Thinking about moving your office phones to the cloud but not sure how it actually works? This FAQ answers the questions Saudi businesses ask most often about a cloud PBX — from hardware and internet outages to number porting, security and Saudi telecom rules. The phone system in question is Skyline Comms, Skyline's fully-managed cloud business phone system delivered from Skyline Cloud.
What is a cloud PBX?
A cloud PBX (also called a hosted phone system) is a business phone system that lives in the cloud instead of on a box in your office. Calls, extensions, menus and voicemail are handled by software running in Skyline's data centre, and your phones — desk handsets, a desktop app or a mobile app — connect over the internet.
With Skyline Comms, every business gets its own private, isolated phone system in the Skyline cloud, complete with its own numbering space. For more, see Cloud PBX in Saudi Arabia explained and our cloud telephony services.
Do I need any hardware or a server room?
No. There is no on-premise PBX box, no phone server, no PRI or analogue lines, and no rack or server room required at your site. The phone system lives entirely in Skyline's cloud.
What you connect at the office is simply:
- Desk IP phones — standard SIP handsets, if your team prefers physical phones.
- A desktop softphone app — turns a laptop or PC into a full extension.
- iOS and Android mobile apps — your business number in your pocket.
All you need on site is a working internet connection. A side-by-side comparison is in hosted phone system vs on-premise PBX.
What happens if my internet drops?
The platform itself is cloud-hosted with carrier-grade redundancy, so an outage at one office does not take your whole company offline. If a site's internet drops, calls can fail over to the mobile app (on cellular data) or to mobile numbers, so you keep taking calls even while the office connection is down. Because extensions ring on multiple devices, a single dropped link rarely means a missed call.
Can I keep my existing number?
In most cases, yes. Skyline provisions local Saudi numbers and supports porting your existing numbers, working with licensed Saudi carriers, plus new local DID numbers for added lines or branches. Number availability and porting timelines are confirmed when you request a quote.
Are calls secure, and can I use a VPN?
Voice is encrypted in transit by default. Call signalling runs over TLS (SIP-TLS) and the audio itself over SRTP, so conversations are protected as they travel between your devices and the Skyline cloud.
For sites or remote staff who want phones kept completely off the public internet, Skyline offers an optional private encrypted VPN tunnel — a secure private overlay between the site or device and the Skyline cloud, so all voice traffic rides an isolated path. It works over ordinary business internet, or over the optional VPN for extra isolation. Read more in secure cloud calling: encryption and private VPN connectivity.
Will it work across multiple branches?
Yes — and this is one of the biggest advantages. All your branches share one phone system in the cloud. That means:
- One unified dial plan, IVR menu and company number across every location.
- Extension calls between branches — city to city, or even country to country — are internal and free.
- A new branch only needs an internet connection. There is no hardware to ship or install.
Because each tenant is isolated, a group can also give every entity its own extension plan (reception = 101 everywhere) with no clashes — useful for multi-company groups and resellers. See connect all your branch offices on one phone system and one cloud platform for groups and multiple companies.
Can staff use their mobiles?
Yes. One extension rings on all devices at once, so a staff member keeps one business number and extension whether at their desk, at home, or travelling. The iOS and Android apps place and receive business calls over any internet link, keeping personal mobile numbers private. More detail is in work from anywhere with your office phone on mobile.
Is a cloud phone system allowed under Saudi telecom rules?
Skyline Comms is delivered from Skyline's cloud and designed around Saudi expectations, including CST/CITC telecom regulation for voice and NCA / PDPL data-protection considerations. Numbers are supplied and ported through licensed local carriers. The service is aligned with these frameworks to help you meet your obligations — we do not claim certifications we have not named. For your specific compliance questions, talk to our team.
How is it priced?
Skyline Comms uses a per-seat (per-extension) monthly subscription, billed in Saudi Riyals through the Skyline Cloud portal and wallet — with no upfront capital cost for a phone server:
| | Cloud PBX (Skyline Comms) | Traditional on-premise PBX | |---|---|---| | Upfront cost | None — no capital hardware | High — buy the PBX and lines | | Ongoing cost | Low predictable per-seat monthly fee | Maintenance + line rental | | Adding users | Add a seat in the portal | Engineer visit / new hardware | | New branch | Just internet | Ship and install equipment |
To see current pricing for your team size, request a quote or check the Skyline Cloud portal. A fuller breakdown is in what a cloud phone system costs in Saudi Arabia.
How do I get started?
Getting started is straightforward:
- Tell us your setup — number of staff, branches, and whether you want to keep existing numbers.
- We design your dial plan — extensions, IVR menu, ring groups and business-hours routing.
- Choose your devices — desk phones, the desktop app, mobile apps, or a mix.
- Go live — we provision or port your numbers through licensed carriers and you start taking calls.
You then manage everything from a self-service admin console in the Skyline Cloud portal — add or remove extensions, change routing, and pull usage reports, with no specialist needed on site. Migrating from an existing system? Follow how to replace your on-premise PBX and move to the cloud.
Frequently asked questions
Does Skyline Comms include features like IVR and call recording?
Yes. Standard features include auto-attendant / IVR menus, ring groups and call queues, voicemail-to-email, call recording, business-hours and holiday routing, call transfer, three-way and conference calling, extension dialling, local DID numbers, and call reports and analytics. See cloud PBX features every Saudi business should expect.
Which cities does Skyline serve?
Skyline supports businesses across Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC, including Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam / the Eastern Province. We have city-specific guides for Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam.
Can resellers and groups run multiple companies on one platform?
Yes. Because each tenant is fully isolated with its own numbering space, a group or reseller can run many separate companies on the same platform, each with its own extension plan and call flows.
Is special IT staff needed to run it day to day?
No. Routine changes — adding a user, updating an IVR, changing opening hours — are done by your own admin from the self-service console. Skyline handles the underlying platform.
Talk to Skyline
Ready to move your business phones to the cloud, or want the questions above answered for your exact setup? Reach out through our contact form or call +966 50 993 9334, and our team will scope a Skyline Comms plan for you. You can also request pricing directly in the Skyline Cloud portal or on our cloud telephony services page.
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