How to prepare your business for the phone line switch off.

 

BT Openreach have announced they will be switching off their existing PSTN and ISDN network by 2025 and switching to a single IP network. Find out about the alternatives and how to prepare your business. The closure of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) is part of plans by BT toward internet-based voice calls via a fibre network.

 

 

What is PSTN?

“The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the aggregate of the world’s circuit-switched telephone networks that are operated by national, regional, or local telephony operators, providing infrastructure and services for public telecommunication” Analogue voice data is sent over a circuit-switched phone line made up of copper wires which is owned and operated by your phone provider.

What is ISDN?

“Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the traditional circuits of the public switched telephone network”

What are the alternatives?

The recent investment in the UK communications network has made the new fibre infrastructure widely available and affordable to small businesses. This means IP based solution such as VoIP and SIP are the top alternatives for businesses.

What is VoIP?

VoIP is a cloud-based telephony solution which moves your whole phone system online so all your calls are sent over your internet connection. This digital cloud-based phone system offers a wide range of additional features such as call recording, receiving voicemails via email, call queuing and unified communications – being able to access the system on multiple devices such as a mobile and desktop.

 

Top 5 business benefits of VoIP

Cost effective  

Put simply, moving to a hosted solution is cost effective and can save your business money regardless on the size. This is because the installation and maintenance costs are able to be kept minimal. A hosted solution also means that you avoid paying costly traditional phone line bills. This is because you place calls over competitively priced internet connectivity instead.

Advanced Features

A VoIP system is full of features that are simply inaccessible with traditional phone lines. One area to highlight particularly is it’s conferencing and meeting capabilities. This means that even a small business can host international meetings and conferences with ease. For most companies, all they need is hardware with microphone, speaker and webcam capabilities. Other great features of VoIP which prove to be critical to business include CRM integration, conference rooms, time of day routing, hunt groups, auto attendants and a lot more.

Increased Flexibility

VoIP systems allow for increased flexibility. With more staff starting to work remotely or on the road travelling, VoIP allows you to link employee home numbers with office numbers and even mobile phones. This means that when a customer is trying to reach you all the numbers will ring, ensuring that important calls are never missed. As your business grows, so can your VoIP solution. Adding new users and devices can be added or removed simply when needed. This is a far simpler process than it is with traditional phone lines.

Faster Installation

No more waiting for an engineer to install physical lines means you get connected faster.

 

Want to find out more about VoIP can offer you? We are on hand to talk and answer any questions you may have.

Call 0115 852 6600 or email sales@hello-telecom.co.uk