Xero cuts phone bill by USD $500,000 after Dialpad switch

Xero has consolidated telephony across 17 international offices onto Dialpad, cutting its annual phone bill by about USD $500,000.

The accounting software company replaced a mix of local on-premises private branch exchange systems accumulated as it expanded into new markets. Supplied by different regional vendors, those inherited systems required ongoing maintenance from Xero's internal IT team.

The shift also standardised phone services for about 1,400 staff across multiple countries under a work-from-anywhere model. Previously, Xero's telephony environment had become a patchwork of legacy systems spanning four continents.

As the business grew, each new office added another local telephony platform. The result was a network of separate suppliers, systems and support arrangements in each region.

Cost savings

Moving those offices onto a single cloud-based phone platform reduced annual telephony costs by roughly USD $500,000. It also removed the need to maintain physical desk phone infrastructure and on-site server equipment in multiple locations.

One operational change affected how sales teams established a local presence in Asian markets. Staff in hubs such as Singapore could quickly set up local phone numbers for representatives working in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

That allowed teams to contact customers and prospects using local numbers, rather than waiting for traditional telecoms provisioning. Users and offices could be set up in minutes instead of weeks.

System links

Xero also connected the phone system with Salesforce and Google Workspace, allowing customer information to appear directly within the telephony environment used by staff.

Andrew Jessett, General Manager of Internal IT at Xero, described the impact on frontline teams in the case study.

"By pulling relevant data directly into our phone system, our reps can sell and service smarter, no matter where work takes them," said Andrew Jessett, General Manager of Internal IT at Xero.

The company also used call analytics tools to review activity by user, department and region. That gave managers a single platform for monitoring telephony usage across the organisation, rather than relying on separate local systems.

Global footprint

Xero, founded in New Zealand, has built its customer base to more than one million small business subscribers worldwide. Its expansion created a communications estate shaped by local office openings rather than a single global design.

For internal IT teams, telephony consolidation often brings less visible benefits than headline cost savings. Standardising procurement, support and administration can reduce time spent dealing with local vendors, maintaining older hardware and resolving country-specific service issues.

In Xero's case, the previous environment drew IT staff into maintenance work that could be handled centrally after the migration. A single cloud-based platform also meant staff could use the same setup whether they were in a main office, a customer support centre or working remotely.

The deployment was delivered with support from BayCom, a certified Dialpad delivery partner in New Zealand. BayCom said local implementation support was important for a business operating across time zones and adding offices quickly.

The project reflects a broader shift among multinational companies away from local private branch exchange installations and towards software-based communications platforms managed through the cloud. The approach has gained traction as companies seek to support remote work, reduce infrastructure costs and simplify administration across dispersed teams.

For Xero, the clearest outcome was lower telephony spending, along with the removal of a fragmented estate built office by office. The result was a single communications system serving staff across its global operations, with new users and offices provisioned in minutes rather than weeks.