If you are a small or medium sized business, you are perhaps receiving frequent sales calls from comms companies, explaining that you will need to convert your telephone system to IP ASAP before the ISDN lines get switched off. But do you need to start panic buying a new PBX, or immediately place the order to ditch the ISDN lines that you have had forever? In short, no, there is plenty of time to get a roll out plan in place and seek advice or assistance to help your business make an informed decision.
I am not saying that you should forget about the process; as I explain to my clients: If you are planning a new infrastructure while utilising your ISDN lines, bear in mind that you will need to invest in a system that will have IP capability for future changes.
But certainly, do not be scared by pushy sales tactics and warnings of loss of service overnight. I am always happy to talk you through the process and discuss options that you have available to you moving forward.
During a BT Group Q3 2014/15 results announcement Gavin Patterson, BT Group CEO, has stated that BT intend to migrate all customers on to the IP network by 2025. There has been much deliberation in the industry as to when BT might switch off the PSTN and ISDN networks but there has never been a date set until now. Patterson highlights the future of the BT network on the analyst call, see the link below, where BT envisages their network will be a single IP core network replacing all legacy networks and platforms. Patterson commented “We already serve many thousands of customers in businesses using IP, our goal is by 2025 all of our voice customers will be served using an IP with a premises solution and will migrate off the traditional telephony platform.”
http://commsbusiness.co.uk/news/bt-set-firm-date-to-switch-off-isdn-network/