Embracing Innovation: The Advantages of POTS Line Digital Transformation

Everything is going digital, and businesses are pressured or forced to switch from old copper lines to new, more advanced systems. These include POS terminals, fax machines, and building security systems.

But it’s more involved than just switching to a digital solution. You must ensure the new technology is up to par with your current needs.

Reliability

Traditionally, landline phones were backed by copper lines to carry data and voice signals between locations. This infrastructure has been used for decades, but it’s aging and needs costly maintenance and repairs. The average carrier spends billions each year on these services. This is why organizations have begun to move away from POTS. However, many legacy devices rely on copper landlines, including fire and alarm systems, point-of-sale systems, elevator call buttons, and fax machines. A digital POTS replacement solution can connect these devices to a broadband or 4G LTE network for improved reliability and cost savings.

While copper phone lines are easy to set up, they are challenging to maintain and susceptible to outages due to the aging infrastructure and weather-related problems. Additionally, costs can quickly increase as providers raise rates and discontinue POTS services. For these reasons, businesses must abandon POTS lines for cheaper and more reliable alternatives. One of the best solutions is to convert copper POTS lines into a digital model that offers cellular connectivity, NFPA 72 fire code compliance, and plug-and-play simplicity with little or no additional hardware required. Watch this on-demand webinar to learn more about the technology behind the POTS line digital transformation service, which is purpose-built for machine-to-machine communications and has demonstrated actual savings for clients.

Scalability

POTS lines rely on a grid of copper wires and other infrastructure vulnerable to the weather and physical damage. This is why many companies began moving services that rely on traditional phone lines to alternatives, such as VoIP or PBX systems. While most organizations have moved to modern options, some still rely on legacy equipment that requires an analog dial tone for communication, such as security, fire alarms, elevator communications, and fax machines.

Digital options, like fiber or wireless systems, will replace this time-limited technology. While these solutions are more expensive, they offer better scalability and reliability than traditional POTS lines. They also provide a more flexible connectivity for devices that need to connect to a central phone line, such as blue phones, emergency call boxes, and gates or doors.

A digital alternative for POTS lines can help businesses reduce costs, improve network reliability and flexibility, and future-proof their business. A centralized management system makes monitoring all of your devices from a single platform easier, which can help you quickly identify which lines are down and reduce downtime. In addition, a solution that offers 24/7 support and monitoring can further reduce costs by eliminating the need for a traditional IT team. By replacing your legacy phone line with a digital alternative, you can save up to 80% on your current costs.

Affordability

Aside from desk phones, POTS lines serve various devices, including credit card terminals, fax machines, and elevator communication systems. Some of these legacy devices must be connected to a live phone line to verify a transaction. In contrast, others must respond to split-second emergencies and require reliable phone line verification to communicate with emergency response teams.

As a result, the cost to maintain and upgrade copper infrastructure is rapidly becoming prohibitive for many businesses. In addition, the FCC’s deregulation of copper wire pricing has made it even more financially prudent to switch from aging traditional phone service lines to digital options.

Fortunately, many solutions are available that can help organizations transition to digital with minimal disruption. For example, some offer a white-glove migration to LCC Specialty Lines, which includes a failover cellular backup, an integrated customer portal, and 24/7 management and monitoring to ensure your mission-critical devices continue to work correctly.

Ultimately, it’s a question of when not whether your organization will leap to a POTS-free environment. In the meantime, a POTS replacement solution can offer significant savings while providing the reliability and functionality you expect. Contact a specialist today to learn how an all-inclusive POTS alternative for functional lines can benefit your business. They’ll give you a personalized quote and walk you through the process from start to finish.

Centralization

While most organizations have migrated human voice telephony to VoIP, POTS lines remain the backbone for services like security alarms, blue phones, fax machines, elevator communication systems, point of sale terminals, and more. These services require an analog dial tone for functionality and are often mandated by regulation (like NFPA 72 or UL 864 for life safety).

When a call is placed on a POTS line, the network switch listens to the dialed tones, interprets them, and routes them through one or more switches until they reach their destination. This can result in significant data transferred over the POTS line during each call and lead to high billable charges.

Additionally, POTS lines are vulnerable to environmental conditions and can be subject to damage from weather or natural disasters. This can result in expensive repairs and downtime for businesses.

Fortunately, replacing POTS lines is easy with a digital solution that provides all the same benefits for less money. Rather than having each device connected to its POTS line, a digital solution can offer centralized infrastructure that includes failover cellular connectivity and future-proof cloud functionality. This can help ensure all devices are up and running in the event of an outage while also allowing a business to take advantage of volume pricing with its POTS replacement provider.