POTS Replacement: What to Do Before the FCC Deadline

What POTS actually is

POTS stands for Plain Old Telephone Service — the traditional copper-based analog phone lines that have been the backbone of telecommunications since the 1870s. If you have a phone line that plugs into an RJ11 jack in the wall and you pick up the handset to hear a dial tone, that's POTS.

POTS runs on copper infrastructure maintained by regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) and their successors: AT&T, Verizon, Lumen (formerly CenturyLink and Level 3), Frontier, and hundreds of smaller carriers. The copper twisted-pair cables in the ground beneath your building carry an analog signal from your phone to the carrier's central office, where it's connected to the rest of the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

For a century and a half, POTS worked well for voice calling. The network was resilient, didn't require electricity at the handset (the carrier provided power), and was ubiquitous. But it's also expensive to maintain, requires physical repairs, and doesn't scale for modern business applications. A new copper line installed today would cost thousands of dollars. The carriers haven't been upgrading the copper plant — they've been letting it deteriorate while investing in fiber and wireless instead.

POTS is also a legacy technology that no longer fits the carrier business model. The margins are thin, the maintenance costs are high, and the customers are increasingly expected to use IP-based services instead. The carriers want out, and in 2024–2025, they're finally getting permission to leave.

What the FCC ruling means

In 2019, the FCC issued Order 19-72, which fundamentally changed the rules around POTS retirement. Prior to that order, carriers were required to maintain POTS service indefinitely, even in places where the copper plant was decades old and expensive to maintain. Order 19-72 changed that: it allows carriers to petition the FCC to retire copper Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) circuits on a state-by-state basis.

The order says carriers must give adequate notice — typically 24 to 30 months, though the FCC can require longer periods — and must make alternative services available to customers before the copper lines are turned off. But the petition process is fast: AT&T, Lumen, Frontier, and other major carriers have all filed and many have already been approved.

The timelines vary by state and by region within states. AT&T has received approval to retire POTS in parts of California, Texas, and other states with specific cutoff dates. Lumen has similar filings in progress. The upshot: in some areas, POTS could be gone within 12–18 months. In others, it may be a few more years. But the countdown is real.

What does this mean for your business? It means you can't count on POTS as a permanent solution. Carriers will give you notice before they cut the line, but that notice window is tight, and the alternatives they offer are often expensive or poorly matched to your actual needs. The time to plan is now, before you get the carrier's letter saying "your POTS line will be discontinued on [date] — here's what we recommend."

Who is most affected

The businesses most vulnerable to POTS retirement are those that rely on POTS for purposes other than just voice calling. While a desk phone that rings and routes voice calls can usually move to VoIP without major disruption, other systems that expect a POTS line are much pickier. Here's what we commonly see affected:

Alarm systems and security panels. Most traditional alarm systems require a dedicated POTS line to dial out to the monitoring center. They don't use SIP, they don't use IP address assignment, they don't authenticate with credentials. They pick up the line and dial a number. Older alarm panels simply cannot work on VoIP without special gateways or replacement hardware.

Elevator emergency phones. Every elevator is required by code to have a dedicated two-way phone that connects to the elevator monitoring center and to emergency services. These are typically hardwired to a POTS line and expect a dial tone. Many cannot be moved to VoIP without physical rewiring and often hardware replacement.

Fax machines and legacy print devices. While fax is declining, many businesses still have incoming fax lines, and older multifunction printers often have embedded modems that expect an analog connection. VoIP fax is unreliable — many businesses end up keeping one POTS line just for fax.

POS systems and dial-up credit card processors. Some older point-of-sale terminals, payment processors, and dial-up backup systems expect a POTS connection. Modern POS systems use broadband, but older ones may require the analog line.

HVAC controllers and building automation. Thermostats, building management systems, and other automated controls often use POTS lines to dial out alerts and connect to monitoring services. Many of these devices are embedded in contracts lasting 10+ years and cannot be easily replaced.

Medical alert devices and remote monitoring. Devices that allow patients to call for help, elderly care alert systems, and other medical monitoring equipment often use POTS as a failsafe when broadband is unavailable. These devices are often critical to patient care and safety.

Door access systems and intercoms. Some older door phones and building intercoms use POTS lines. While many have moved to VoIP or IP-based systems, some legacy installations still rely on analog lines.

If you have any of these systems in your building, you have a POTS problem waiting to happen. Most of them cannot simply be "switched" to VoIP — they need a compatible replacement, and that replacement needs to be sourced, tested, and installed before the POTS line is discontinued.

Your replacement options

There is no one-size-fits-all replacement for POTS. The right solution depends on what each line is being used for. Here are the primary options:

VoIP (SIP trunking)

If the POTS line is being used for regular voice calling — conference rooms, desk phones, call centers, backup lines — VoIP is usually the right answer. Services like RingCentral, Nextiva, 8x8, Vonage, or traditional SIP trunks from carriers like Lumen and AT&T can replace voice lines. They're cheaper than POTS, more flexible, and integrate with modern business systems.

The catch: VoIP requires broadband. If your broadband goes down, so does your phone system. Many businesses mitigate this with backup connectivity (dual broadband, cellular backup, or a static POTS line reserved for emergencies).

Cellular backup and fixed wireless

Cradlepoint, Digi, and other providers make devices that use cellular (4G/5G) as a backup to broadband or as a primary connection. These work well for POS systems, alarm panels, HVAC controllers, and other devices that just need to be able to dial out. The cellular connection is much faster to provision than waiting for broadband and often more reliable than a POTS line.

The limitation: some legacy devices don't work well with cellular networks. Older modems, fax machines, and alarm panels sometimes cannot establish reliable connections over cellular. Modern devices typically work fine.

POTS replacement devices (analog gateway)purpose-built

Several vendors make devices specifically designed to replace POTS lines while maintaining backward compatibility with older equipment. Bandwidth, Lumen, AT&T, and others offer "POTS-in-a-box" style gateways that connect to your broadband and present an analog phone jack where your POTS line used to be. These are ideal for alarm systems, fax machines, and other legacy equipment that you want to keep working.

The advantage: your existing equipment continues to work unchanged. The disadvantage: you're still paying for a service that looks like POTS, just delivered over IP. It's a transitional solution, not a long-term architectural fix.

Cable voice service

If you have cable broadband, many cable providers (Comcast, Charter, Cox) offer voice service bundled with broadband. This replaces POTS but relies on the same cable connection as your internet, so the same broadband-down risk applies.

SIP-enabled devices and replacements

For systems like alarm panels, door phones, building controls, and medical devices, the long-term answer is replacement hardware that natively supports SIP or IP connectivity. Alarm companies, building automation vendors, and device manufacturers all have modern SIP-compatible alternatives. This is the path forward, but it requires planning, budgeting, and testing before your POTS line is turned off.

What to avoid

Don't just take the carrier's recommended solution without evaluating alternatives. When AT&T or Lumen tells you "your POTS line will be discontinued, we recommend our VoIP service," that recommendation is made for the carrier's benefit, not yours. You might need something totally different — a cellular backup device, a dedicated POTS replacement gateway, or a system replacement. Get multiple quotes, understand what each device actually does, and match the solution to the problem.

Don't sign a three-year VoIP contract for a fax line. If you have a dedicated POTS line for an inbound fax machine, the answer is not three years of expensive business VoIP. It's eFax, cloud fax, or a purpose-built fax service at a fraction of the cost. Many VoIP salespeople will try to sell you voice service for something that only needs to send and receive faxes. Don't fall for it.

Don't move an alarm panel or elevator phone to VoIP without testing or replacement. Some alarm systems and elevator phones can work on VoIP with a special gateway. Most cannot, or only work in limited scenarios. Before you commit to a POTS replacement solution for critical safety equipment, test it thoroughly or plan to replace the hardware entirely.

Don't wait until you get the carrier notice to start planning. Carriers typically give 24–30 months, which sounds like plenty of time. It isn't. If you have 50 locations and a dozen different types of POTS-dependent equipment, a 30-month window becomes tight fast. Start the inventory and evaluation process now.

Don't assume all POTS lines can be converted to the same solution. Your main office voice line, your elevator phone, your fax machine, your alarm system, and your HVAC monitoring device all need different things. Trying to force them all onto one technology platform is a mistake. You'll end up with an expensive solution that doesn't work well for any of them.

How to plan the transition

Step 1: Inventory every POTS line and its purpose. Go line by line through your telecom bill. For each copper line, document what it's connected to — a phone system, an alarm panel, a fax machine, an elevator, a building controller, a modem. A surprising number of businesses discover they have POTS lines they completely forgot about once they do this exercise.

Step 2: Determine what each line actually needs. Not every POTS line needs to carry voice. An alarm panel needs to be able to dial out. A fax machine needs analog modulation. An elevator phone needs two-way audio. A building control system needs occasional data connectivity. Understand the actual requirement before you start shopping for replacements.

Step 3: Match solutions to requirements, not vice versa. Once you know what each line does, you can source the right replacement. A fax line might be best handled by cloud fax. An alarm panel might move to cellular. A voice line might go to SIP. A critical control system might get a dedicated POTS-to-SIP gateway. Build a solution set, not a single solution for everything.

Step 4: Plan for testing and pilot deployment. Don't convert all your POTS lines on day one. Pick one location or one system, deploy the replacement, run it in parallel with the existing POTS line for 30–60 days, and work through the inevitable issues. Then deploy to the next location.

Step 5: Work with a broker to avoid the carrier sales pitch. When your carrier calls trying to sell you their replacement service, you'll already have a plan. A telecom advisor or broker can help you source competitive alternatives, negotiate pricing, and coordinate the installation timeline. They can also ensure you're not overpaying or locking yourself into a bad contract during the panic phase of the transition.

Step 6: Build in contingency. Some POTS lines will be harder to retire than you think. Legacy equipment will behave differently than expected in the lab. Deployments will run late. Give yourself buffer time — if your line is scheduled to be discontinued in 24 months, aim to be done in 18.

Frequently asked questions