Gary on the forgotten phone lines that might be hiding in plain sight.
You’ve upgraded your office phones, moved to a shiny new system and finally got rid of the handset that’s been held together with sticky tape since 2014. The copper switch-off? Sorted.
Well, possibly.
When we were talking about it at iTek, Gary raised a question that’s worth asking before anyone starts celebrating: what else is still connected to an old phone line?
Because while everyone’s been concentrating on the phones sitting on their desks, there could be a few other things around the building that haven’t received the memo.
The lift emergency phone, for example. Or the alarm system, an old payment terminal or a monitoring device that was installed so long ago nobody can remember who arranged it. These things have a habit of quietly doing their jobs for years, which is lovely until the connection they rely on needs replacing.
And somewhere in the accounts department, there’s probably still a monthly bill for a line described only as Line 3. Nobody knows what Line 3 does, but nobody’s been brave enough to cancel it either.
The PSTN switch-off: why the office phones might be the easy bit
The PSTN switch off completes on 31 January 2027, which isn’t very far away. The UK’s traditional analogue phone service is being retired in favour of digital alternatives. Older ISDN lines, which many business phone systems still run on, are going at the same time, so the ISDN switch-off may affect you too.
That doesn’t mean every copper cable or broadband connection disappears at once, but as part of the digital phone switchover, businesses do need to identify equipment that still relies on the old telephone service.
Think about a hotel with an older lift, a workshop with an alarm or a business spread across several buildings. Different suppliers may have installed equipment over the years, and the office phone upgrade might not have included any of it.
It’s understandable. When something works quietly in the background, nobody thinks about it.
Until it stops working, at which point it becomes everyone’s favourite problem.
Before you cancel anything, find out what it does
An old telecoms bill is a surprisingly useful place to start. If you’re paying for four lines but can only account for two, it’s worth investigating. One might be redundant, while another could be keeping the alarm or lift emergency phone connected.
We wouldn’t recommend cancelling them one at a time and waiting to see who complains. It’s certainly an approach, but not one we’d put forward as an IT strategy.
Once you know what’s connected, check with the relevant equipment suppliers about suitable replacements. For alarms and lift emergency phones, that includes making sure the new setup meets the relevant requirements and works as intended during a power cut or connectivity failure. “It should be fine” isn’t quite the reassurance you’re looking for here.
And don’t overlook your business phone number. If it’s been on your website, vans and signage for years, you’ll want to keep it when you move to a new service. Number porting usually makes that possible, but confirm the transfer arrangements with your provider before making changes to the existing service. A new phone system isn’t much use if your customers can’t reach you on the number they know.
A good time to review the bigger picture
While you’re investigating those old connections, you might also uncover services you’re paying for but no longer use, business phone systems that have become awkward to manage or connectivity that hasn’t kept pace with the business. The digital switchover is a good opportunity to make sure your communications still suit the way you work, rather than simply replacing old services like for like.
Gary and the iTek team can help you work through the options, from hosted voice and hosted telephony to connectivity and planning changes across older buildings or multiple sites. We know that in Cumbria, what looks like a straightforward upgrade on paper can get a little more interesting once you see what’s actually installed.
If you’re unsure where to start, have a chat with Gary. He’ll help you make sense of what you’ve got from a review of your current bills, what you still need, and what can finally be retired. Ideally, before mysterious Line 3 decides to introduce itself by stopping something important.