All change as national telephone infrastructure goes VoIP
It’s around 25 years since the development of VoIP digital telephone technology. However, many businesses have yet to adopt VoIP and share in the benefits. The reasons? Well, hanging on to the old ways is certainly one of them, as people are pretty much always resistant to change. And getting the most out of investment in legacy telephone equipment is likely to be a financial consideration.
But all that is set to change. Everyone (domestic as well as business users) in the UK and Ireland is going to have to switch to VoIP telephony as the old telecoms infrastructure is upgraded. The analogue public switched telephone network (PSTN) and ISDN services are scheduled to go end-of-life at the end of December 2025, with telephone customers switched over to a fully digital VoIP network.
Why the 2025 PSTN switch-off and what does it mean?
The reason for the change is to upgrade the communications infrastructure to keep in step with the massive changes we’ve seen in recent times – smartphones, apps, the cloud, Work from Home (WFH), the Internet of Things and so on. The basic principles of PSTN are over 100 years old and it has been the backbone of the UK’s phone network for decades. Some of the copper cabling dates back to the 19th century.
Like water flowing through pipes, the flow of voice and data over the network is limited by the presence of analogue elements, which in effect narrow the pipework. Switching off the analogue PSTN part of the network is set to accelerate the transmission of voice and data, better feeding our communication and information hungry businesses.
The change means existing analogue line based PBX switchboards and handsets could become obsolete. VoIP technology requires all voice calls to come down a broadband internet connection using VoIP compatible handsets and headsets.
Remember! – It’s about more than just voice calls…
Anything else that uses the legacy phone network PSTN or ISDN lines could also be affected. This includes remote connectivity and monitoring for:
- Burglar and fire alarms
- Retail EPOS systems
- Door entry systems
- CCTV
- Fax machines
Switch to VoIP with Soho66 sooner rather than later
Every major switch in technology has a habit of causing companies headaches when they do not act in a timely manner. Many might remember when Windows XP went end-of-life in 2014 and the rush to make sure computers were not left vulnerable to hackers after security updates ended.
Voice and telephone line-based services are mission critical to the business processes of the majority of companies. Delaying action might cause significant problems, such as:
- Being cut off – Disruption to voice communication on your existing landline business telephone numbers
- Disruption to remote services – Broken connectivity with monitoring services such as vital security systems, and payment systems like EPOS
- Panic buying mistakes – Being forced to buy inappropriate services in the last minute rush to avoid being cut off
- Supply chain issues – Shortages of new desktop handsets and softphone headsets for using VoIP services with PCs and mobile devices
- Long lead times – Experience delays as VoIP telephone service providers get overwhelmed as they are inundated with new business nearer the date
Avoid these problems by getting started with Soho66 VoIP today. Companies have been trusting us to provide top value VoIP telephone services since 2008. But don’t just take our word for it; we are 5 Star rated on Trustpilot.
A good way to prepare is to get some market intelligence. Click here to download The Buyers’ Guide to VoIP Business Telephony Solutions.
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