BT Openreach is stopping, or “switching off” the PSTN and ISDN service in December 2025.
This doesn’t just mean they won’t sell these services anymore. BT Openreach will stop selling ISDN at what’s known as the Stop Sell date at the end of 2023.
Calls will be routed over broadband using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, rather than using “traditional” phone lines.
BT Openreach has already started switching its customers. This began in December 2020 and will continue at various trial sites across the country.
By 2026, then, every UK phone line will be digital.
Why is this Switch Off taking place?
- The UK’s Infrastructure is Aging
The UK PSTN infrastructure is dated and continuing to run and maintain it is proving costly and inefficient.
Ofcom’s primary aim is to “encourage investment and promote competition in fibre broadband networks” and have admitted the PSTN “…can no longer be sustained in the long term”.
You can read the Ofcom information here
- The Telecoms Market is also changing.
Most people now own mobile phones and make calls with those. Broadband adoption continues to rise and Landline-only products are being used less and less.
Modern technology continues to evolve rapidly too. VoIP technology is already well established, but mobile data (i.e speed, coverage etc) continues to improve with each generation.
The emergence of 5G promises to make roaming broadband speeds super fast, faster than any copper line based internet connection could handle..
- FTTP is Still Scarce
To meet the demands of modern communications, our infrastructure needs updating. These updates have been underway for some time. Full-fibre, or Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), provides ultrafast broadband to homes and businesses without any reliance on ISDN lines at all.
But FTTP is still scarce in some areas and it can still be a struggle to get a usable internet experience.
For these reasons, Ofcom and Openreach are stepping up their rollout of fibre broadband and putting a hard deadline on the use of outdated technology.
Will I Be Affected?
The analogue switch-off applies to everyone. All businesses and home users with ISDN lines will be affected. Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) products and other ISDN-related products will no longer be sold.
Ofcom themselves are also aware of the potential difficulties presented by the switch. Because of these difficulties, Ofcom is overseeing the switch off and the accompanying migration.
Downstream services that make use of copper phone lines, like security alarms, door entry systems and older security cameras, will be affected when those copper lines are switched off in 2025.
All such downstream services that currently make use of ISDN lines must be upgraded before the ISDN switch-off takes place.
Anyone without broadband access, including the elderly, will need to get access to it. Those unable or unwilling to learn how to use new systems and technologies are vulnerable.
Ofcom assures in its Policy Positioning Statement that it is ensuring protections are put in place for this demographic.
If any of this seems unfair, it’s happening in the rest of the world too.
Alternatives for Businesses
What is Cloud Telephony and Hosted VoIP?
VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a technology that allows voice calls to be conducted over the internet.
Cloud telephony and hosted VoIP refer to the practice of hosting that IP-based phone service in the cloud.
In practice, this means the hardware businesses used in the past is replaced with software, i.e an application. All the functions of a typical on-premises PBX are rebuilt in software in what is known as a hosted PBX.
Rather than download this application, it’s available to access at any time from anywhere with an internet connection. You don’t have to download anything, you just need to be able to connect to the service over the internet.
The Benefits of Switching to VoIP
Integrations
VoIP phone systems can integrate with other SaaS products like your favourite CRMs and business collaboration tools.
Lower Costs
- Since hosted VoIP systems are hosted in the cloud, there is no physical hardware to install or maintain on-site.
- That means no installation or maintenance costs to your business.
- Plus, call costs with VoIP providers can be much cheaper than those using traditional business landline services.
- For example, it costs just 1.5p per minute to call US mobiles from the UK. With BT, this would cost you 62.7p per minute. So you save more than 97% when using a VoIP service from Hightrees Organisation Limited.
Scalability
- Hosted VoIP services virtualise all aspects of the traditional phone system. This frees cloud telephony services from the physical restrictions imposed by analogue lines.
- Phone lines can be added or removed at will at the touch of a button with hosted VoIP.
- Contrast this with traditional copper lines where you’d need an engineer or trained professional to come on-site to add or remove physical phone lines.
- Hosted VoIP is therefore both more flexible and more scalable than both SIP Trunking and ISDN/PSTN-based solutions.
Faster Updates and Unique Features
The details just outlined allows providers to update and improve their service far more frequently. In turn, this makes feedback and feature requests shuttle through from concept to release more quickly than you might be used to.
- Many of these features would be impossible to offer with a physical phone system. At least not without significant workarounds.
- Encrypted cloud backups of call recordings, for example, make your recordings available from anywhere while maintaining their security.
How To Switch to VoIP
So you understand that you need to switch and you’re sold on the concepts of SIP Trunking or Hosted VoIP.
How do you begin switching to VoIP ?
- Take stock of Your Current System
The first thing to do is to take stock of which features your existing phone system offers that you’re using right now. Which are essential to your business? Which are only desirable? And how much are you currently paying?
- Research the Market
Armed with your new knowledge, it’s time to start searching for a provider that can fill your requirements. Preferably at a better price than you’re getting at present.
- Contact Your Existing Provider
With a shortlist of providers, prices and features, it’s time to go back to your current provider and tell them what you’re thinking.
It’s likely your current provider has their own SIP or Hosted VoIP product they can offer you, which is why it’s important to be clear on what you need and what’s on offer elsewhere before this stage.
This sets you up to negotiate better prices or to turn them down if you know you can get better for cheaper.
Things to Be Aware Of
Cloud telephony has different requirements from ISDN products.
After the “Switch Off”, or before you switch, you need to meet these requirements.
A Stable Broadband Connection
First of all, you’ll need a good broadband connection speed coming into the property.
Although the bandwidth required to make a VoIP call is very low (about as much as you need to scroll through your Twitter feed), the stability of that call depends on your connection being stable. The more bandwidth you have as overhead on your network, the better your calls will be.
Prioritise VoIP Traffic
Second, you’ll want some means of making sure VoIP traffic is prioritised on the network.
Thanks to a feature of business-grade network routers called Quality of Service, VoIP traffic is usually prioritised automatically. You just need to make sure you have a business-grade network router.
Choose Wired over Wireless Connections
Ideally, you’ll want to choose wired connections over wireless ones (WiFi) wherever possible.
From stability point of view, wired connections tend to be more stable than wireless ones. That means hardwiring as many devices together as possible.
If you plan on using softphone apps to make your VoIP calls, a wireless connection is the only route. Ideally desk phone connections and those between network devices, though, should all be wired.
Addressing Concerns Over Switching to the Cloud
For many large, established corporations, the idea of such an essential business function as your phone system, hosted in the ‘cloud’ where you can’t see it, might still be worrying.
However, if you are concerned about a cloud solution to your communications, it may set your mind at ease to hear that our platform is hosted on Google Cloud.
Google Cloud is used and trusted by companies including Spotify, Snapchat, HSBC and Coca Cola, just some names you’ve probably heard of!
Companies like these trusting cloud hosting with their data is a big vote of confidence in the technology.
In addition, our VoIP service is operated by an ISO accredited G Cloud 11 supplier. This means they are trusted by both independent and government bodies in their ability to supply a high-performing, stable service.
How Long Does It Take To Switch?
Expect it to take a couple of weeks.
Once you’ve decided you’ll make the switch and have had the necessary conversations with your new and old providers, the process of switching takes as long as its two longest components.
- Ordering New IP Phones
If your staff are used to using desk phones, you’ll need to order a new set of IP phones. If the provider sells phones themselves and offers a pre-provisioning service, then the process shouldn’t take long.
This part of the process takes as long as it takes to receive your order and have the phones set up.
Since IP phones aren’t required to make VoIP calls, though, this step is optional.
You can always use softphone apps, if your new provider offers them, to make and take business calls instead.
- Porting Phone Numbers
You’ll want to transfer your business phone numbers across to your new provider. This process usually takes a couple of weeks, but delays can occur and can’t always be foreseen.
Despite the number porting process taking a couple of weeks, your numbers won’t have any downtime. That’s because the numbers remain active with your old provider right up to the moment the port completes.
Hightrees VoIP will even allow you to configure your numbers before the port completes, so your call routes direct calls to them just as you’d expect.
For this reason, though, it’s important to make clear to your old provider that your service with them cannot terminate until after all your number ports are complete.
Final Steps
With all your phones and numbers in place, all that’s left to do is get your phone system set up as you’d like it.
Our friendly support team can walk you through as much or as little of this process as you’d like.
Buy VoIP Today
Rather than delay the inevitable, modernise your phone system now by switching to a reputable VoIP provider like Hightrees and begin benefitting from some of the very powerful features on offer.
You can visit our VoIP Portal to get started now, including a FREE 14 day trial
