Survey says: Organizations know they need to replace POTS lines, but many aren’t taking action yet

Here at Ooma, we’ve talked a lot about the need to replace aging copper-wire phone lines, also known as Plain Old Telephone Service or POTS. But we don’t want to get stuck inside an echo chamber, so we commissioned a survey this summer from Foundry, the parent company of CIO Magazine, to provide a reality check.

What we learned is somewhat contradictory. On one hand, the survey found most organizations recognize POTS lines are going away, and they need to select replacement service for mission-critical equipment such as fire alarm panels, elevator phones, building entry systems, blue-light safety phones and more.

On the other hand, many organizations haven’t yet taken any concrete steps toward POTS replacement.

We also uncovered the biggest motivator for POTS replacement. It’s not cost—even though carriers are rapidly increasing the monthly rates for service from less than $100 a month per line a few years ago to $300 or more. Rather, it’s reliability and compliance. Organizations, in short, want to be sure life-safety equipment will work during emergencies.

Who was surveyed?

The recent survey went to IT decision makers at organizations with more than 500 employees, across all industries and all parts of the United States.

A very healthy 86 percent were already aware of the impending “copper sunset” of POTS lines even before they received the survey. Only 10 percent plan to continue using POTS lines in the long term—plans that could be difficult to sustain as many carriers are expected to shut down their POTS infrastructure within the next few years.

What percentage has a solution?

Despite the high awareness of the copper sunset, only 19 percent of respondents said they’ve already selected a vendor for POTS replacement. More than two-thirds (68 percent) are either researching or evaluating vendors and have yet to take action.

What are their top priorities?

When asked to rank the critical factors driving them toward POTS replacement, choices that involve “keeping the lights on” come out on top, with cost much further down the list:

• Reliability and uptime—55 percent
• Security and/or compliance—50 percent
• Integration with existing technology/devices—47 percent
• Business disruption—45 percent
• Feature set—37 percent
• Cost and complexity of transaction—33 percent
• Cost of service—31 percent
• Cost of maintenance—31 percent

In other words, keeping people safe and organizations running smoothly are higher priorities than saving money.

When it comes to ticking all the boxes that organizations care about, it’s no surprise we recommend Ooma AirDial® (www.ooma.com/business/airdial-pots-line-replacement/), our award-winning POTS replacement solution that’s affordable, scalable and powerful.

Learn more

To learn more about the results of the CIO survey, download the full report here.