The PSTN switch-off: what North East businesses need to do now

Openreach is retiring the traditional phone network that analogue and ISDN lines run on. When that happens, anything still plugged into an old line — phones, fax machines, lift alarms, card terminals, some CCTV and door-entry systems — will stop working. Here is what to check and how to move without drama.

1. Find out what is actually connected to your lines. Most businesses know about their phones. Fewer remember the lift emergency line, the fire alarm signalling, the franking machine or the old PDQ machine in the warehouse. Walk the building and list everything with a phone socket behind it. If you would like a hand, we will do this as part of a free line audit.

2. Check your broadband is up to it. A hosted phone system needs a decent, stable connection — in practice business fibre (FTTP or SoGEA) rather than an old ADSL line. Each concurrent call uses roughly 100 kbps, so bandwidth is rarely the problem; quality and reliability are. We usually recommend a separate connection or a 4G/5G backup for sites where the phones matter.

3. Choose a hosted system and keep your numbers. Your numbers can be ported to a hosted platform with no downtime. You will gain features you probably do not have today — call recording, a mobile app that presents your office number, and voicemail sent to email — usually for less than you pay now in line rental.

4. Do not leave it to the last quarter. Installers, number-porting teams and Openreach engineers all get busier as deadlines approach. Moving early means you pick the date, not the other way round.

Free line audit: we will list what you have, what is at risk and what it would cost to move — with no obligation. Request one on our Contact page or call 0191 691 3300.