Three people in sales, one hunt group and a list of 200 contacts that is supposed to be called by Friday: at this point, many small teams realize that their phone system was built for incoming calls, not for active selling. For numerous small and medium-sized businesses, Placetel was the entry point into cloud telephony. Setup is quick, the feature list is long, and the phone no longer hangs on a box in the basement.
Since September 2024, Placetel has belonged to the British telecommunications provider Gamma; before that, the service was part of Cisco for several years. Gamma continues to run the offering under its existing name. Nevertheless, many teams are currently checking whether their telephony still fits today's needs.
Five alternatives are compared here, sorted by the need each one is built for: from the lean system that bills per phone number or package, to the software that dials numbers automatically and stores every conversation in the CRM.
Why do teams look for an alternative to Placetel?
Usually there is no frustration behind the switch, but a new need. Placetel is a classic phone system in the cloud: extensions, queues, voice menus, ring groups and voicemail run over the internet, and Placetel advertises more than 150 features. For a team that mainly takes calls and forwards them, this scope is enough.
Other requirements grow with the business. Typical triggers for the search:
Active sales: The team itself calls many contacts and does not want to dial every number by hand.
CRM integration: Every conversation should land in the CRM automatically, with duration, note and recording.
Customers abroad: Phone numbers in other countries are needed so that callers can get through at local rates.
Microsoft Teams: Calls should be made directly in the Teams window instead of in a separate app.
Costs: A small team wants to pay only for the numbers and users that are actually needed in everyday work.
Which of these points matters for your own team determines the type of solution, and only after that the provider.
What type of phone solution does a team need?
Three designs cover almost every need of small teams. The dividing line between the designs runs along two questions: How much does the team phone at all, and does it mainly take calls or does it make calls itself in large numbers?
Which phone solution fits the team?
Three designs, distinguished by the way a team phones
How does the team phone?
Rarely, with few numbersLean system, paid per number or package
Mainly incoming, with cover within the teamCloud phone system with full scope
Many outgoing calls with CRMCall center software with auto-dialer
Sources: Provider information, TutKit editorial team
Lean system: You pay per phone number or as a package for a fixed number of users. This model suits freelancers and small offices with few numbers and a manageable call volume.
Cloud phone system with full scope: The system distributes incoming calls across the team, plays announcements and redirects to voicemail outside office hours. Placetel belongs in this group, as do most alternatives from Germany.
Call center software: The focus here is on outgoing calls and analytics. An auto-dialer works through contact lists one after another, and every conversation appears in the CRM with a note.
What does call center software do for sales?
Call center software dials contact lists automatically and stores every conversation in the CRM. The programs are built for teams that spend a large part of their day selling or advising by phone; they can run in the browser or as an app, without their own hardware.
An example of this group is CloudTalk. The software is tailored to sales and support teams and bundles the typical features of this design:
Auto-dialer: A power dialer dials the next number on the list as soon as a conversation ends. A parallel dialer calls several numbers at the same time and connects only answered calls.
CRM integration: Conversations, duration and notes land automatically in programs such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive or Zoho.
Numbers abroad: Local numbers in more than 160 countries can be ordered directly.
Trial period: The software can be tried free of charge for 14 days, without a credit card.
The downside shows up in the price: call center software usually costs significantly more per user than a plain phone system and only pays off once a team regularly makes a lot of outbound calls. For an office that mainly takes calls, a large share of the features goes unused.
A dialer also does not replace a good conversation opener. Before buying a tool for a hundred calls a day, it is worth having a fixed guide for the first few sentences; how to build one is shown in the lesson Telephone script for cold calling.
Which cloud phone systems are worth considering?
NFON, easybell, fonial and sipgate are often on the list for teams looking to replace Placetel. All four run the phone system in the cloud, so no dedicated equipment is needed in the office. The differences lie in billing and in the range of features.
Provider
Headquarters
Billing
Special feature
NFON
Munich
per extension and month, plus a one-time activation fee
Integration with Microsoft Teams, AI assistants
easybell
Berlin
Package price, e.g. Classic for 10 users
Servers exclusively in Germany
fonial
Cologne
per activated phone number
No minimum contract term, over 100 features
sipgate
Düsseldorf
per user, from two users
30-day trial, cancellable monthly
The current amounts can be found in the providers' price lists. Call minutes, flat rates and additional features are added depending on the plan.
NFON: for teams with Microsoft 365
NFON is based in Munich and puts its customer count at more than 54,000 in 18 countries. The cloud telephony can be used directly in Microsoft Teams: calls arrive in the Teams window, and outgoing calls are also started there, without additional hardware. NFON also offers pre-built AI assistants for routine calls and, with the AI Agent Studio, a toolkit for custom workflows.
For larger service departments, NFON has a contact center in its portfolio, which is billed per agent and month and costs a one-time activation fee. Above all, NFON suits companies that already work in Microsoft 365 and want to distribute incoming calls cleanly. NFON's product overview does not include a dialer for sales.
easybell: lean and with servers in Germany
easybell from Berlin has been on the market since 2006 and now belongs to the Dstny Group. The cloud phone system runs exclusively on German servers and requires no setup fee or minimum contract term; the system can be tested for 30 days. Porting existing phone numbers is free of charge.
Billing is by package rather than per head: the Classic package, for example, covers ten users for a fixed monthly price. easybell also offers a free entry-level option for up to five users; however, this option requires a paid connection with easybell. The offer suits law firms, medical practices, trade businesses and agencies that are looking for a simple system with German support and do not need sales automation.
fonial: you pay per phone number
fonial is headquartered in Cologne and is a subsidiary of EnBW. The company offers only one pricing model, fonial PLUS: each activated phone number is billed individually per month, there is no setup fee, and the notice period is one month. More than 100 features such as voice menus, hold queues, conferencing and fax are included.
Extensions are available for an additional charge. The Microsoft Teams integration is charged per account and month, in addition to the corresponding Microsoft license. An AI phone assistant can be booked through partners. For small businesses with a fixed team and a manageable call volume, the model is easy to calculate.
sipgate: plan per user
sipgate from Düsseldorf has offered internet telephony since 2004. The entry-level plan business S is billed per user and month and requires at least two users. sipgate bills calls to German landlines per minute, and the contract can be cancelled monthly.
An advantage that used to be frequently cited no longer applies: sipgate does not currently offer business customers a free basic version with pure per-minute billing. The 30-day trial period is enough, however, to try out the system in the team's day-to-day work.
How can you switch without losing calls?
The business number moves to the new provider as well. The Telecommunications Act regulates the process in § 59: Since December 1, 2021, providers may no longer charge a fee for porting, not even to businesses, and the connection may be down for no more than one working day during the switch.
In four steps to the new phone system
Process for switching with number porting under § 59 of the Telecommunications Act
TestUse the trial phase with real calls and the whole team
OrderOrder the new provider with porting and cancellation
SwitchNumber changes over, downtime of one working day at most
CheckTest announcements, ring groups and call forwarding again
Sources: Telecommunications Act § 59, Federal Network Agency
The Federal Network Agency recommends having the new provider handle the cancellation with the old one. The new provider then coordinates the date, and the number moves over without a gap. Those who cancel themselves must coordinate the date and porting with both providers individually. Porting can still be requested up to one month after the end of the contract.
Before the move, a brief inventory is worthwhile: Which extensions exist, which announcements run at which times, who belongs to which ring group? Extensions, announcements and ring groups belong in the new system before the number moves. That way the right phone rings immediately on the day of the switch. A call from outside afterwards shows whether announcements, ring groups and call forwarding work as planned.
What this means for small teams
A long list of features only helps if the team actually uses the features in daily work. A system with a dialer and CRM integration helps a sales team with a full contact list. An office that takes calls and transfers them just pays extra for the same features.
Count for one week: How many calls come in, how many does the team make itself? The ratio shows the suitable type.
Test in daily work: The trial phase belongs to real customer conversations, not a test call from your own mobile phone.
Check tools: If the team works in Microsoft Teams or in a CRM, the integration with exactly this program belongs on the list of mandatory features.
Plan the number move: Have the new provider handle the cancellation and rebuild announcements and ring groups in the new system beforehand.
With these four steps, the switch is guided by the team's needs and by the figures from the counting week.
