If your business still has phone lines that plug into the wall, a deadline is coming that you cannot ignore. Openreach is switching off the old analogue phone network, the PSTN, on 31 January 2027. New analogue and ISDN lines stopped being sold back in September 2023, so the clock is already running.
It sounds technical, but the practical question is simple: anything in your business that relies on a traditional phone line needs a digital replacement before that date. Here is what that actually means.
What is being switched off?
The PSTN, the Public Switched Telephone Network, is the copper-line network that has carried phone calls for decades. Openreach is retiring it and moving everyone to calling over the internet, known as VoIP. Once the PSTN is gone, any service that depends on an old-style line simply stops working.
It is not just your phones
This is the part that catches businesses out. Plenty of things quietly run over a phone line without anyone thinking about it:
- Phone systems and individual handsets
- Alarm systems and CCTV that dial out
- Lift emergency phones
- Door entry systems
- Card payment terminals
- Fax lines and franking machines
Every one of these needs checking. A lift phone that stops working on 1 February 2027 is not just an inconvenience, it is a safety and compliance problem.
The good news
Moving to VoIP is usually an upgrade, not a compromise. A modern business phone system lets your team answer calls in the office, at home or on a mobile, all on the same number. It is often cheaper than the line rental you pay now, and you keep the numbers your customers already know.
What you should do now
There is no need to panic, but there is a real need to plan. With the deadline a matter of months away, the businesses that move early get to choose their timing rather than scrambling at the end. We would suggest:
- Audit everything that uses a phone line, not just the phones
- Decide whether to upgrade your phone system or move your existing one to VoIP
- Sort out a business-grade internet connection that can carry your calls reliably
- Plan the switch around your current contracts so you are not paying twice
If you are not sure what in your building depends on the old network, that is exactly the kind of thing we check as part of looking after your phones. Better to find out now than on the morning it stops working.