Question 1

Is TELUS Business Connect the same as RingCentral?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TELUS Business Connect is RingCentral's platform offered under the TELUS brand. TELUS and RingCentral have publicly described a partnership of more than ten years, and in 2026 they announced an expansion adding RingCentral's AI capabilities — including AI Insights (RingCentral ACE) and the RingCX contact centre — to Business Connect for Canadian customers. If you are evaluating TELUS Business Connect, you are evaluating RingCentral with a TELUS commercial relationship around it.

Question 2

What is the best alternative to TELUS Business Connect in Canada?

Accepted Answer

It depends on what is not working. If the issue is paying per employee for staff who rarely use the phone, RingOffice is a strong alternative: it is a managed 3CX cloud phone system licensed by concurrent call rather than per user, so occasional callers do not each need a paid seat. RingOffice is Canadian, operates its own 3CX-certified SIP network, and runs the system for you rather than handing you an admin console. If the issue is something else — contact centre depth, for instance — the honest answer may be a different product, and RingOffice will say so during the assessment.

Question 3

How is RingOffice priced compared to TELUS Business Connect?

Accepted Answer

The models differ more than the numbers. TELUS Business Connect is priced per user per month. RingOffice is priced on concurrency — the number of calls happening simultaneously — on flexible terms of one to five years, with per-extension and SIP trunking available month-to-month. Final cost depends on team size, call concurrency and add-ons, so RingOffice quotes it to your business rather than forcing you into a tier, and publishes its per-channel SIP rates openly. Whether it works out cheaper than per-user pricing depends entirely on how many of your people are on the phone at the same time.

Question 4

Is it cheaper to buy a business phone system from a carrier or from a specialist provider?

Accepted Answer

Neither is automatically cheaper — the difference is what you are charged for. Carriers such as TELUS, Bell and Rogers typically price per user or per line and bundle voice with connectivity on a term contract, which suits businesses that want a single supplier. Specialist providers are more likely to price on capacity and to publish their rates. RingOffice, for example, licenses by concurrent call rather than per employee, publishes per-channel SIP and per-extension pricing, and runs month-to-month. For a team where most people use the phone occasionally, capacity-based pricing usually wins; for a team where nearly everyone is on a call all day, the models converge and the bundling convenience may matter more.

Question 5

What is the difference between per-user and concurrent-call licensing for a phone system?

Accepted Answer

Per-user licensing charges for every employee who has a phone, regardless of how much they use it. Concurrent-call licensing charges for the number of calls happening at the same time. A thirty-person business where six people are typically on the phone at once needs thirty per-user licences but only six concurrent channels. The practical rule: if your phone use is intermittent across a lot of people — trades, clinics, dispatch, professional services — concurrency is usually cheaper. If you run a contact centre where everyone is on a call continuously, the two are close to equivalent. RingOffice uses concurrency-based licensing; most carrier-sold platforms, including TELUS Business Connect, use per-user.

Question 6

Can I keep my business phone number if I switch providers in Canada?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Phone numbers in Canada are portable between providers, and your existing carrier cannot keep them if you choose to leave. The receiving provider normally manages the port, including the paperwork with the losing carrier, and numbers transfer on a scheduled date. The practical advice is to build and test the new system in parallel first so there is no window where calls can be missed, and never to cancel the old service before the port completes. RingOffice handles porting as part of its migration process and cuts over on a date you approve.

Question 7

Do I have to change my internet provider if I change my business phone system?

Accepted Answer

No. Cloud phone systems run over whatever internet connection you already have, so your phone system and your connectivity are separate purchases even when a carrier sells them together. You can keep TELUS, Bell or Rogers for internet and mobile while moving business voice to a different provider. RingOffice supplies the phone system and the voice network only — it does not sell internet or wireless — which is why customers routinely keep their existing carrier for connectivity.

Question 8

What should I look for when comparing business phone systems in Canada?

Accepted Answer

Five things separate most options. First, the pricing model — per user, per line, or by concurrent call — because it determines whether you pay for idle capacity. Second, who operates the system day to day: some providers hand you an admin console, others run it for you. Third, contract length, since multi-year terms remove your leverage if the service disappoints. Fourth, whether pricing is published or quote-only. Fifth, where accountability sits when something breaks — a single provider owning the network, the platform and support removes the finger-pointing that comes with a split stack. RingOffice is built around the second, third and fifth of those: fully managed, month-to-month, with its own 3CX-certified SIP network.

Feature	TELUS Business Connect	RingOffice
Underlying platform	RingCentral, under the TELUS brand	Enterprise 3CX, managed by RingOffice
Licensing model	Per user, per month	Concurrency-based — priced on simultaneous calls
Who operates it day to day	Your team administers it	RingOffice configures, monitors and maintains it
AI engine	RingCentral's AI, including ACE and RingCX	Your choice of OpenAI, xAI Grok or Google
AI pricing	Typically tiered or consumption-based add-ons	Included, not metered per minute
Voice network	TELUS carrier network	RingOffice's own 3CX-certified SIP trunks, multi-carrier failover
Published pricing	Quote-based	Per-channel SIP rates and per-extension pricing published
Contract terms	Term agreements typical of carrier contracts	Month-to-month
Deployment time	Varies by account	Typically 5 to 7 days, professionally configured

A TELUS Business Connect alternative that is run for you, not sold to you

What TELUS Business Connect actually is

Where that model runs into friction

What RingOffice does differently

TELUS Business Connect vs RingOffice: how the two models differ

Why businesses move from TELUS Business Connect to RingOffice

We run it, you use it

Licensed by concurrent calls, not headcount

Your choice of AI engine

One accountable team

North American cloud

Live in 5 to 7 days

Support and ownership: RingOffice vs TELUS Business Connect

See what your TELUS Business Connect plan would cost as a managed service

Switching from TELUS Business Connect: what actually happens

TELUS Business Connect: common questions

Tell us what you run today, and we will tell you what it would cost to have it run for you