Cellular POTS (plain old telephone service) line replacement solutions are a growing opportunity in the wireless channel space. Most of us over the age of 40 remember the days of wired home phones when you needed to plug the phone into an RJ-11 jack to get a dial tone. This service was enabled by a copper wire running to your house or business by a phone service provider and attached to the home via the demarcation box on the outside of the building.
Today most Americans age 10 and up have a personal cell phone, and copper wire-based POTS service in the home or business is on its way out. This is in part due to FCC Forbearance Order 19-72A1 regarding Analog POTS lines. FCC order 19-72A1 (issued August 2, 2019) has officially granted telecommunications carriers permission to abandon outdated, degrading copper POTS lines and no longer requires them to make this important element of telecommunications service available to consumers after August 2, 2022. This is effectively an end-of-life scenario for traditional analog copper POTS line services.
Since the issuance of this order, carriers are increasing prices substantially (potentially as much as $3,000 per line per month) for existing copper wire-based POTS line services in a focused effort to migrate customers off this aging and degraded infrastructure. Cellular and SIP server-based POTS replacement solutions are excellent choices to consider as alternatives at very attractive prices.
POTS line applications such as emergency call boxes on college campuses and emergency elevator telephones lend themselves specifically well to Cellular POTS replacement solutions such as the Simplifi Connect 2 Router with the Simplifi VoiceLink Smart Dongle. With this solution, one only needs a SIM card similar to that for a standard smartphone with both a data and voice component on any one of the major Tier 1 carriers in the US (T-Mobile, AT&T, FirstNet, or Verizon). The solution effectively translates the cellular phone service to a simulated dial tone that legacy POTS auto-dialers will recognize and creates a reliable, cost-effective replacement for legacy, copper wire-based POTS line service.
An additional benefit of the Simplifi VoiceLink Smart Dongle is its ability to support applications such as Fire alarms and Burglar alarms which are not commonly supported by cellular-based POTS replacement solutions. The Cloud management element of this solution allows Network Administrators visibility into potential issues with phones and auto-dialers connected to the VoiceLink Smart Dongle before a complete failure of hardware is realized. This allows for the proactive dispatch of a repair technician before there is a lapse of service, further enhancing the cost-effectiveness of this solution.
For more information regarding the Simplifi Cellular POTS replacement solution, please reach out to GetWireless to learn more.
Craig Linder
Sr. Director of Product Management
GetWiireless