POTS Replacement

Copper Retirement is the phase out of legacy copper POTS lines by incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECS). As copper infrastructure is decommissioned, businesses must migrate from their old copper lines to modern, IP-based alternatives to avoid any disruptions.

Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) refers to traditional copper landlines that have been used for telephone service and other critical communications systems like fire alarms, elevators and fax machines. The phase out of copper POTS networks has been accelerating with more modern alternative solutions available.

Traditional POTS lines are becoming increasingly difficult to procure and service with recent carriers and the FCC moving to accelerate the transition away from copper lines. Carriers continue to issue notices with increasing frequency inclusive of grandfathering, meaning no new lines or line changes, and permanent discontinuance. The window for this technology is rapidly closing which is why businesses should consider POTS Transformation away from copper POTS lines as soon as possible.

Examples of plain old telephone service lines include traditional landline phones used in homes and businesses that connect directly to the telephone network via copper wires. POTS landline phone services are also found in emergency lines and alarm systems, including burglar and fire alarms, elevator phones, and other critical communication systems. Traditional fax machines and dial-up internet access still utilize POTS.

The advantages of POTS are: 

• POTS is reliable, especially during power outages, as it operates independently of electricity. POTS service is used to dial 911 in case of emergency. 

• POTS service has been used for over 100 years, so it is widely available and almost everyone is familiar with it. 

The limitations of POTS are: 

• Traditional POTS phone lines only support basic voice. Phone lines lack video calling, messaging or conferencing that are common with today’s VoIP technology. 

POTS lines can be more expensive to install and maintain due to the age of the copper lines and dwindling support. Monthly POTS rates continue to rise as carriers prepare for EOL.

• Technology: Analog signals are transmitted over copper wiring in a POTS phone line, meaning their call quality is lower than VoIP/digital, where higher-quality audio is transmitted digitally over IP networks (internet, LANs, fiber). 

• Connectivity: POTS routes calls directly to the PSTN (public switched telephone network), while VoIP/digital routes calls over the data network as the transport mechanism. 

• Features: POTS only provides basic calling, while VoIP/digital can support advanced unified communication features like video calls, chat, presence, collaboration, and more. 

• Cost: POTS is more expensive for basic calling, while VoIP/digital service costs less (and offers more services) once the infrastructure is in place. 

POTS Replacement refers to the process of replacing outdated legacy copper telecom lines with modern, digital, IP-based solutions. The POTS replacement process begins with assessing a business’s specific communication needs, the existing infrastructure, and the types of systems they use, such as alarm systems or fax machines. Then, businesses choose from various POTS replacement technologies that utilize existing wireless networks to transmit data. MetTel offers POTS line replacement that digitizes your network and improves operations. We offer ongoing management for your POTS replacement, which includes 24/7 monitoring and support.

Analog to Digital Conversion is the process of taking tangible, inputs such as sound or sensor readings, and converting those signals into digital data that can be processed, stored, or transmitted electronically.

MetTel ensures the reliability of POTS replacement services through our industry leading “POTS in a Box” adapter that routes calls via the data network, such as broadband, Wi-Fi, and LTE/5G cellular. It provides business continuity during primary network outages. Our private network is geographically dispersed with multi-layer redundancy for speed and security. We oversee the entire POTS replacement process, including 24/7/365 network operations center (NOC) monitoring and ongoing support. The service also comes with power backup to make sure calls can be made during a power outage.

MetTel provides professional installation of the “POTS in a Box” solution, which connects existing analog lines to a digital network, thereby maintaining functionality for essential services. After installation, we provide 24/7/365 monitoring and complete lifecycle management support.

Grandfathering refers to the process of carriers notifying customers that they can no longer add new lines or move or change their existing POTS lines after a certain date. It is often the precursor to full line discontinuance which is the permanent shut down of copper lines by carriers. It is essential that customers begin preparation for migration of lines to digital solutions when these notifications come through because safety and business-critical systems including fire panels, security systems, elevators, fax machines, point of sale devices and more depend on them for essential connectivity and compliance.