POTS ARE NOT DEAD

POTS or Plain Old Telephone Service is the standard telephone line that served us all so well 30 years ago.  Today, this service is not as common or easy to find as it used to be, but it still serves a purpose in our modern world, and it is not going anywhere anytime soon.

These POT lines were originally copper wires connected to a standard telephone and a service provider’s central switching system. Throughout the years, this method resulted in higher costs and less service flexibility. With a declining customer base and an increasing overhead, carriers are now abandoning their copper offerings. Unfortunately, this leaves millions without the service they need to operate their fax machines, ATM’s, alarms, elevator phones, and more.

Introducing LTE became the resolution. POTs-like service is being offered by multiple hardware and cellular providers over a specific LTE to POTs device.  As a result, we offer one LTE device on each of the three biggest wireless networks, and the coveted RJ11 two wire hand-off port. This combination will allow you and your customers to connect to those still necessary analog devices without installing expensive copper wiring.

Buyer beware that some of these analog devices, like the LTE device, with its built-in analog terminal adapter (ATA with RJ11) are better than others.  Plain analog phones work great but, when you start connecting devices that originate with a digital signal and then get converted to analog, you will almost certainly run into a few hiccups. It is always recommended to slow down fax machines, modems in an ATM, modems in a POS, and even your computer modem (if it’s still wired).  Slowing down the bit rate of connected devices will allow for a higher connection success rate, since you will be eliminating inter-symbol interference (or ensuring what is sent is properly detected).

The fact is that POTs are not dead; in fact, LTE and ATA solutions have given many old analog devices a new life. On the other hand, if your customers require a greater speed than analog devices can provide, Ethernet based solutions are the way to go. Our team is well versed in both solutions and can walk you and your customers through the process to determine which solution best fits their needs.

Contact your CORE Sales Director today to ensure you get the right device for your customers!

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