Is Switching for Business the same thing as GPLB?

Yes. The process is governed by the Gaining Provider Led Business Steering Group, so industry documents also describe it as GPLB or Gaining Provider Led Business switching. Switching for Business is the name the group gave the process itself, and the specifications shorten it to SforB – all three refer to the same thing.

How is it different from residential One Touch Switch?

Three differences matter most. Business switches run over a separate industry hub with their own provider directory, so a provider taking part in residential switching is not automatically reachable for business switching. A single switch can cover many services that are matched, ordered and triggered independently rather than as one unit. Match requests are answered within a working-day timescale rather than in seconds – the end of the next working day for most switches, longer for large service volumes – giving providers room to confirm the customer and their services, whether an agent works the request or their own systems answer it.

How do we get started?

Get in touch and we will walk you through what business switching means for your organisation, what SureSwitch handles on your behalf, and what your team or systems need to provide. Onboarding is short and our team handles the details on your behalf.

Do I need business switching if I already use SureSwitch?

Only if you sell communications services to business customers. Business switching is a separate process with its own obligations – residential compliance does not cover it. Where you do need both, SureSwitch runs them side by side rather than as two systems.

Will our existing integration still work?

Yes. Business switching extends the same Switching API and webhook model you already integrate with, so your existing residential integration is unaffected and business support is additive.

Can business switches be automated through the API?

Yes. Every step is available on the Switching API – sending match requests, sending match responses, adding services to an open switch, ordering, updating, triggering or cancelling – and webhooks push every inbound message and status change back to your systems as it happens. The one thing SureSwitch will not do is answer a match request on your behalf: the response is always sent by you, whether an agent works it in the portal or your systems call the API.

Can we use the portal instead of integrating?

Yes. Everything can be done by an agent in the SureSwitch portal – placing match requests, working the response queue, and ordering, triggering or cancelling services – with no integration work at all.

Service

Switching for Business.

The same SureSwitch platform, extended for the industry's gaining-provider-led process for business customers.

Download Switching for Business Brochure · PDF · 0.4 MB

Business switching follows the same principle as One Touch Switch, but it is a different process. Switches carry many services, and match responses are due within working days rather than seconds. SureSwitch handles all of it, from the first match request to the final trigger, in the portal or through the API.

Both Sides Of The Switch

Full gaining and losing support, so you can win business customers and answer other providers' requests from one place.
Deadlines You Can Trust

Inbound match requests arrive as a work queue ordered by deadline, with working-day SLAs that skip bank holidays, a warning before each deadline and an alert after it.
Service-Level Switching

A single switch order can carry many services – broadband, telephony and number ranges – each ordered, triggered or cancelled on its own timeline.
Match Assist

Optional scoring against candidates from your own systems pre-fills a draft response for review, cutting the work without ever answering for you.
Reporting You Can Stand Behind

Business reports with date ranges, filters and Excel export, including SLA compliance down to the individual work item and a whole-period figure suitable as Ofcom evidence.
Automate The Whole Switch

Dedicated business endpoints on the Switching API and a business event family on its own webhook, so your systems can drive every step and hear about every change.

The Platform

SureSwitch Sits Between Your Systems And The Business Hub.

It connects you to the business hub and its provider directory, sends and receives every message, and surfaces the work in the portal or through the Switching API and webhooks, alongside your residential switching.

The Process

How A Business Switch Works.

Four steps, each a request and a response, with working-day deadlines. Choose your side of the switch to see what happens at each step, and what SureSwitch does for you.

Step 1 of 4

Match

You’re gaining

What happens: You ask the losing provider to identify the business customer and every service that can move. They have until the end of the next working day, longer for large volumes, and reply with a switch order reference.
SureSwitch: Raises the request from the portal or the Switching API and records the services and the reference for the orders that follow.

You’re losing

What happens: A gaining provider asks you to identify one of your business customers and the services that can move. You have until the end of the next working day, longer for large volumes.
SureSwitch: Queues the request against its deadline, with a warning before and an alert after, and can draft the response for your agent or your systems to send. It never answers for you.

Step 2 of 4

Order Per Service

You’re gaining

What happens: You order each service against the switch order on its own timeline, with an activation date, and can add services later for a phased migration. The losing provider confirms each one.
SureSwitch: Sends each order request and tracks every service’s own confirmation and date.

You’re losing

What happens: The gaining provider orders each service against the switch order on its own timeline. You confirm each one.
SureSwitch: Receives each order, confirms it and pushes it to your systems through the business webhook.

Step 3 of 4 Optional

Update & Cancel

You’re gaining

What happens: Dates change and plans change. You update or cancel individual services, or the whole order. The losing provider acknowledges each change.
SureSwitch: Sends each change against the right service and keeps the order’s history complete.

You’re losing

What happens: The gaining provider changes the date for a service, or cancels it. You acknowledge each change.
SureSwitch: Receives and acknowledges each change and updates the service’s status in the portal and your systems.

Step 4 of 4

Trigger

You’re gaining

What happens: You trigger each service as it goes live. The losing provider ceases exactly that service and confirms.
SureSwitch: Sends each trigger and records the confirmation, so the order completes service by service.

You’re losing

What happens: The gaining provider triggers each service as it goes live. You cease that service, and nothing else, and confirm.
SureSwitch: Receives each trigger, confirms it and tells your systems which service to cease.

What Is Switching For Business?

Switching for Business brings switching reform to business customers: a customer asks the provider they are joining to move their services, and the two providers exchange the switch. It follows the same principle as residential One Touch Switch, but it is a distinct process with its own rules, messages and timescales.

Does It Apply To Me?

If you sell communications services to business customers in the UK and own the relationship with that customer, business switching will apply to you. Complying with residential One Touch Switch does not cover it – the two processes are separate, and a provider registered for one is not automatically reachable for the other.

How A Business Switch Differs

Many services, one switch order. When a match succeeds, the losing provider issues a switch order reference covering that customer, and services are then matched, ordered, triggered or cancelled individually against it. Services can be added to an existing switch order later, and the reference stays valid long enough to work through a phased migration.

Responses have a working-day window, not seconds. Residential match requests are answered in seconds. The business process allows until the end of the next working day for most switches, extending to three or five working days for large service volumes. That reflects how much messier business customer and service records are – but the process is clear that automated matching should not be delayed artificially. Providers can answer by hand or straight from their own systems; either way they need to see the work, prioritise it and meet the deadline.

A separate hub and directory. Business switches travel over their own industry hub, with a directory of the providers taking part. Being present for residential switching does not make you visible for business switching.

How SureSwitch Handles It

Every part of a business switch can be worked by an agent in the portal or automated through the Switching API – the two surfaces sit on the same engine, so you can mix them.

Inbound matches, with the clock built in – every request is queued against its working-day deadline, with a guided response composer and match assist to draft the answer. Nothing is ever sent on your behalf.
Per-service progress – order, update, trigger or cancel each service on its own timeline, or act on the whole switch at once, and recover cleanly when a match fails without risking a duplicate order.
Customer emails, on brand – switching-information and asset-list emails follow the industry templates and carry your branding. SureSwitch can send them for you or record what you have sent.
Reporting – business reports with Excel export, and SLA compliance you can put in front of Ofcom.
Permissions – set each user’s access to residential and business, gaining and losing, separately.
Portal or API, or both – everything an agent can do in the portal is available through the Switching API, with every state change pushed to a webhook you control.

Integrating with SureSwitch? Our technical documentation covers the portal, Switching API and webhooks in full.

Getting Ready

If you sell to business customers, now is the time to plan: confirm the obligation applies to you, work out where your customer and service records live, and decide whether to work switches in the portal or integrate.

SureSwitch is ready ahead of the process going live. Onboarding is short: a brand identity on the business hub, webhooks if you are integrating, and a test cycle against the simulated hub before your first real switch. If you already use SureSwitch for residential switching, business support is simply enabled on your existing account. Talk to us about your timeline.

FAQ