Are you ready for the BT Switch Off?

BT are switching off their ageing analogue phone lines in a few years. Is your business prepared for the Switch Off?

What is the upgrade about?

Everyone wants faster, more reliable Internet connections and many are already embracing VoIP to deliver telephony through the Internet. To achieve this, BT needs to stop maintaining the old copper cables that have been in the ground for the best part of 100 years and start focussing on modern solutions such as fibre optic-based products.

What does the upgrade represent?

This upgrade programme represents the most significant technological advancement in telecommunications infrastructure in over 60 years. In total, more than 16 million telephone lines need to be upgraded before the switch off.

How does this impact my business?

The BT Switch Off will require businesses to change over to modern technology such as VoIP. This means that after the switch off, older phones will no longer work and businesses will need to upgrade to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

WHY should my business upgrade now?

If you currently have a traditional ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) or PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) based system, now is a good point to look into the alternative. Although there is plenty of time until 2025 rolls around, it’s best to plan ahead and you may actually find you want to migrate sooner rather than later after finding out all of the benefits the replacement internet-based systems have to offer.

According to BT, around 15 million UK homes and businesses will need to be switched away from traditional analogue voice services (equating to about 50,000 lines a week until late 2025), which also includes an array of other services that use analogue signals (e.g. everything from security alarms to bus stops, cash machines, elevators, traffic lights and even sluice gates in rivers and canals).

How can we help your business?

At Onhold Studio we can offer a modern cloud telephone solution, which enables businesses to communicate and collaborate more effectively and efficiently. Anywhere, any time, on any communications device; desk phone, mobile phone, laptop and personal computer.

There are so many advantages to Cloud Technology such as being able to receive multiple calls, never being engaged, menu options, call recording, call queuing, professional audio messages, significant cost savings and much more!

We can help your business unify all your communications to offer a feature-rich, scalable and affordable system that meets all your internal and external communication needs. And in most cases, make significant savings.

What if I'm a new business?

If you’re in the position where you haven’t got a business telephone system yet, you are in the perfect place to start afresh with a Cloud-based telephone solution. This way you can negate any needless expenditure on technology and hardware with a limited shelf life and future proof your growing business. As BT is phasing out ISDN, it'll have no negative effect on you in this case and you may, in fact, gain a competitive advantage over your other businesses.