Two months left until old-fashioned phone lines disappear

Agents and other businesses are being reminded of a deadline to upgrade their technology systems for voice and broadband connections else risk falling behind and face serious restrictions.

Many providers are currently phasing out all legacy phonelines, with the aim of moving all customers onto digital based systems.

It is part of the Big Switch - which will see the switch off of all analogue phone systems in the UK in two years.

September’s Stop Sell deadline means providers will cease selling these traditional copper-based phone lines, so those who fail to upgrade risk normal operations and falling behind.

In two months' time, businesses will no longer be able to make any changes to their old legacy telephone systems, trapping them with their current size and setup.

This is specifically important to those companies moving into new offices, as they will be limited now to only digital installations and can no longer move their old phone systems to new offices.

Experts are urging businesses to upgrade from analogue to digital based lines now, or risk falling behind and not having the ability to amend their current systems. Simple tasks such as adding a new employee to an ISDN system can become impossible.

From September analogue telephone systems will no longer be available to buy for new supply, as well as the introduction of restrictions for the migration of the services.

Businesses who have not upgraded their systems in time before the Stop Sell, will seriously struggle to provide voice services, as well as risking issues affecting broadband, Juliet Moran, founder of TelephoneSystems.Cloud warned.

Moran said failing to upgrade could potentially lead to falling behind competitors, with a significant loss in business, revenue & paying clients along with a huge increase in pricing, as wholesale prices of Stop Sell products will be rapidly increasing.

She added: “We are urging all businesses who haven’t already to upgrade their phone systems and connectivity before sales halt completely in September.

“This is now a two month warning to all business owners to upgrade your old analogue systems imminently else risk seeing your business fall behind become a reality.

“But not upgrading before the Stop Sell deadline in September seriously risks your business falling behind from your competitors and large price jumps - potentially leading to loss of customers and revenue.

“The risk is huge should a service get accidentally cancelled, or the need for growth occurs, as old services can no longer be brought back online and systems will no longer be able to expand.

“If you’re not upgrading from your analogue telephone system before the deadline in September, providers will no longer be able to support your businesses which currently rely on these legacy systems.”