Which Yealink desk phone for a UK small business?

For most UK small teams the answer is the Yealink T31W, at £75 including VAT, for the seats that take calls all day, with the T73U at £100 or the T87W at £225 for desks that need more, and a T88W Pro at £399 only for the one desk that justifies it. Olatti supports Yealink desk phones and nothing else, and every plan works without any handset, so you buy phones for the seats that want one.

Those prices are Olatti's indicative list prices for UK delivery, and they include free next-working-day delivery. They sit on the hardware page, which is the source to check before you order.

In 2012 I was selling on-premise phone systems to dentists, garages and solicitors. Those offices had no comms room, so the box ended up under a desk or on the wall by the toilet. The handset was the least of the decision then. Now the box is gone, the handset is the hardware decision.

Do I need a desk phone at all?

No. A desk phone is optional on every Olatti plan, because the desktop and mobile apps are included on all of them. Someone with a laptop and a mobile can take every call without a handset.

A desk phone earns its place on seats where a call has to be answered without anyone thinking about it: reception, a shared desk, a front counter. The handset is always there, and nobody has to find an app first. If you're still deciding, one business number on a desk phone and a mobile covers how the same number sits on both.

Which Yealink models does Olatti sell, and what do they cost?

Olatti lists these Yealink models, with indicative prices including VAT and next-working-day UK delivery:

• T31W: £75. The one to start from.
• T73U: £100.
• T87W: £225.
• T88W Pro: £399, the flagship.
• CP935W conference phone: £545, for a meeting room.
• W59R cordless: £138.
• W56H cordless: £82.

DECT base stations and other Yealink units are available on request. I'm not listing screen sizes or key counts here, because Yealink publishes those on its own datasheets and they're easier to read there than in my summary. Pick by seat, then check the datasheet for the model.

Which seat gets which phone?

Match the phone to what the person does, not to their job title. A seat that answers forty calls a day and a seat that takes two a week should not get the same handset just because both are called "reception".

• Most seats that want a handset: the T31W. At £75 it's the sensible default, and it's the model that comes free with the Unlimited plan on annual billing.
• A desk that is busier or more visible than the rest: the T73U or T87W. Olatti's desk phone features, including call park, pickup groups and forwarding, are listed on the hardware page, so check the datasheet for the handset itself and decide whether the screen and keys are worth the extra £25 or £150.
• The person who walks around: a cordless, the W59R or W56H, rather than a corded phone they leave behind.
• A meeting room: the CP935W conference phone.
• One flagship desk: the T88W Pro, if someone really wants the best handset Olatti sells. Most teams don't need one.

Is a desk phone free with Olatti?

One Yealink T31W per user is free on the Unlimited plan when you pay annually. On the other plans, and on monthly billing, you buy the handset at the price above.

Plan prices are per user, per month, excluding VAT, and they're on the pricing page. Hardware is a separate, one-off cost. If you close your account, the desk phones you bought from Olatti are yours to keep. How the two add up for a team is in what a business phone system costs in the UK.

How do you set a Yealink phone up?

You enter the phone's MAC address in Olatti, assign the phone to a user, and reboot it. The phone then configures itself and re-syncs every day. There are no SIP settings to type in and no config files to host.

Hardware is ordered by enquiry rather than through a checkout. You ask, Olatti quotes within one working day, and delivery is the next working day once you've paid.

Calls taken on the desk phone are recorded and transcribed like calls in the apps (transcription is on the Plus and Unlimited plans). Listening back, messaging, video meetings and call analytics happen in the apps, not on the handset.

What happens to the phone if the power or internet goes?

A cloud desk phone needs power and a working internet connection, so it stops when either does. Calls to 999 and 112 over Olatti depend on both, which means every office should keep a mobile within reach as a fallback.

That's the honest cost of dropping the box. The terms set out how emergency calls work, and the registered address held for your number has to be kept current so the operator receives the right location.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use any desk phone with Olatti? No. Olatti supports Yealink hardware only. A phone from another maker isn't supported.

How much is the cheapest desk phone? The T31W at £75 including VAT, with free next-working-day UK delivery.

Do I need a handset for every person? No. The apps come with every plan, so give handsets to the seats that benefit and let everyone else use the laptop and mobile.

Does the desk phone have its own number? The number is assigned to the person, not the handset. A desk phone assigned to a user carries that user's number and caller ID, so the same number also works in the apps.

Where do I start? The business phone system page explains what Olatti does for a UK team. You can start for free (opens in a new tab) and add a handset once you've seen it work on your own calls.