We have been lucky to have technology as stable as POTS lines, Plain Old Telephone Service, for nearly 150 years. Sadly, their time is coming to an end. With that, on-premise solutions reliant on analog connections are becoming more susceptible to issues, and maintenance costs are rising. Did you know according to a G2 study, moving to the cloud reduces downtime by as much as 57 percent?
Here comes the hard truth: moving from an on-premise solution to a cloud-based platform is an intelligent decision for the long term, but let’s discuss why that’s the case.
Why Are Systems Becoming Unsupported?
The FCC has officially deregulated POTS, and with that deregulation comes a steady decline in service dependencies and fewer companies able to support aging equipment. The overall deregulation doesn’t mean a switch will be flipped and suddenly all lines will be turned off; it means that to use a technology term, the End-of-Life status is approaching.
Currently in California, AT&T has applied to end its Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) responsibilities, but a lawsuit has been filed to stop that application, which could impact the rest of the country. POTS lines are far from over.
Risks Of Fixing Unsupported Systems
By continuing to fix unsupported systems, you are prolonging the need to update and reducing your options to do so. There will come a day when that system doesn’t boot up, and it’s officially gone for good. You cannot make any final backups or jot down settings. You are now scrambling for its replacement because there are issues you can’t resolve anymore:
System Inconsistency and Downtime
We have become accustomed to the beauty of backups and reliability. In the early 2000s, getting a new cell phone was a hassle because there was no way to transfer your contacts, let alone anything else. Then, the first major and widely accepted backup was the iPhone. You got a new phone and were able to initiate a restore from a previously saved version. We were officially out of the cell phone stone age.
Is this a bit dramatic? Maybe, but the sentiment remains – using outdated and unsupported on-premise solutions makes coming back from an outage exponentially more difficult, if at all. Your phone system is no different. Today, you go into the office with no issues, and tomorrow, you walk in and realize the power went out during the night, and now the system is unresponsive.
Increasing Costs
With the availability of replacement parts and knowledgeable providers able to work with outdated, on-premise solutions dwindling by the week, it’s almost certain that the scarcity will force the costs to climb higher and higher.
With cloud-based solutions from Axxess Networks, you get next-generation technology with prices that would shock you with how good they are.
Security Vulnerabilities
The last few years have seen an explosion of cyber threats to businesses, not just mega-corporations but all sizes across the board. An Identity Theft Research Center report found that in 2023, cyberattacks encompassed 2,365 breaches, victimizing 343,338,964 people. With on-premise solutions functioning without proper security protocols implemented, it’s not a matter of whether your system will be tested but when.
This statement is not meant as a scare tactic; it’s a real scenario that we have seen far too often.
Don’t Let Unsupported Systems Hold You Back; Work with Axxess Networks on a Solution Built for You
The hope is that you are still in a decent enough place where you have time to work with us to determine your next best steps without the possibility of lasting business damage. Take these warnings to heart about unsupported, on-premise solutions, and work with our industry experts to get a system that will be supported for years to come. Contact us today!
