What to Expect: Onboarding with Cannon VoIP

Most businesses put off switching phone providers because they're picturing weeks of downtime, a confusing setup, and a sales rep who disappears the moment the contract is signed. That's not how it works here. Since we don't lock anyone into long-term contracts, we don't get your business by making it hard to leave, we get it (and keep it) by making the switch itself painless. Here's what actually happens between signing up and going live.

Step 1: A quick setup call

We start by figuring out what you actually need: how many extensions, whether you're keeping your existing number(s) or starting fresh, which add-ons make sense (eFax, an AI receptionist, a forwarding call center, branded calling), and whether you need new desk phones or plan to bring your own. No pressure to overbuy, if you only need the basics, that's the whole quote.

Your account then opens with guided setup, which takes you from a company name to a ringing phone in seven steps: company, services, import, people, numbers, answering and phones. Every step saves as you go, so stopping halfway loses nothing. In the people step you add extensions ten rows at a time, remove rows you do not need, and invite each person with a role. We also switch on the built-in CRM and its Appointments page for your account, included in the $34 per extension price. After that, a checklist on your dashboard tracks what is left (team, greeting, after-hours, mobile app and 911), and each unfinished item links to the screen that fixes it. We can do all of this with you, or for you.

Coming from another phone system?

You don't have to rebuild everything by hand. Your extensions, groups, queues, menus, hours and contacts can be imported from 3CX (live from version 18 update 7 or version 20, or older systems from a backup file), FreePBX, PBXact and Issabel backups, RingCentral, PortSIP, Grandstream UCM, Yeastar S-Series and P-Series, and 8x8 exports. Anything else comes in from a spreadsheet, or from our migration kit, a template an AI assistant can fill in from your old exports.

Before anything is applied, you review a plan with counts, and an import report lists anything that could not be carried across. Imported people are invited and set their own passwords.

Want your old phone menus to say the same thing? Optional discovery calls ring your old system and record what its menus say, word for word. Your old recordings can come across as sound files, or the same words can be re-spoken in a new professional voice. Your old system keeps taking calls until your numbers port, so nothing goes quiet during the move.

Step 2: Keeping your number(s)

If you're porting existing numbers over, that process starts right away. Number porting is $15 per line, most numbers port the next business day, though it can take up to 5 business days depending on your current carrier. Whichever line is porting will only be down for a maximum of two minutes, and that two-minute window happens only at the moment the port actually completes, not while you're waiting for it. Starting fresh instead? New numbers can be assigned immediately, no waiting required.

The port order is checked for missing details, duplicates and invalid numbers before you sign, and you sign the letter of authorization by typing your name. You can refresh the order's status from the carrier any time, and the confirmed port date or any rejection reason shows right on the order. If you ever need it, you can download an info sheet with everything a carrier asks for.

Need to be live today and can't wait on the port? We can forward your calls to temporary numbers on your new Cannon VoIP system so your business is fully up and running the same day, while the port quietly finishes in the background. Once it completes, everything cuts over to your original number with that same two-minute window, and the temporary numbers go away. You're never stuck waiting on a carrier to take a call.

Step 3: Hardware, sorted out (or skip it entirely)

Ordering new desk phones? They arrive plug-and-play and pre-provisioned, so there's nothing to manually configure once they're on your desk. Prefer to keep the phones you already have? As long as they're on our approved compatibility list, we'll provision them onto your account for a flat $15 per phone (with a $75 minimum per order for BYOD-only orders). And if you'd rather skip desk phones altogether, that's completely fine too, plenty of businesses run entirely on the softphone app, no hardware purchase required at all. Whatever you choose, it's handled before your go-live date, not after.

Step 4: Extensions and training

Each employee gets their own extension, voicemail box, and direct dial number set up before launch. Remote or mobile team members get the softphone app so they can take their extension anywhere, no desk phone required. Before you go live, we walk your team through the basics: making and transferring calls, checking voicemail, and using whatever add-ons you picked, so nobody's guessing on day one.

Step 5: Go live

Once your system is configured and hardware (if any) is in place, we flip the switch. If you're porting numbers, that cutover window is a maximum of two minutes of downtime, most customers don't even notice it happen. From there, you're live on Cannon VoIP with real 24/7 support behind you, and still no long-term contract holding you in place.

So, how fast is this, really?

Configuring your system itself is quick, on average about two hours for accounts under 10 extensions. In most cases, that means the whole system goes from order to fully configured the same day. The one variable outside our control is number porting, since that runs on your old carrier's timeline (next business day to 5 business days), which is exactly why the temporary-number option above exists: it lets your business go live same day regardless, without waiting on anyone else.

What's included in onboarding

Switching from another provider? Our vendor-neutral switching checklist and porting guide cover everything that happens before onboarding begins.