Questions we get asked a lot
Answers to common questions about business internet, phone systems, mobiles and satphones. If yours isn't here, call us on (07) 4040 2000.
Internet & NBN
What's the difference between business NBN and home NBN? Is it worth the extra?
Business and home plans run on the same network. A business plan adds faster uploads, a static IP and priority repair when something breaks. On a home plan, your fault waits in the queue with everyone else's.
If your business is a couple of people and an email account, a home plan is fine. If your phones, EFTPOS, bookings or cloud files run over that connection, a day offline costs more than the difference in the monthly bill.
How much speed do we actually need?
Most businesses need less download speed than they expect and more upload speed. Video calls, cloud backups and sending large files all use upload, and that's where cheap plans fall short.
Rough guide: under 10 staff, 100Mbps is usually plenty. 10 to 30 staff, look at 250 to 500. Above that, or if you're shifting big files all day, a fibre plan is worth it. Tell us what your team does and we'll recommend a speed that fits.
Can I get faster internet at my address? What's this free fibre upgrade?
Quite possibly. If you're on Fibre to the Node or Fibre to the Curb, nbn has been upgrading addresses to full fibre with no charge for the install, and more than five million premises on those technologies have been made eligible. Usually you trigger it by ordering a plan of 500Mbps or above.
From July 2026 nbn planned to drop that high-speed plan requirement for Fibre to the Curb addresses, making roughly 600,000 more premises eligible without ordering a fast plan first. Give us your address and we'll check what's available and whether it's worth doing.
My internet keeps dropping out. What do I do?
Start with the basics: turn the nbn box and the router off at the wall, wait a minute, turn the nbn box on first, then the router. Note which lights are red or flashing. That tells us a lot about the fault.
If it keeps happening it's usually a line fault rather than your gear, especially on copper-based connections in wet weather. We chase line faults with nbn for you. Our support page has the full first-checks list, or just call us.
What happens to our internet during cyclone season?
Power and connections go out, and fixed lines can stay down for days after a big storm. The fix is redundancy: a 4G or 5G backup that takes over automatically when the main link drops, and a UPS so the gear stays powered.
For most businesses that's a modest monthly add-on, and it usually pays for itself the first time it saves a day of trading.
Do we need a static IP?
Only if something needs to find you from the outside: remote access to a server, security cameras, a VPN, or some EFTPOS and alarm setups. If none of that applies you won't notice it. It's included on our business plans anyway.
Phone systems
Is the old copper phone network really being switched off?
Yes, and for most businesses it already happened during the nbn rollout. Copper lines, ISDN and the old PSTN have been retired progressively and services migrated across.
The services most often missed are fax lines, back-to-base alarms, lift emergency phones, EFTPOS terminals and fire panels. If any of those still run on an old line, have them checked now.
What is a cloud phone system, in plain English?
Your phone system lives in a data centre instead of a box on your wall. Handsets, computers and mobiles all connect to it over the internet.
Day to day that means staff can answer the office number from home or the ute, you're not paying a technician to drive out and change a greeting, and adding a person is a settings change with no new hardware. When the office moves, you take the handsets and plug them in.
Can we keep our existing phone number?
Yes. Numbers port across, including 1300 and 1800 numbers. It's the question we're asked most. We time the switchover so you don't miss calls, and your customers won't notice any change.
What happens to our phones if the internet goes down?
With a cloud system calls keep flowing, because the phone system isn't in your building. We set your number to divert automatically to mobiles when the office connection drops, so the phone still gets answered.
With an on-site system, a dead line takes the whole phone system down with it.
Do we have to buy new handsets?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Reasonably recent IP handsets often carry over. Older digital handsets tied to a particular system generally don't.
You also don't need a handset on every desk. Plenty of staff do fine with the app on their computer or phone, which is cheaper and usually what field workers prefer anyway.
How many lines do we need?
You need enough lines for the calls happening at the same time, which is usually far fewer than one per person. A ten-person office rarely has ten calls at once.
Modern systems are sold per user, so the number of lines rarely matters. We'll look at your actual call volumes and size it from real numbers.
Will staff be able to work from home or out on the road?
Yes, and it's the main reason businesses switch. Calls to the office number ring wherever your people are, and when they call a customer back it shows the business number, not their personal mobile. Transferring a call to someone in the field works the same as transferring it across the room.
Mobiles & satellite
Was our equipment affected by the 3G shutdown?
Australia's 3G networks were switched off across 2024, TPG in January, then Telstra and Optus later that year. Besides handsets, it affected EFTPOS terminals, medical and security alarms, lift phones and trackers that nobody realised were running on 3G.
If something has been unreliable or half-working since then, that's often why, and we can check it for you.
Our mobile coverage is patchy at the office. Can that be fixed?
Usually. A tin shed, a concrete building or a spot behind a hill will all kill a signal that's perfectly fine outside. A properly installed mobile repeater or booster fixes most of these.
If you're outside coverage altogether, you'll need satellite.
Do we need a satellite phone, or is a mobile enough?
If your people work out west, up the Cape, offshore, or anywhere the coverage map goes white, you need a satphone. Mobile coverage in Far North Queensland looks generous on a map but drops out quickly in practice.
You don't necessarily need to buy one, either. We hire them out, which suits businesses with a wet season, a seasonal crew, or one trip a year rather than a constant need.
Is it better to buy or hire a satellite phone?
Rough rule: need it more than a few months a year, buy. Less than that, hire. Hiring also means you're handed current gear with credit already on it, rather than discovering the handset in the bottom drawer has a flat battery and an expired plan.
Can our mobiles go on the same bill as everything else?
Yes. Internet, phone system, mobiles and satphones go on one monthly bill, with one person to call about it.
Working with TeleBiz
Do we have to be in Cairns?
No. We're based in Cairns and that's where our technicians are, so businesses in and around town get on-site visits. Beyond that we look after customers across Far North Queensland and, through our dealer network, right across Australia.
A lot of what we do is remote anyway. Most phone system changes and faults get fixed without anyone driving anywhere.
Are we locked into a long contract?
Nil-contract carriage options are available. Where a contract term does apply, we'll tell you what it is and what you get for it.
What does it cost?
Depends on how many people need a phone, what internet is available at your address, and what you already own. That's why there's a form rather than a price list.
The quote is the price you pay, with no setup fees or line rental added later.
How disruptive is switching providers?
Usually very little, because we plan the order carefully. The new service goes in and gets tested before the old one is switched off, numbers port on a planned date, and cutover happens outside trading hours where that matters.
Will you support gear you didn't sell us?
Usually, yes. We support thousands of phone systems across most brands, including plenty we inherited from someone else. If you've taken over a business with a mystery system in the comms cupboard, we've almost certainly seen it before.
What's the pre-quote on-site tech inspection?
A technician comes to your premises, looks at what you've got, and tells you what's wrong and how to fix it. It's free, with no obligation to buy anything. If your setup is fine, we'll tell you so.
Who do we actually talk to when something breaks?
Our team here in Cairns, Monday to Friday during business hours. Most of our customers end up knowing the technicians by name.
Still got a question?
Ask us directly. Call (07) 4040 2000, Mon to Fri, 8:30am to 5:00pm, or send it through and we'll come back to you.