e& and du
for business voice.

In many countries a business can choose from dozens of phone providers. In the UAE, public telecommunications services are provided by two licensed operators: e&, the group formerly known as Etisalat (in Arabic, اتصالات), and du, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company. Virgin Mobile also operates in the UAE on du's network. Whatever AI receptionist you choose, your calls will reach it through one of these two operators.

This guide summarises what each operator publicly offers for business voice, as listed on their websites in October 2026. Products, names and prices change regularly, so treat this as a map for your conversation with an account manager, not a price list.

What both operators offer

Both operators provide the building blocks a business needs:

• Business landlines, including multi-line "hunting" so several calls can reach one published number.
• Cloud phone systems, where the PBX runs in the operator's network and staff use IP phones or apps.
• Toll-free 800 numbers with routing to landline or mobile destinations.
• Digital trunks for businesses running their own PBX: ISDN and SIP.
• Call forwarding on mobile lines and on many fixed and hosted services.
• Number portability, so a business can move fixed, mobile and 800 numbers between them.

du

du publishes a wide range of small business voice products with prices on its website. In October 2026 these included a business landline, a business trunk line with multi-line hunting, Business Hosted Voice, ISDN, and a National 800 toll-free service with a monthly minimum spend.

• Business Hosted Voice is du's cloud PBX: PBX features such as extensions and multi-line hunting without buying equipment, and it lists free call forwarding.
• Business SIP Trunk is aimed at businesses with their own PBX. Plans run from 10 to 100 call channels on 12-month contracts, include caller number display and per-second billing, and require you to supply your own PBX. du notes that only its ISDN 30 lines can be migrated to SIP.
• Number portability. du documents porting fixed and 800 numbers in from another operator, with no porting charge.

e&

e& publishes small business fixed services and, for larger organisations, enterprise unified communications.

• Office Presence is e&'s cloud landline for small businesses, bundling a SIP phone, a cloud PABX and the CloudTalk app. It is cloud-only: e& says existing PABX hardware cannot be connected.
• CloudTalk is e&'s carrier-grade cloud PBX for larger organisations, including migration of existing direct-dial numbers.
• 800 toll-free includes percentage-based routing, disaster-recovery routing and a web portal. e& lists a no-objection letter permitting call routing among the required documents.
• 600 service is a nine-digit number without an area code, usable across all emirates, with routing by day and time. Callers pay standard call charges, unlike 800.
• SIP trunks. e& provides managed SIP to enterprise customers, but did not publish a SIP trunk product page with public terms at the time of writing. Ask your account manager.

Side by side

Where an AI receptionist fits

An AI receptionist does not replace your operator. It sits behind it. The common patterns are:

• Forwarding from a mobile, landline or hosted phone system to the AI, for all calls or only unanswered and after-hours calls.
• Routing from an 800 or 600 number, with the AI as one destination.
• SIP from your trunk or PBX to the AI platform, for organisations with their own phone system.

Our UAE SIP trunking guide walks through each one.

Questions to ask your account manager

1. Can calls on my line, trunk or 800 number be forwarded or routed to a destination outside the UAE, and how is that charged?
2. Can my SIP trunk send calls to a third-party cloud SIP endpoint, and what security and codecs does it support?
3. Will the original caller's number be passed through when calls are forwarded or routed?
4. What documents do you need, such as a trade licence, establishment card or a no-objection letter for routing?
5. What is the minimum contract term, and what happens to my numbers if I change products?
6. If I plan outbound calls, how do your rules on the Do Not Call Registry and registered numbers apply to me?

Outbound calling has its own rules

If an AI agent will make marketing calls, the operators enforce national telemarketing rules on your numbers. e& describes a points-based regime under TDRA's voice spam policy, effective 1 September 2026, in which numbers that repeatedly call people on the Do Not Call Registry can have outgoing calls barred. Read UAE telemarketing rules for AI calls before you start.