger carrier. Its 99.9% uptime is a published target, not a confirmed contractual SLA – get it written in with service credits.
We recently had an incredible experience with Centracom and felt compelled to share. The level of service provided was excellent, from start to finish.Verified customer, Google review, May 2025
3CX
Strength: Licensed by simultaneous call rather than per user, self-hosted or in the cloud, free for up to 10 users, with deep CRM integrations built in.
Watch-out: It is a platform, not a managed service – you or a reseller handle setup, numbers and support.
Switching trigger: Full deployment control – on-premise, self-hosted or 3CX-hosted – is the actual draw. There is no SLA to compare because you, or your host, own the uptime outcome.
4.4 stars across 546 reviews: IT buyers consistently praise the cost savings, the flexibility and the ease of use, alongside strong CRM integrations.G2 software-buyer rating, 546 reviews
Telviva
Strength: Managed unified communications with real contact-centre tooling – voice, video, chat and WhatsApp in one login.
Watch-out: Quote-based pricing with a once-off setup fee, so it is overkill for a small office that just wants cheap dial-tone.
Switching trigger: No numeric SLA published here either – the pull is contact-centre capability, not a stronger uptime commitment than United Telecoms’ Premium tier.
Great ICT provider with awesome support team.T231, Google review
How we compare, and what we earn
We do not sell the VoIP or Cloud PBX services compared here, and we earn nothing on which provider you choose. Every provider is scored against the same rubric – pricing value, feature set, reliability, and support quality – with pricing value and feature set weighted most (25% each), customer reviews 20%, reliability and support 15% each. Read our full editorial policy and scoring methodology.
Sources: Scores and pricing verified July 2026 at primary sources – each provider’s live WhichVoIP review, their review score breakdowns and published rate cards. United Telecoms’ sub-scores (pricing 6.5, features 7.5, reliability 6.5, transparency 6.5; overall 6.8) are drawn from its own live WhichVoIP review. Customer quotes are independent, verified Google and G2 reviews cited from each provider’s review. Quote-based and licence-based pricing is noted as such; confirm current rates directly.
Not sure which fits?
Tell us your team size and what matters most – we will match you to vetted South African providers. WhichVoIP does not sell the services compared here and earns nothing on which provider you choose, so the comparison stays neutral.
Get free quotes →United Telecoms alternatives: common questions
See all recommendations at a glance
| By size \ For | Price & value | Capabilities | Customer experience | Reliability & local |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOHO (1–5) | Switch Telecom8.6 | 3CX7.9 | Switch Telecom8.6 | Switch Telecom8.6 |
| Small (5–20) | Switch Telecom8.6 | Telviva7.3 | Switch Telecom8.6 | Switch Telecom8.6 |
| Growing SME (20–50) | Switch Telecom8.6 | Telviva7.3 | Telviva7.3 | Centracom7.4 |
| Enterprise · CC (50+) | Centracom7.4 | Telviva7.3 | Telviva7.3 | Centracom7.4 |