By 2025, all UK ISDN and PSTN lines will be closed. It’s a fact we’ve known for some time. Some businesses have made the move to digital already, and are enjoying the benefits of a digital solution, while others are still clinging onto legacy technology.  

The move is happening, like it or not, and it begins in Salisbury, December 2020, where the services will no longer be offered. BT is offering its all-IP solution in its place, pushing business towards a digital future. 

A key year to remember is 2023 when services become end of sale. This means no longer upgrades, changes or new ISDN or PSTN services. It seems a long way off, but should you enter into a contract now, there is a good chance your connection will be affected.  

By the end of 2021, a further one hundred and sixty-eight exchanges will stop selling ISDN and PSTN lines, and by the end of 2022, the service will be discontinued in some areas. The remaining areas will follow suit, so that by 2025, ISDN and PSTN lines will be a thing of the past, and all UK business phone lines will be digital.  

So, if you haven’t considered moving your telephony solution to digital yet, perhaps now is the time to start planning.  

The digital transition 

The truth is, the transition of business telephone lines from analogue to digital can be complex, and right now, they may seem costly given the UK economy. But consider this, that cost is not going to reduce, not by any significant means, and the project itself is not going to become simpler, quite the opposite in fact.  

As any experienced IT Director or IT Manager knows, the driver for any IT project determines the complexity and risk. It’s when businesses leave things to the last minute that corners are cut, and mistakes happen. Or worse still, the wrong solution is implemented. 

There is a plethora of digital UC&C solutions available, but which one is right for your business can only really be determined by examining your business’ digital transformation path. The right solution is one that, not only suits your business today, but also complements your overall IT strategy, taking into consideration what your IT Infrastructure will look like in three-to-five years’ time.  

2025 is closer than you might think. Consider the below timeline: 

• The average decision-making period within enterprise businesses for new UC&C solutions is three to six months.  
• A typical solution design for a large enterprise business could be a further one to two months. 
• Implementation and integration, for a well-planned transition could take another three months, or longer for businesses with multiple sites. 

Embrace digital 

Despite the change, the news is not negative. In fact, there hasn’t been a better time to transition to a digital platform. A digital UC&C platform will integrate with your IT environment, provide tools and resilience options far beyond that of a solution that relies on local ISDN and PSTN lines. With benefits such as improved security, flexibility and scalability, hosted UC&C solutions add far greater value to businesses whilst providing increased functionality.  

Is your business prepared for the ISDN closure? Do you have time to delay any longer? 

As one of the UK’s leading cloud service providers, we are urging CTOs, IT Directors and IT Managers to investigate the all-IP offering from Timico to fully understand the impact on their business. We are also offering a free consultation to guide businesses through the transition, and help you use the ISDN closure as an opportunity to adopt a greater UC&C solution. 

Our aim is to keep our customers connected, productive and secure, and we maintain that promise by delivering the right solution, time and time again.  Contact us today to discuss an all-IP solution for business. Click here to claim your free consultation.