What's happening
Carriers are retiring the copper networks that carry traditional business landlines, often called POTS lines (plain old telephone service), and moving customers to fiber, cable and wireless. Where copper lines remain, many businesses are seeing higher prices and slower repairs.
For your main phone system that's usually old news. The trouble is the lines nobody thinks about.
The lines that get forgotten
- Fire alarm and sprinkler monitoring panels
- Elevator emergency phones
- Security and burglar alarms
- Fax machines, including ones used for prescriptions, orders or legal documents
- Door entry and gate call boxes
- Backup lines for card terminals and point-of-sale systems
Some of these are tied to safety codes, so a replacement has to meet your local requirements. That's why it's worth planning, not waiting for a line to fail.
Five steps to replace them safely
- Inventory every copper line. Go through your phone bills and look for lines with no obvious owner. They're often the ones connected to alarms and elevators.
- Find out what each line is connected to. Walk the building with facilities or your alarm company if you need to.
- Choose a replacement for each device. Options include copper-replacement services built for alarm and fax signals, cellular communicators for alarm panels and cloud fax. Providers such as Granite and Ooma specialize in this.
- Test and confirm compliance. Have your alarm company or inspector confirm the new setup works and meets code before anything is disconnected.
- Cancel the old lines and check the bills. Make sure the charges actually stop. Old lines have a way of staying on invoices.
How we help
We inventory the lines, match each one to the right replacement and coordinate the cutover with your alarm and elevator vendors, so nothing goes dark in between. It costs you nothing: the provider you choose pays us.