Why This Matters Now
Traditional copper POTS lines are being retired and repriced nationwide. That creates real risk for critical endpoints—ATMs, fire/burglar panels, elevator phones, POS dial-backup, gates, HVAC, and fax—that still depend on analog dial tone. The good news: modern replacements are more reliable, superviseable, and often cheaper once you factor in rising POTS fees.
What’s at Risk (Typical POTS-Dependent Devices)
Life safety: fire alarm panels, elevator emergency phones, emergency call boxes
Security: intrusion panels, access control dialers, gate/door intercoms
Transaction systems: POS dial-backup, ATMs, kiosks, postage meters
Facilities & admin: HVAC/BMS modems, fax lines, lobby phones
Replacement Paths (Choose Per Use Case)
Fire Alarm Panels
Use listed cellular/IP communicators approved by your panel manufacturer. Configure dual-path (cellular + IP), heartbeat supervision, line seizure, and battery backup per local AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction). Always test with your monitoring center and document pass/fail.Elevator & Emergency Phones
Replace the copper pair with a POTS-in-a-Box (LTE/5G or IP→FXS) that includes battery backup. Ensure call routing to the correct monitoring destination, test monthly, and retain compliance labels/logs.Burglar/Intrusion & Access Control
Migrate to IP or cellular communicators with frequent supervision intervals and event codes that your central station supports. For doors/gates, combine IP intercoms with cellular failover and UPS.POS & ATMs
Prefer IP primary (over business broadband/SD-WAN) with private VPN and cellular out-of-band failover for authorizations. Where legacy dial is mandatory, use an FXS gateway certified by your POS/ATM vendor and validate with live transactions.Fax & Admin Lines
Move to eFax for reliability and audit trail. If analog is required, use T.38-capable SIP on a supported ATA and test with your trading partners.
Design Principles That Prevent Callbacks
Power matters: provide UPS on gateways, switches, and ONTs; life-safety devices typically require multi-hour battery.
Supervision & alarms: set heartbeat intervals and trap alerts so you know a path failed before an incident.
Network quality: use SD-WAN/QoS and cellular failover for critical alarms and payments.
Numbering & porting: plan DID ports from telco to your new platform early; keep numbers active until final acceptance.
Compliance first: confirm requirements with your AHJ, monitoring center, elevator service, and insurer (documentation saves time and fines).
Cost Snapshot (Why ROI Usually Works)
Retiring two or three $60–$100/mo POTS lines often funds a single LTE/IP gateway with monitoring, plus broadband you already have. After cutover, most sites see lower monthly OpEx and higher uptime.
Your 30-Day Migration Plan
Inventory all POTS numbers, devices, locations, and who they signal (monitoring, help desk, carrier).
Classify by risk: life safety → security → transactions → admin.
Select tech per device: communicator (fire/intrusion), POTS-in-a-Box (elevator), IP+cell failover (POS/ATM), eFax.
Order & stage: SIMs, gateways, UPS, VLANs, VPNs; pre-label and pre-configure.
Pilot one site: run full acceptance tests (alarm trips, elevator calls, POS authorizations, ATM calls).
Cutover in waves: highest risk first; port numbers; keep POTS live in parallel until each device passes.
Document & train: update runbooks, test schedules, and emergency procedures; hand off to ops.
Acceptance Test Checklist (Keep This With the Work Order)
Fire panel test signals (primary + backup path), timestamps, and central-station receipt
Elevator call routing (primary + power-fail), call quality, response time, logging
Intrusion open/close/events delivered, supervision interval verified
POS/ATM: live auths, reversals/voids, settlement after cutover
eFax send/receive to known partners; multi-page and high-resolution tests
Failover drill: pull broadband → confirm cellular path takes over and alarms still report
How AtoZ ISP Helps
Assessment & design: device inventory, AHJ/monitoring requirements, and a site-by-site plan
Certified gear: communicators, LTE gateways, and SIP/FXS hardware vetted for your panels, POS, and ATMs
Turnkey cutover: staging, labeling, testing scripts, number porting, and training
Ongoing assurance: monitoring, SIM/data management, and periodic re-tests so you stay compliant
Ready to retire copper without risking life safety or payments?
We’ll map your sites, pick the right replacement per device, and deliver a phased cutover—complete with acceptance tests and documentation.
