POTS Line Replacement · Atlanta
Are POTS lines going away? Yes. Here is what to do.
What a POTS line is, why carriers are retiring them, what still runs on yours, and what replaces each one. Written for Atlanta businesses with a phone bill full of lines nobody can explain.
Marietta-based · Since 2004 · Phones, internet, and security from one team
The short answer
Yes, POTS lines are going away. Carriers are retiring the copper networks that carry them, there is no single national shut-off date, and in the meantime the lines that are left keep getting more expensive and slower to repair.
POTS stands for Plain Old Telephone Service: the analog landline delivered over copper from the phone company. Replacing the phones is the easy part. The harder part is everything else on those lines, such as the fire alarm panel, the elevator phone, the fax, and the card terminal, which can quietly stop working if a line is cancelled before anyone checks what is on it.
What POTS lines are used for
A POTS line does not depend on your internet connection, which is why so much equipment was built to use one. In a typical business, the lines fall into four groups:
- Safety lines
- Fire alarm panels, elevator emergency phones, and emergency call boxes. These are life-safety lines with code requirements of their own.
- Security and monitoring
- Burglar alarm panels that call the monitoring center, some access control and gate systems, and other equipment that reports over a phone line.
- Essential business lines
- Fax machines, older point-of-sale and credit card terminals, and anything else set up years ago to need its own dedicated line.
- Ordinary phone lines
- The business lines on the front desk and in the back office, often with numbers the business has had for decades.
Why POTS lines are going away
- The copper network is old, and expensive to maintain and repair.
- Fewer technicians know it, and replacement parts are harder to find.
- Carriers are putting their money into fiber and wireless instead.
- Fewer customers use copper lines, so they no longer pay for themselves.
- Federal rules that once required carriers to keep offering discounted wholesale copper services have been relaxed.
It does not happen all at once. It happens carrier by carrier and area by area. The usual signs are a rising bill, slower repairs, and eventually a notice that the service is being discontinued. Planning the move on your own schedule is easier than doing it on the carrier’s.
What replaces a POTS line
There is no one replacement. Each kind of line has its own path, and some of them belong to a vendor other than your phone company.
Phone lines
Business calling moves to hosted VoIP over your internet connection. We port your existing numbers to a 3CX phone system, set up E911 so emergency calls report the right location, and the same extension rings on the desk phone, the desktop app, and the mobile app.
Business VoIP phone systems →Fire alarms and elevator phones
Do not just plug these into a VoIP adapter. Life-safety lines have code requirements, so the replacement, often a cellular communicator or a device approved as a POTS replacement, has to be signed off by your alarm or elevator company and, for fire alarms, the local fire marshal. Get them involved before the old line is cancelled.
Burglar alarms and monitoring
Most alarm companies can move the panel to a cellular or internet communicator. Ask yours what the panel supports and test the signal to the monitoring center after the change.
Fax
Fax can move to the phone system or an email-based fax service, so faxes arrive as files instead of paper. An old fax machine on a VoIP adapter can work, but it is less reliable than a line it was built for, so test it before you count on it.
Point-of-sale and card terminals
Most current terminals already use the internet or cellular. An older terminal that dials out on a phone line may need an update or a replacement, so check with your payment processor.
Gate call boxes and door entry
Call boxes on a phone line can usually move to cellular, or to an entry system tied into your access control. We run those systems too.
Access control →
Plan for power outages. A copper line carried its own power from the phone company. VoIP phones, internet equipment, and most replacement devices need power at your building, so put the network gear on battery backup and confirm how long each life-safety device runs without power.
How to replace your POTS lines
Find every line
Start with the phone bill. Every line you pay for should match something you can point at. We review the bill with you, line by line.
Find out what is on each one
Walk the building: the alarm panel, the elevator machine room, the fax in the back office, the gate. A line nobody can name may still be keeping an alarm connected.
Move the phones
Port the numbers to the new phone system and schedule the cutover around your business.
How switching works →Replace the special lines
Work with the alarm, elevator, and payment vendors on each line that is not a phone, and test each one on its new path.
Cancel what is left
Only after everything is tested on its new path. Then check the next bill to confirm the old lines are actually gone.
This is how we run a phone switch for our clients. The bill review finds the lines, the walk-through finds what is on them, and the cutover is planned so none of them goes dark. Because the same team runs the phones, the network they ride on, and the cameras and doors, the alarm panel and the gate are part of the plan, not a surprise after it.
POTS line questions
- Are POTS lines going away?
- Yes. Carriers are retiring their copper phone networks in favor of fiber and wireless, and federal rules that once required them to keep offering discounted copper services have been relaxed. Copper lines are getting more expensive, slower to repair, and in some areas are no longer offered at all.
- When are POTS lines going away?
- There is no single national shut-off date. It happens carrier by carrier and area by area. The usual signs are rising prices, slower repairs, and a notice from the carrier that the service is being discontinued. It is easier to plan the move on your schedule than on theirs.
- What is a POTS line?
- POTS stands for Plain Old Telephone Service: a traditional analog landline delivered over a copper pair from the phone company. It carries basic voice and dial-up data, and it does not depend on your internet connection.
- What are POTS lines used for?
- Besides ordinary phone lines, POTS lines often serve safety equipment (fire alarm panels, elevator phones, call boxes), security monitoring (burglar alarms and some access control systems), and dedicated business lines such as fax machines and older point-of-sale terminals.
- Can we keep our phone numbers when we replace POTS lines?
- In most cases, yes. Numbers are ported from your current carrier to the new phone system, and the cutover is scheduled for the date the port completes.
- Can a fire alarm or elevator phone run on VoIP?
- Not by simply plugging it into a VoIP adapter. Life-safety lines have code requirements, so the replacement, often a cellular communicator or an approved POTS-replacement device, needs to be approved by your alarm or elevator company and, for fire alarms, the local fire marshal.
Further reading
Ready when you are.
We find every line on the bill and what is on it before anything gets cancelled.