United Telecoms Review
A buyer-focused look at United Telecoms – a South African telephony company trading since 2001 (with group holding companies dating to 1985) that has served 3,000+ businesses, with a published hosted PBX rate-card (United Voice Cloud from R65 per extension), on-premise analogue and hybrid PBX systems, a Microsoft Teams Phone System, IP-phone hardware and business connectivity, supported by technicians from offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
Is United Telecoms worth shortlisting?
Yes for SA SMEs who want a hosted PBX with pricing they can see before they call – United Voice Cloud lists Essential at R65 and Classic at R85 per extension per month on a month-to-month contract – and for buyers who’d rather keep an on-site box and need a provider that still installs and maintains analogue or hybrid PBX hardware. Two and a half decades of trading give the kind of continuity that matters when a phone system is meant to last. The fit is weaker if you’re a household rather than a registered business.
- HQUnit 9 Cambridge Commercial Park, 22 Witkoppen Rd, Paulshof 2056 · 086 001 8500
- Hosted pricingUnited Voice Cloud – Essential R65/ext/mo, Classic R85/ext/mo, both month-to-month
- Buyer segmentsSA SMEs from 2-5 users through 31-201+ users, cloud or on-site
- ContractHosted plans month-to-month, prepaid or postpaid; on-premise buy via EFT or rent 12-60 months
An established South African telephony company with transparent hosted PBX pricing, on-premise PBX options and a deep installed base – a solid mid-table shortlist pick for SMEs.
United Telecoms has traded since 2001 – with group holding companies dating to 1985 (the Eurotap group) – and states that more than 3,000 businesses have run their communications on its systems, the kind of continuity a buyer wants behind a phone system meant to sit in place for years. The hosted product, United Voice Cloud, is the headline: a published two-tier rate-card with a full unified-communications feature set, which puts it ahead of the many SA voice operators that quote-gate everything. Buyers who prefer to keep hardware on site are still catered for, with analogue and hybrid PBX systems sized from small offices up to 200-plus users. The per-product detail follows in the features section below. What holds the score in mid-table rather than higher is the public-review picture, which is fragmented across several Google profiles tied to the HQ address.
Is United Telecoms likely to suit you?
Good fit: SA SME wanting a hosted PBX with visible per-extension pricing.
Pros and watch-outs
What works in United Telecoms’ favour for a buyer, and where to dig deeper before signing.
- The hosted product publishes real numbers: United Voice Cloud Essential at R65 and Classic at R85 per extension per month, with a feature comparison table buyers can read before they ever speak to sales – rare transparency in the SA market.
- Both delivery models are on offer. A buyer leaning cloud gets a hosted PBX; a buyer who wants the hardware on site gets an analogue or hybrid PBX installed and maintained – useful when a future migration could go either way.
- A deep installed base – the provider states more than 3,000 businesses have run their communications on its systems – meaningful continuity for a buyer choosing a system meant to last five to ten years.
- The hosted plans run month-to-month with prepaid or postpaid billing, so a buyer isn’t locked into a multi-year term to get the headline rate – a cleaner risk position than operators that gate pricing behind 24- or 36-month bundles.
- Hands-on service: technicians install, cable, relocate and maintain systems from offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, with redundancy built into the cloud product (automatic failover, a backup server and a supplied UPS).
- The public-review picture is fragmented. Several Google profiles sit at the Paulshof HQ address – a “United Business Solutions” listing at 4.5★ / 189 reviews, a weaker “United Telecom NV” listing at 2.3★ / 32 – so a buyer has to check the live profile for their own branch rather than trust one headline number.
- On-premise PBX pricing is quote-only – published pricing covers the hosted product, while analogue and hybrid systems are scoped per deployment (buy outright via EFT, or rent over 12-60 months).
- A Microsoft Teams Phone System is a named product on the site, but its commercial detail – licence tier, per-user rate, Direct Routing versus Operator Connect – isn’t published. Confirm it at quote if Teams is your procurement anchor.
- The hosted feature set is delivered on the provider’s own United Voice Cloud platform; the review found no public ICASA licence-class detail at product level, so a compliance-sensitive buyer should request it during the quote.
Score breakdown
Four categories that decide whether United Telecoms is the right fit for your organisation – weighted to the buying evidence a South African business actually uses.
The hosted product is genuinely transparent – Essential R65 and Classic R85 per extension, add-ons priced openly (smartphone app +R30, call recording +R199), set-up costs tiered by user count, and a downloadable pricing sheet. On-premise PBX stays quote-only. Net: above-average pricing visibility for the SA market.
United Voice Cloud carries a full UC feature set – auto-attendant, queuing, ring groups, hot desking, voicemail-to-email, MS Outlook integration, UC chat, voice conferencing and a mobile app – alongside a named Microsoft Teams Phone System product. On-premise covers analogue and hybrid PBX with fixed-mobile convergence. IP-phone choice spans Yealink, Snom, Grandstream and Polycom.
Google 4.5/5 across 10 reviews at the Cape Town branch. The stated Paulshof head office has no profile and the Durban branch is rated separately, so branches are deliberately not averaged. No HelloPeter profile.
Runs its own United Voice Cloud platform with a 99.8% uptime guarantee on its own connectivity, automatic failover, a backup server and UPS — the only provider in its batch publishing an uptime percentage.
The attributable brand listing is 2.3 across 32 reviews; the larger 4.5 across 189 sample belongs to a co-located sister brand and is not attributable.
Pricing – a published hosted rate-card, quote-based on-premise
The hosted product is one of the more transparent in the SA market: per-extension rates, add-ons and set-up costs all sit publicly on the United Voice Cloud plans page. On-premise PBX hardware is scoped per deployment, with the choice of buying outright or renting over a fixed term.
| Plan / line | Published price | What a buyer gets | Disclosure level |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Voice Cloud Essential | R65 / extension / month | Full UC feature set, TMS, auto-attendant, queuing, voicemail-to-email, Outlook integration; 1 device registration | Published |
| United Voice Cloud Classic | R85 / extension / month | Everything in Essential plus a PC softphone extension and 2 device registrations | Published |
| Smartphone app add-on | + R30 / extension / month | iOS / Android mobile app extension layered on an Essential or Classic seat | Published |
| Call recording add-on | + R199 / month | Call-recording capability across the hosted deployment | Published |
| Remote set-up | Free 1-10 users · R1,500 (11-30) · R2,500 (31+) | One-off remote configuration; on-site set-up quoted separately | Published |
| On-premise analogue / hybrid PBX | Quote – buy via EFT or rent 12-60 months | PBX main unit, cabling, handsets; sized small (2-5) / medium (6-30) / large (31-201+ users) | Custom quote |
| VoIP line packages + business broadband | Quote-based | VoIP lines, fibre / LTE / wireless connectivity; ADSL not supported | Custom quote |
| IP-phone hardware | Buy or rent | Yealink, Snom, Grandstream or Polycom handsets; softphone and mobile app are no-hardware alternatives | Both options published |
What real customers say
The public-review picture is fragmented across several Google profiles tied to the Paulshof HQ address. The regional branch profiles run positive but at small volume; a co-located sister-brand listing carries most of the aggregate. HelloPeter currently shows no active listing, so a buyer should verify the live profile for the branch that would serve them.
Cape Town Century City sits at 4.4★ / 9 reviews, Durban Westville at 5.0★ / 13 reviews. Both above the credible-positive line, both small in volume – a useful on-the-ground read for buyers in those metros, but not conclusive on sample size alone.
A co-located “United Business Solutions” Google profile at the same 22 Witkoppen Rd address holds 4.5★ / 189 reviews – the largest single sample tied to the location. It likely reflects broader group activity, so treat it as supporting context rather than a direct read on the voice line.
A separately-listed “United Telecom NV” profile at the same HQ sits at 2.3★ / 32 reviews – weaker direction at a small sample. Worth raising with sales to confirm whether this profile is current, since it pulls against the more positive branch listings.
Buyer move: ask for two current customer references in your industry and headcount band, and confirm which Google profile the company treats as its primary public-feedback channel before you weigh the ratings.
The United Telecoms line-up
A hosted PBX product, on-site PBX hardware, IP-phone supply and connectivity – what each one means for a buyer scoping a phone system.
Hosted PBX on a published two-tier rate-card
The headline product. Essential (R65) and Classic (R85) per extension carry the full UC feature set; Classic adds a PC softphone and a second registered device. Hosted off-site, so a buyer skips the on-premise hardware box and Telkom line rentals.
Analogue and hybrid systems for an on-site box
For buyers who want hardware on the premises, analogue and hybrid IP PBX systems are installed, cabled, upgraded or downscaled by United Telecoms technicians. Sized small (2-5 users), medium (6-30) and large (31-201+), bought via EFT or rented over a fixed term.
Softphones, a mobile app and fixed-mobile convergence
The hosted plans include UC chat, voice conferencing, voicemail-to-email and MS Outlook integration. A smartphone app (iOS / Android) turns a phone into an office extension; on-premise systems offer fixed-mobile convergence for the same effect. A separate Microsoft Teams Phone System product turns Microsoft Teams into a full business phone for organisations standardised on Teams.
Business broadband to carry the voice line
Fibre, LTE and wireless connectivity options sit alongside the phone systems – useful where the voice procurement also drives the data line. ADSL is explicitly not supported. A 99.8% uptime guarantee applies on the provider’s Enterprise Fibre or Wireless service.
IP-phone choice plus install and service
Handsets span Yealink, Snom, Grandstream and Polycom, bought or rented. Technicians handle PABX cabling, installations, moves and parts supply, on a pay-as-you-go basis or a service contract – with a five-year warranty on hardware per the home page.
Three-city support across South Africa
Offices in Johannesburg (Paulshof HQ), Cape Town (Century City) and Durban (Westville) anchor a service area spanning all nine provinces and five neighbouring countries – built up since United Telecoms began trading in 2001, on group foundations dating to 1985.
You want a hosted PBX you can price before you call, with the option of an on-site box and a long-established provider behind it.
- You’d rather shortlist on visible numbers – the United Voice Cloud price list lets you compare Essential or Classic against rivals on a like-for-like extension count.
- You’re not sure yet whether you want cloud or an on-site box, and you want one provider that installs and supports either.
- A long trading history and a large installed base reassure you when you’re choosing a system meant to run for years.
- You value hands-on local service – technicians who cable, install, relocate and maintain from offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban.
Your situation falls outside what United Telecoms is built for – another SA provider will fit better.
- You want every voice line on a published rate-card: only United Voice Cloud carries public per-extension pricing – the Microsoft Teams Phone System, contact-centre and on-premise PBX lines are all quote-based.
- You want the lowest published per-extension rate: Switch Telecom lands from R26/ext effective – below the R65 Essential entry, if headline price is the deciding factor.
- You’re a household or sole trader: the products are scoped for registered businesses – a retail-ISP or consumer-VoIP brand will suit better.
- You need a deep SA Tier 1 carrier-grade voice operator: Saicom Voice (4.6★ / 110 reviews + named enterprise references) and BitCo publish Tier 1 licensing at a depth this provider doesn’t.
Alternative providers to compare
Three SA voice providers worth quoting alongside United Telecoms, picked against the comparisons buyers most often make.
Switch Telecom
SA voice and PBX specialist on month-to-month posture with Hosted Switchboard from R26/ext effective and Microsoft Teams Direct Routing published. The sharper benchmark when the lowest published headline price is the deciding factor.
Wanatel
SA-licensed VoIP and Hosted PBX provider with a published three-tier matrix (R225 / 5 ext through R1,625 / 50 ext) and dual ICASA IECS + IECNS confirmed. A close transparency peer for a small-business buyer comparing visible numbers.
Daisy Business Solutions
40-year SA business-technology group with branches in every province, a Yeastar voice stack with Teams calling, and Print, Energy and Finance divisions alongside voice. The broader pick if voice is one of several ICT lines you want on one account.
South African essentials
Four SA-specific signals to verify before signing.
United Voice Cloud pricing (R65 / R85 per extension) excludes VAT, and add-ons price separately – smartphone app +R30, call recording +R199, set-up R1,500 for 11-30 users or R2,500 for 31+. Build the full monthly figure with add-ons and set-up before comparing against a shortlist.
The hosted product needs fibre, LTE or wireless – ADSL is explicitly unsupported. The 99.8% uptime guarantee applies only on the provider’s own Enterprise Fibre or Wireless service; on third-party lines it’s best-effort. Confirm which line your quote assumes.
Voice runs on the provider’s United Voice Cloud platform and underlying carriers. The review found no product-level ICASA licence-class detail – a compliance-sensitive buyer should request the operating entity and licence references at quote and check the record at register.icasa.org.za.
United Telecoms supplies both, so the choice is yours to make on merits: hosted lowers upfront cost and shifts maintenance to the provider; an on-site PBX gives more direct control but a higher capex and in-house upkeep. Ask for both quotes and compare total cost over five years.
Sources and disclosure
Where this review’s facts come from, and how WhichVoIP gets paid – both transparent before you act on any of it.
- unitedtelecoms.co.zaCloud PBX and United Voice Cloud plans pages used for the published rate-card (Essential R65, Classic R85, smartphone app +R30, call recording +R199, set-up tiers), the full UC feature comparison, month-to-month contract terms and the 99.8% uptime guarantee. The About and business PABX pages used for the trading history (United Telecoms trading since 2001, group holding companies originating in 1985 as the Eurotap group), the 3,000-plus-business claim, the analogue / hybrid on-premise systems, buy-or-rent (12-60 month) terms and sized tiers. The Microsoft Teams Phone System product page confirms the named Teams offering. Verified live 21 May 2026.
- Four United Telecoms Google Business ProfilesPaulshof HQ “United Telecom NV” (2.3★ / 32) + sibling “United Business Solutions” (4.5★ / 189) at the same address + Cape Town Century City (4.4★ / 9) + Durban Westville (5.0★ / 13). Open source →
- United Telecoms HelloPeter listingUsed for the no-active-listing observation (no reviews in the last twelve months). Open source →
- Prior WhichVoIP review baselineUsed as the 2018-onwards continuity baseline; this update corrects the prior review, which understated the provider by missing the published hosted rate-card and the company’s full scale and history.
- 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.
Disclosure: 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.
How this score should be read
Scores are editorial guides, not guarantees. They combine published pricing signals, service fit, feature depth, support and reliability indicators, public customer signal and South African procurement checks.
- 25%Pricing value, including commercial transparency, contract flexibility and quote-process friction.
- 25%Feature set, including portfolio depth, integrations and admin usability.
- 20%Customer reviews, measured as a standing against other South African providers on the same review platform, adjusted for how much evidence supports it.
- 15%Reliability and uptime, weighted toward providers that own or fully control their network rather than reselling.
- 15%Support quality, weighted toward customer-review patterns rather than provider claims about SLAs.
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 holding companies dating to 1985 (the Eurotap group) – supplying hosted PBX (United Voice Cloud), a Microsoft Teams Phone System, on-premise analogue and hybrid PBX, IP-phone hardware and business connectivity. It serves businesses from offices in Johannesburg (Paulshof HQ), Cape Town and Durban, and states a 3,000-plus-business installed base.
How much does United Telecoms hosted PBX cost?
United Voice Cloud pricing is published openly: Essential at R65 per extension per month and Classic at R85, both on a month-to-month contract, excluding VAT. A smartphone app adds R30 per extension, call recording R199 per month, and remote set-up is free for 1-10 users (R1,500 for 11-30, R2,500 for 31+).
Does United Telecoms offer on-premise PBX as well as cloud?
Yes. Alongside the hosted United Voice Cloud product, analogue and hybrid IP PBX systems are installed and maintained on a customer’s premises – sized small (2-5 users), medium (6-30) and large (31-201+). On-site hardware can be bought outright via EFT or rented over a 12-60 month term.
What’s the difference between Essential and Classic?
Both carry the full UC feature set – auto-attendant, queuing, ring groups, voicemail-to-email, Outlook integration, UC chat and voice conferencing. Classic (R85) adds a PC softphone extension and a second registered device; Essential (R65) covers one device. A smartphone app can be added to either for R30.
Is there a long-term contract?
The hosted United Voice Cloud plans run month-to-month with prepaid or postpaid billing – no multi-year lock-in to get the headline rate. On-premise PBX hardware, if rented rather than bought, typically runs on a 12-60 month rental term.
What connectivity does the hosted PBX need?
Fibre, LTE or wireless – ADSL is explicitly not supported. United Telecoms can supply the line, and its 99.8% uptime guarantee applies on its own Enterprise Fibre or Wireless service. On third-party connectivity the service is best-effort, so confirm which line your quote assumes.
Which IP phones can I use?
The hosted platform supports Yealink, Snom, Grandstream and Polycom handsets, which can be bought or rented. Buyers who’d rather avoid desk-phone hardware can run a PC softphone or the iOS / Android mobile app instead.
Where does United Telecoms operate?
From three offices – Johannesburg (Paulshof HQ), Cape Town (Century City) and Durban (Westville) – with a service area spanning all nine SA provinces and five neighbouring countries (Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Namibia and Mozambique). A single national line on 086 001 8500 routes to the relevant team.