Are you still using ISDN?

As opposed to PSTN, (Analogue Lines), that are classically used at home for your phone & broadband line, ISDN, (Integrated Services Digital Network), combines multiple pairs of copper cables, authorising businesses to operate with multiple telephone calls at once. Following the pattern with all legacy forms of communication, ISDN is expensive and restrictive; often seeing businesses spend several hundreds of pounds per quarter for telephone lines & calls alone.

ISDN is the still the staple of voice communications for most businesses, but the end-of-life is already on the horizon for this 30+ year old technology. BT have announced their intentions to ‘switch off’ all these services by 2025, and therefore drive forward the adoption of VoIP (Voice-over-IP) telephony by trades up and down the country.

IS NOW THE TIME?

There has never been a healthier time to review your communications by choosing to axe your use of ISDN whenever your contract permits. You can benefit from the instantaneous cost savings, while increasing your elasticity by moving to VoIP technology.

Employing VoIP need not be a painful & pricey experience – there are so many different services and options obtainable these days, with such a competitive marketplace ensuring costs are kept to a minimum. Switching from older forms of telephony doesn’t mean you have to leave your numbers behind; you can swiftly & easily port these crossways onto VoIP, enabling you to carry on making & receiving calls as you always have.

BUT, WHAT ABOUT MY INTERNET CONNECTIVITY?

Switching from ISDN to VoIP means that your calls will no longer be running scared over those pairs of copper cables, but instead across your broadband connection. Logically, this means you’ll require a reasonably quick & steady internet connection to handle your volume of voice traffic, in addition to the data usage for visiting websites, sending/receiving emails and using cloud tools.

In some areas this isn’t an instant possibility – if your business suffers from slow ADSL speeds, and has yet to benefit from access to a fibre connection of some form, you may be concerned about the prospect of doing away with the stability of ISDN.

Nevertheless! In many cases we’ve seen the savings made from switching from ISDN to VOIP aid in the justification and funding of a dedicated fibre, (known as a Leased Line), connection. By upgrading to a Leased Line, you’ll benefit from a superfast fibre connection directly from your premises to the BT Exchange and achieve a much quicker connection, which is stable and supported by the network operator on a contractual service level agreement.

As Leased Lines are run on an separate basis to each premises, you are not confined to the restrictions of the current Openreach fibre rollout plans – which sees fibre run only from the Exchange to the local cabinets, (with copper still being used between your building & the cabinet as before). Leased Lines, among numerous other connectivity options, are open to businesses wherever you may be situated.

With the extra speed & data capacity brought with the installation of a Leased Line, any pain of switching to VoIP is eliminated. Your Leased Line would be more than adequate to carry your voice traffic over VoIP, meanwhile providing your team with a much faster & reliable connection to the internet than ever before.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

There are several different facets to such a project… but, we’re here to help.

We are regularly consulting with businesses across London and the South East around communications & connectivity. For no charge, we provide an initial consultancy session to review your current infrastructure and map-out the potentials & path to migrating to modern, and often cheaper & far more elastic technology.

If you are reviewing your voice communications, are nearing the end of a contract or are suffering from the restrictions of slow broadband, please get in touch. We can help.

We look forward to hearing from you. Call us on 0191 375 1979 or drop us a line solutions@omnicomsolutions.co.uk.
[/av_textblock]