United Telecoms Review
United Telecoms is a Johannesburg telephony company, trading since 2001, that publishes its hosted PBX at R65 and R85 an extension and still installs on-premise PBX systems through its own technicians. It suits an SME that wants visible pricing, CRM integration and recording, or one still choosing between cloud and an on-site box. The trade-off is a thin public support record and a VAT basis the pricing page does not state.
Is United Telecoms worth shortlisting?
Yes for a South African SME that wants a hosted PBX with a price it can see before calling, or one that is still deciding between cloud and an on-site box and wants a company that installs and maintains both. United Voice Cloud is published at R65 an extension for Essential and R85 for Classic, month-to-month, with remote setup free for up to ten users. The trade-off is the evidence base: support is judged from small branch listings, the VAT basis is not stated on the pricing page, and on-premise PBX, Teams Phone and call-centre lines are all quote-only.
- HQUnit 9 Cambridge Commercial Park, 22 Witkoppen Rd, Paulshof · 086 001 8500; offices in Cape Town and Durban
- Hosted PBXUnited Voice Cloud Essential R65 and Classic R85 per extension a month, prepaid or postpaid, month-to-month
- SetupRemote setup free for 1 to 10 users, R1,500 for 11 to 30, R2,500 for 31 and more
- Also sellsOn-premise analogue and hybrid PBX, Microsoft Teams Phone System, fibre, LTE and wireless, Yealink handsets to buy or rent
A long-established telephony company with a published hosted rate card and the rare option of an on-site PBX from the same team.
United Telecoms has traded since 2001, on group roots that go back to 1985, and states that more than 3,000 businesses have run on its systems. The hosted product is where the transparency is: two tiers at R65 and R85 an extension, add-ons priced openly, setup tiered by user count, billing per second, and a month-to-month term. Buyers who want hardware on site can still get an analogue or hybrid PBX installed, cabled and maintained, sized from two users to more than two hundred, and IP handsets can be bought outright or rented monthly.
What keeps the score in the high sixes is what is not on the page. Support has to be judged from small branch Google listings, since the Paulshof head office has no profile and there is no HelloPeter record. The pricing page does not state whether R65 includes VAT. The Teams Phone System, contact-centre software and on-premise PBX are quote-only. None of that is a red flag; it means a buyer confirms more at quote stage than with a fully published rival.
Is United Telecoms likely to suit you?
Tick what applies to your business.
Pros and watch-outs
What United Telecoms does well, and where to push back at quote stage.
- United Voice Cloud is priced openly: Essential R65 and Classic R85 per extension a month, prepaid or postpaid, on a month-to-month term.
- Remote setup is included for one to ten users, and the tiers above that are published (R1,500 for 11 to 30, R2,500 for 31 and more).
- The hosted feature set covers IVR, call recording, real-time call analytics and a mobile app, with CRM integration named for Zoho, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Bullhorn, Zendesk and Pipedrive.
- Both delivery models are on offer: hosted PBX, or an analogue or hybrid on-premise system installed and maintained by the company’s own technicians in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
- Handsets are flexible: Yealink phones can be bought outright (from about R1,008) or financed monthly (from about R50), and the router is included with connectivity packages.
- The pricing page does not state whether the R65 and R85 rates include VAT; confirm before you compare against VAT-inclusive rivals.
- No per-minute call rate is published anywhere on the site, only the fact that billing is per second.
- Public support evidence is thin: the Cape Town branch listing has ten Google reviews, the head office has no profile, and there is no HelloPeter record.
- On-premise PBX, the Microsoft Teams Phone System and the call-centre agent software are quote-only, and there is no public API for the hosted platform.
Score breakdown
Five categories that decide whether United Telecoms earns a slot on your shortlist. The headline is the weighted sum, so you can check the arithmetic.
A published two-tier rate card, open add-ons and setup tiers, and month-to-month terms. Held back because the VAT basis is not stated, no call rates are published, and the other product lines are quote-only.
IVR, call recording, call analytics and a mobile app on the hosted platform, with named CRM integrations. No wallboard and no public API.
Google 4.5 across 10 reviews on the Cape Town branch listing, the only attributable profile. The head office has no listing and there is no HelloPeter record, so the sample is small.
Runs its own United Voice Cloud platform and publishes a 99.8% uptime guarantee on its own Enterprise Fibre or Wireless service, with automatic failover, a backup server and a supplied UPS. Best-effort on third-party lines.
Technicians in three cities and a national support line, and the branch reviews name the staff who helped. Held back because the attributable sample is ten reviews and no response commitment is published.
Pricing: a published hosted rate card, quote-only on premise
The hosted product is one of the more transparent in the market. Everything below is published at unitedtelecoms.co.za; the VAT basis is not stated on the plans page, so confirm it on the quote.
| Line | Published price | What a buyer gets | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Voice Cloud Essential | R65 per extension a month | Full hosted feature set with one device registration; prepaid or postpaid, month-to-month | Published |
| United Voice Cloud Classic | R85 per extension a month | Everything in Essential plus a PC softphone and two device registrations | Published |
| Remote setup | Free for 1 to 10 users; R1,500 for 11 to 30; R2,500 for 31+ | On-site setup is quoted separately | Published |
| Call charges | Per-second billing; no rates published | Ask for the rate sheet for local, mobile and international calls | Confirm at quote |
| IP handsets | Buy outright (about R1,008) or finance monthly (about R50) | Yealink; the router is included with connectivity packages | Published |
| On-premise analogue or hybrid PBX | Quote | Buy via EFT or rent over 12 to 60 months; sized 2 to 5, 6 to 30 and 31 to 201+ users | Confirm at quote |
| Microsoft Teams Phone System, call-centre software | Quote | Licence tier, per-user rate and Direct Routing versus Operator Connect are not published | Confirm at quote |
| Fibre, LTE and wireless | Quote | Lite packages are best-effort; Premium packages are managed with fault priority | Confirm at quote |
What real customers say
Three recent reviews from the Cape Town (Century City) Google listing, quoted as written. That listing is the only one attributable to United Telecoms, at 4.5 stars across 10 reviews; the Paulshof head office has no profile and the Durban branch is listed separately, so the branches are not averaged.
“Best service ever from Robyn and team, they had us sorted in under two weeks after another supplier could not sort our issues out in three months. Robyn assisted and kept me informed every step op the way”
“Robyn helped me with phone lines which our team can use to call abroad. Excellent service, I liked the follow up calls, it makes a big difference.”
“I would like to commend Rensche for her great work in solutions selection. She was very kind, enthusiastic and pro-active in her work and approach. Keep up the great work and great service delivery.”
How to read this: all three name the account manager who handled them, which is a good sign for a hands-on company, but ten reviews is a small sample. Ask for two current customers in your size band before you sign.
The United Telecoms product line
Hosted PBX, on-site PBX, Teams and connectivity from one company.
Hosted PBX on a published two-tier rate card
Essential (R65) and Classic (R85) per extension carry the hosted feature set: auto-attendant, queuing, ring groups, hot desking, voicemail-to-email, Outlook integration, UC chat and conferencing. Classic adds a PC softphone and a second device.
CRM, recording and live analytics
Named CRM integrations for Zoho, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Bullhorn, Zendesk and Pipedrive, call recording as standard, a real-time call analytics dashboard and a mobile app. No wallboard and no public API.
Analogue and hybrid systems for an on-site box
For buyers who want hardware on the premises, systems are installed, cabled and maintained by the company’s own technicians, sized from two users to more than two hundred, bought via EFT or rented over 12 to 60 months.
Teams as the business phone
A named product for organisations standardised on Teams. Commercial detail (licence tier, per-user rate, Direct Routing or Operator Connect) is not published.
Fibre, LTE and wireless with a two-tier service model
Lite packages are best-effort; Premium packages are managed with a dedicated team member on faults. The 99.8% uptime guarantee applies on the company’s own Enterprise Fibre or Wireless. ADSL is not supported.
Handsets, cabling and maintenance
Yealink handsets to buy or rent, PABX cabling, installations, relocations and parts, on a pay-as-you-go basis or a service contract, from offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
Choose United Telecoms if
- You want to price a hosted PBX before you speak to sales, on a like-for-like extension count.
- You are not sure yet whether cloud or an on-site box is right, and want one company that installs and supports either.
- CRM integration, call recording and reporting are on your list at a mid-market price.
- You value technicians who cable, install and maintain from a local office in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban.
Consider another if
- You want the lowest published per-extension rate: Switch Telecom lands from R26 an extension effective.
- You need a published uptime commitment on a line you already have; the 99.8% figure applies only on United Telecoms’ own connectivity.
- Public review volume is a hard gate for your procurement; the attributable sample here is ten reviews.
- Teams Phone or a contact centre is the anchor of your purchase and you want its pricing in the open.
Alternatives to compare
Three providers worth quoting alongside United Telecoms, each stress-testing a different decision driver.
Switch Telecom
Hosted Switchboard from R260 for ten extensions with Microsoft Teams Direct Routing published. The sharper benchmark when headline price decides.
Wanatel
A Cape Town cloud PBX operator with a full rate card from R225 a month for five extensions and its own ICASA licences. A close transparency peer for a small business.
Daisy Business Solutions
A 40-year business-technology group with branches in every province, a Yeastar voice stack and Teams calling. The broader pick if voice is one of several lines on one account.
Peers scored on the same rubric sit side by side on Compare phone systems, Compare VoIP providers and Compare call centre providers; United Telecoms also has its own alternatives page.
South African essentials
Four local signals to verify before signing.
United Telecoms states that it is an ICASA-licensed ECNS and ECS operator and has traded since 2001. Ask for the operating entity and licence references at quote and check register.icasa.org.za if procurement needs it.
Porting is part of onboarding. No porting fee or timeline is published, so get both in writing, and confirm which numbers move on which date before you cancel the old service.
A national line on 086 001 8500 routes to the relevant team, with technicians in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. No support hours or response times are published; ask for them.
Hosted plans are month-to-month, prepaid or postpaid. Rented on-premise hardware runs 12 to 60 months. Confirm the VAT basis of the R65 and R85 rates and any minimum term on bundled connectivity.
How this score was built
Scores are editorial guides, not guarantees. United Telecoms’s 6.9 is the weighted sum of the five dimension scores above: 0.25×6.5 + 0.25×7.5 + 0.20×6.6 + 0.15×7.3 + 0.15×6.4. United Telecoms is not a sponsor, and sponsorship does not move a score.
- Pricing value, 25%Rate transparency, setup friction, contract flexibility
- Feature set, 25%Controls, analytics, integrations, admin usability
- Customer reviews, 20%Aggregate rating and volume on Google and HelloPeter, treated as directional, never definitive
- Reliability and uptime, 15%Infrastructure ownership, hosting location, published uptime evidence
- Support quality, 15%Support hours, location, and what customer reviews say about resolution
FAQ
Short answers for the questions buyers typically ask before requesting quotes.
What is United Telecoms?
A South African telephony company trading since 2001, with group roots to 1985, that sells a hosted PBX (United Voice Cloud), on-premise analogue and hybrid PBX systems, a Microsoft Teams Phone System, IP handsets and business connectivity from offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
How much does United Telecoms hosted PBX cost?
United Voice Cloud is published at R65 per extension a month for Essential and R85 for Classic, prepaid or postpaid, on a month-to-month term. Remote setup is free for one to ten users, R1,500 for 11 to 30 and R2,500 for 31 or more. The pricing page does not state whether the rates include VAT.
What is the difference between Essential and Classic?
Both carry the hosted feature set. Classic at R85 adds a PC softphone and a second registered device; Essential at R65 covers one device.
Does United Telecoms offer on-premise PBX as well as cloud?
Yes. Analogue and hybrid systems are installed and maintained on site, sized from two users to more than two hundred, and can be bought via EFT or rented over 12 to 60 months.
Is there a long-term contract?
Hosted plans run month-to-month. Rented on-premise hardware carries a 12 to 60 month term. Bundled connectivity may have its own term, so check each line.
What call rates does United Telecoms charge?
Billing is per second, but no per-minute rates are published on the site. Ask for the rate sheet for local, mobile and international calls with your quote.
What connectivity does the hosted PBX need?
Fibre, LTE or wireless; ADSL is not supported. The 99.8% uptime guarantee applies on United Telecoms’ own Enterprise Fibre or Wireless service, and third-party lines are best-effort.
Where does United Telecoms operate?
From offices in Johannesburg (Paulshof), Cape Town (Century City) and Durban (Westville), with a service area covering all nine provinces.
Sources, disclosure and what changedWhere this review’s facts come from, how WhichVoIP gets paid, and the update history
- unitedtelecoms.co.za Cloud PBX plans pageUsed for the Essential R65 and Classic R85 rates, prepaid or postpaid billing, month-to-month terms and the setup tiers. VAT basis not stated on the page. Sampled 8 August 2026. Open source →
- unitedtelecoms.co.za product and services pagesUsed for the hosted feature set, named CRM integrations, call recording, call analytics, per-second billing, the handset buy-or-rent options, the Lite versus Premium connectivity tiers and the ICASA statement. Sampled 8, 23 and 24 August 2026. Open source →
- United Telecoms Google Business Profile (Century City)Used for the 4.5-star rating across 10 reviews and the three verbatim quotes. The Paulshof head office has no profile; the Durban branch is listed separately and not averaged in. Read live 6 September 2026. Open source →
- HelloPeterChecked for a United Telecoms profile; none found. The Trustpilot page for unitedtelecoms.net belongs to a different company.
United Telecoms is not a WhichVoIP sponsor. This review was researched and written by WhichVoIP’s editorial team using primary sources (provider website, four United Telecoms / sister-brand Google Business Profiles, HelloPeter listing, and the prior WhichVoIP review). WhichVoIP may receive a referral fee when you request quotes through our platform. Read our full editorial policy.
- 6 September 2026Quote-request links re-routed to the phone-systems quote form after the primary-category decision; no other change.
- 6 September 2026Page rebuilt in the updated review layout. Google listing re-read: Cape Town branch 4.5 across 10 reviews, three recent reviews quoted verbatim; the unattributable head-office and sister-brand listings were removed from the customer section. The pricing table was rebuilt from the verified record (R65 and R85 per extension, setup tiers, per-second billing, handset options) and the earlier “excludes VAT” statement was corrected to “VAT basis not stated”. Support quality card rewritten to the attributable evidence. Alternatives given reasons; journey rail and collapsed sources block added. Score unchanged at 6.9.
- 21 May 2026Score recalibrated from 5.5 to 6.8 against the V7 4-axis rubric, then fact-checked against unitedtelecoms.co.za. The prior review treated United Telecoms as a “procurement intermediary”; verification shows an established SA telephony company – trading since 2001, with group holding companies dating to 1985 (the Eurotap group) – serving 3,000+ businesses, with published hosted pricing (United Voice Cloud Essential R65, Classic R85 per extension), on-premise analogue / hybrid PBX and a named Microsoft Teams Phone System. The earlier “40-year / since-1985” framing was corrected (1985 is the parent-group lineage, not United Telecoms’ own trading start), and a wrong “no Microsoft Teams path” claim was removed after the Teams Phone System product page was confirmed. Feature set lifted to 7.5 on the confirmed Teams product; Support and reliability trimmed to 6.5 reflecting the corrected 25-year trading record; Pricing value 6.5 and Buyer transparency 6.5 held; overall 6.8.
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