The POTS Line Sunset Is Here: How to Protect Your Elevators, Alarms, and Fax Before It’s Too Late
The POTS Line Sunset Is Here: How to Protect Your Elevators, Alarms, and Fax Before It’s Too Late
If your organization still has even a handful of old phone lines hanging around, you’re not alone. Across the U.S., tens of millions of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) lines are still in use—often for “invisible” but critical services like elevators, fire alarms, fax, and security systems.
The problem? Those copper-based lines are being retired.
Regulatory changes and the high cost of maintaining aging infrastructure mean carriers are steadily raising prices, reducing support, and decommissioning POTS networks. For many businesses, that creates a dangerous mix of rising costs and growing risk.
In this blog post, we’ll unpack what the POTS sunset means, where your hidden lines are, and how a next-gen POTS replacement from FirstComm can help you modernize without disrupting life-safety or operations.
What exactly is a POTS line?
POTS—“Plain Old Telephone Service”—is the traditional landline system that’s been around since the 19th century. It uses a vast network of copper wires to carry analog voice signals from one handset to another.
Even in a world of cloud voice and mobile devices, POTS lines still lurk in places like:
- Elevator emergency phones
- Fire and burglar alarm panels
- Fax machines and fax servers
- Point-of-sale (POS) and credit card terminals
- Security and access control systems
- ATMs and kiosks
- Medical alert and nurse call systems
These lines were chosen because they were simple, familiar, and historically reliable. But the underlying technology hasn’t changed in decades—but the environment around it has.
Why POTS lines are being retired
Maintaining copper networks is expensive. As usage has shifted to fiber, wireless, and IP-based services, traditional POTS lines have become a legacy burden for carriers.
Several things are happening at once:
- Regulatory pressure has eased.
The FCC no longer requires carriers to maintain or offer POTS in the same way they once did. That opens the door for price increases and service retirements. - Infrastructure is aging.
Copper plant is difficult and costly to maintain. Many networks are decades old, and sourcing replacement parts is increasingly challenging. - Customer bases are shrinking.
As most residential and standard business voice moves to VoIP, the cost of supporting the remaining POTS customers is spread across fewer lines, so prices accelerate upward. - Modern services work differently.
Cloud voice, SIP, and mobile communications are where innovation is happening. POTS simply can’t keep up with modern expectations around analytics, integration, and mobility.
The result: many organizations are now receiving notices of rate hikes, service changes, or outright retirements for their POTS lines.
The hidden risk: critical systems on forgotten copper
One of the biggest challenges with the POTS sunset is visibility. Most IT and facilities teams lack a comprehensive inventory of where POTS lines are used.
You may have already moved your main voice system to the cloud, but still be paying for POTS lines that support:
- The emergency phone in each elevator
- The fire alarm panel in every building
- A handful of analog fax machines in finance, legal, or healthcare departments
- Older security systems, gates, or call boxes
- Remote or low-bandwidth sites using dial-up for telemetry
If any of these lines fail or are disconnected without a plan in place, you could face:
- Life-safety compliance issues
- Failed inspections or permits
- Service disruptions for customers or patients
- Unexpected costs to replace or retrofit equipment in a hurry
That’s why waiting until a carrier shuts down POTS in your area is a risky strategy.
What is next-gen POTS replacement?
A next-generation POTS replacement bridges your existing analog equipment to a modern IP network without requiring you to swap out every legacy device.
At a high level, here’s how FirstComm POTS Replacement works:
- An enterprise-grade device is installed at your site.
It provides analog ports for your existing endpoints—fire panels, elevator phones, fax machines, POS terminals, etc. - Analog signals are converted to digital.
The device converts legacy dial tones and signaling into secure IP traffic. - Traffic is routed over resilient connectivity.
Connections run over high-reliability broadband and/or LTE, with battery backup for power outages and optional wireless failover if the primary circuit goes down. - The service is managed in the cloud.
FirstComm monitors connectivity, performance, and alarms 24/7/365, pushes firmware updates, and provides remote diagnostics and support.
The result: your legacy devices continue to behave the same way, but the copper they depended on is replaced with modern, redundant, and more visible infrastructure.
Key benefits of replacing POTS lines now
Migrating from POTS to a managed replacement solution gives you advantages well beyond “keeping the phones working.”
- Stabilize and reduce costs
As carriers increase POTS rates, many organizations see year-over-year cost creep with little warning. POTS replacement lets you:
- Move to predictable monthly pricing
- Bundle hardware, installation, and service into an OpEx model
- Consolidate multiple local POTS providers into one partner and invoice
- Improve reliability and redundancy
Traditional POTS lines were once the gold standard for reliability—but aging copper networks and reduced maintenance change that picture.
A modern solution can provide:
- Battery backup for extended power outages
- LTE failover if primary broadband fails
- Central monitoring and alerts to address issues before they’re a problem
- Simplify management
If you have multiple sites, you may be:
- Managing different providers, contracts, and invoices for POTS
- Struggling to see where all your POTS lines are and what they’re used for
- Coordinating with various vendors to troubleshoot issues
FirstComm POTS Replacement brings everything under one trusted provider with a single point of contact for installation, support, and ongoing management.
- Gain flexibility and scalability
Because the solution is cloud-based:
- Adding new lines or locations becomes a configuration task—not a construction project
- You can scale up or down as your footprint changes
- You can integrate with modern communications tools like cloud voice, analytics, and more over time
Act before the POTS sunset hits your critical lines
The POTS sunset isn’t an abstract future event. It’s happening in phases right now—through price increases, support changes, and quiet decommissioning of copper lines.
If you rely on POTS for any critical service, now is the time to:
- Get a handle on your current POTS inventory
- Understand your cost and risk exposure
- Build a migration plan that fits your timeline and budget
