How Your Company Can Use BT’S Big ISDN Switch Off To Your Advantage

As you will almost certainly be aware, BT plans to switch off its legacy voice network in 2025, and will not be accepting new orders for PSTN, and ISDN2 and ISDN30 services after September 2023.It’s an understandable decision, given that PSTN and ISDN technologies rely on the same principle of copper wiring that Alexander Graham Bell patented right back in 1881. But with as many as five million lines currently active, businesses right across the UK will be affected. What action you need to take depends upon your current infrastructure:

• If your current ISDN contract is due for renewal soon, then now is the time to consider your options. Depending on your circumstances, you could either replace your entire existing system with a new VoIP (Voice over IP) system, or you might be able to switch to SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), enabling you to connect some, or all, of your existing phone system to the public network via IP data services.
• If you don’t yet have a business telephony system installed, then you could consider a Cloud based telephony or collaboration solution, avoiding the setup costs associated with ISDN systems, and bypassing the need for physical infrastructure altogether.

However, this isn’t a binary decision, and nor should it be. As the last few months have shown, businesses of all sizes, in all sectors, have had to change the way they operate forever. Their priorities are now about:

Flexibility – paying only for the services you use; scaling up or down at short notice; moving or downsizing office estates.

Mobility – enabling more staff to work from home, or remotely; collaborating effectively with clients and colleagues, with remote file access; conducting increasing numbers of team and project meetings online.

Security – ensuring that mobile phones, tablets and devices are connected securely, regardless of their location.

It’s your choice
In our experience, when businesses begin to explore the many benefits and advantages of VoIP and SIP Trunking systems, they choose to migrate sooner rather than later. From our conversations with businesses, the primary factor that causes them to delay migrating is the scale of investment in legacy infrastructure, and a need to continue to ‘sweat the assets’. If it’s the right solution, then the good news is that switching the ISDN side of a customer’s estate to SIP is relatively straightforward. Existing numbers can be ported and retained, much existing infrastructure can be accommodated, and the new IP based service can be up and running within a few months. However, a quick Google search might suggest that switching ISDN to SIP is your only choice. It isn’t. As a communications system specialist, we are here to help. Wherever you are starting from, we can support you to make the transition from ISDN, and establish a fully hosted communications system that is scalable, flexible, mobile and secure. Regardless of size, our approach remains the same, and we follow the same, trusted three-step process:

1. Manage

We’ll bring all your PBX and line rental services under one contract, with one service level and one point of contact. Taking full ownership of your PBX services estate, freeing up your time to focus on your business.

2. Optimise

We know our services are competitively priced, but we can help you become even more cost-efficient by combining new and old technologies under one contract. And if your current PBX estate isn’t up to today’s standards, we’ll let you know how we can help.

3. Transform

We’ll keep you up-to-date on the latest industry changes so you can see how they’ll affect your organisation. If you’re ready to make changes, we’ll give you expert advice on the best options for you.