The short answer: VoIP itself is not the risk — losing your number, being unreachable in a power cut, or discovering your call recording is not compliant are the actual things that go wrong, and all three are avoidable by asking the right questions before you sign. None of them are reasons to stay on an old system; they are things to get in writing from whoever sets up the new one.
Checked September 2026. Sources are listed at the end.
A dental practice's phone is not a convenience line — it is where a nervous patient books an emergency appointment, where a lab calls about a case, and where a HICAPS query gets sorted out before the next patient sits down. Switching the system behind it is a reasonable thing to want — cheaper calls, mobile apps and proper after-hours routing usually pay for the move within a year. It is also the kind of change worth getting right the first time, because reception cannot afford a week of "can you call back."
Will we lose our phone number?
Not if it is ported rather than replaced. Porting moves your existing number to the new provider, and under the ACMA's telecommunications numbering rules it is a right, not a favour a provider can decline. For VoIP services this generally takes a matter of business days rather than weeks — noticeably faster than porting an old landline number, which can take considerably longer.
The practical detail that actually matters: a properly managed port keeps the old line active until the new one is confirmed working, so incoming calls are never dropped mid-switch. Ask whoever is doing the port to confirm that in writing before a go-live date is set, not after something has already gone wrong.
What happens to the phones in a power cut or internet outage?
They stop working. This catches people out because it is a genuine downgrade from an old-style copper landline, and it is worth understanding rather than discovering during a blackout.
| Phone type | Needs power at the practice? | Works in a power outage? |
|---|---|---|
| Old copper landline (non-NBN) | No — powered from the exchange | Usually yes |
| Cordless phone on any system | Yes — handset needs charging | No |
| NBN-connected line (VoIP or otherwise) | Yes — router and modem need power | No |
| Mobile phone | Yes — battery | Yes, if charged and in coverage |
This is not specific to VoIP — it is true of essentially any NBN-connected phone service, VoIP or not, because the NBN network needs power at both the exchange and the premises to work. A charged mobile phone is the standard fallback, and it is worth deciding now, not during an outage, which staff member's number that is and whether it is written down where reception can find it.
Desk handset or softphone for reception?
Both exist for a reason, and the right answer depends on who is using it.
A physical desk handset suits reception. It answers instantly without a screen already open, keeps working through a computer restart or a crashed browser tab, and does not compete with the practice management software already open on the desk for attention during a full morning.
A softphone — an app on a computer, tablet or mobile — suits anyone who is not sitting at a fixed desk: a practice principal fielding a call between appointments, an off-site manager, or after-hours triage. Most cloud phone systems support both on the same number, so this is not an either-or decision for the whole practice — it is worth matching the device to the person.
Can we record calls, and what do we need to tell patients?
Recording a call is legal in Australia with the consent of at least one party to the call, and as the practice making or receiving it, you are that party. Some states add requirements on top of that federal baseline, which is exactly why the standard practice — an automated notice at the start of the call, such as "this call may be recorded" — is worth using everywhere rather than working out which state's rule applies to which caller.
There is a second reason to have that notice beyond the recording laws themselves: under the Privacy Act, recording a call is collecting personal information, and in a dental practice that often means health information. Australian Privacy Principle 5 requires people to be made aware that their information is being collected and generally why. The same opening notice that covers the recording laws also satisfies APP 5 — one line doing two jobs.
Does it actually talk to Dental4Windows, Exact or Praktika?
Sometimes, and it is worth confirming rather than assuming. Some cloud phone platforms support caller ID matching against your patient database, so the file is already on screen when reception picks up, and click-to-dial from within the practice software itself. Whether that works depends on both the specific phone platform and which version of your practice software you run — a feature page saying "integrates with dental software" is not the same as confirming it works with your setup. Ask for that confirmation, ideally a short test, before you commit rather than after.
What we would actually check before switching
Not "which provider is cheapest" — that comparison is easy and every provider will happily have it with you.
- Get the porting timeframe and process in writing, including confirmation the old line stays live until the new one is proven.
- Decide the outage fallback now. Whose mobile, written down where reception can see it, tested once.
- Match devices to people — handsets where calls need answering instantly, softphones where staff move around.
- Set the call-recording notice up correctly from day one, if you record calls at all — it is a five-minute configuration change, not a project.
- Test the practice-software integration before go-live, not after, if that is part of why you are switching.
If you would like help going through this against your own setup, that is what the free IT health check covers — including what a properly configured phone system should look like for a practice your size. What OnOvo IT actually sets up and supports is on the VoIP & communications page.
If something is already down, call 03 7057 1878 — evenings until 9pm, Saturdays 8am–4pm, and a Sunday emergency line from 9am to 5pm.
Sources
- ACMA, Rules for porting a phone number — porting rights and timeframes under the Local Number Portability Code
- nbn co, What happens in a power blackout — why NBN-connected phone services, including VoIP, do not work without mains power
- OAIC, Chapter 5: APP 5 — notification of the collection of personal information — the notice requirement that applies when a call is recorded