All-IP traffic: Why businesses should act now or face ‘The switch off gold rush’

With the December 2025 analogue switch-off deadline coming into view, Dom Norton, Sales Director at Spitfire, explains why businesses shouldn’t delay the move to all-IP any longer

Openreach has served notice that it will switch off analogue PSTN and ISDN telephone services in 2025. The UK has relied upon a copper telephone network for far too long (nearly 150 years!), which is no longer a viable option. The replacement infrastructure of the future here in the UK will consist of a fibre network with all-IP traffic.

We are in 2024, and the PSTN switch-off is next year. Despite the deadline approaching, most businesses are still yet to begin the switch to all-IP. This is despite all the warnings about the disruption this could cause. If you find yourself late to the party, some technologies can help your business prepare for the big switch-off.

It’s not too late to do something now

Last year, we conducted a survey, and the data was quite alarming. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of UK SMBs still didn’t consider the PSTN Switch Off a high business priority despite being warned about the impact of failing to switch over. The survey of 400 UK-based SMBs also revealed that 42% of businesses weren’t aware of the Switch Off.

What concerns me the most is business leaders kicking the can down the road and leaving their switch to the last minute. If so, we predict a significant logjam in Openreach as customers try to set up connections before the deadline.

If your strategy is to do nothing before the switch-off in 2025, then it’s very easy to explain what will happen to your business. You will be left with a disrupted service if you haven’t switched to a different telephony and/ or broadband solution by then. If you get the ball rolling now concerning choosing a new solution, your business will be in a stronger position to ease the transition into all-IP.

If your business has already been offered the option to change your PSTN phone line altogether in favour of VoIP, then this is an ideal move to make right now. By doing this now, your business could well avoid the sure-fire bottlenecks caused by large numbers of businesses all trying to switch at the same time. If the switch will happen anyway, why leave it till the last minute – you will certainly regret it. Using your broadband connection, adding VoIP services and keeping your existing landline number is relatively simple.

Why the move to all-IP will benefit businesses

Two main options are currently available for single telephone lines and broadband. Either SIP trunking or a hosted (cloud) phone solution. If you choose SIP trunking, your business will be able to make calls through your on-site Internet connection via your PBX. If you choose a hosted solution, you can switch your telephony system to a completely cloud-based solution – you won’t need any physical hardware other than the phones themselves if required.

If your business (like many others) is dealing with the challenges of a remote workforce, then a hosted PBX is an ideal solution. It empowers teams to stay in touch productively with all calls made over VoIP. If you have an Internet connection, you can make a call with a hosted PBX from anywhere. Perhaps you are a small high street business that might only use one or two phone lines – in this scenario, adopting a fully hosted solution is advantageous because you usually only pay for the capacity used. Whichever way you look at it, a hosted PBX is relatively low-cost, easy to manage and very scalable. It is a perfect way to allow businesses of all sizes to grow successfully whilst reducing any communication predicaments. Another option for the above scenario is an IP voice service. IP voice is a direct replacement for a single telephone line. It’s a low-cost VoIP solution for businesses, so you can be on the phone and have a second call waiting simultaneously. It is simple to set up, normally includes a call bundle, and you can even keep using the same telephone currently plugged into your BT phone socket.

Also, when switching to a VoIP infrastructure, your costs are likely to decrease. That is because the SIP network, where VoIP is transmitted over, is designed to make the management of the network much more cost-effective – in other words, cheaper to run for your business. And let us not forget a very important factor in all of this – improved call quality, when used with the right kind of internet service. Using VoIP allows for an improvement in the quality of those important business calls. With clearer and sharper sound quality, your business benefits from higher levels of productivity and efficiency.

The switch off gold rush

The stark reality is that Openreach doesn’t have an endless number of engineers waiting around to deal with increased demand. The result of this is significant disruption to businesses.

Our message now is the same as last year – act now and get this done in 2024.

Please Note: This is a Commercial Profile

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.