Why Are BT pulling the plug on ISDN and PSTN?
The short answer is that they are old fashioned legacy technologies with maintenance fees and disadvantages.

PSTN is the traditional telephone line network which enables analogue voice data utilising copper lines. This technology is basically the same in principle and design as the early telephone networks of the late 1800’s! Yes, the 1800’s…

The ISDN switch off marks the next step of telecommunications technology
ISDN was introduced in the 1980’s, allowing both voice and data services to be delivered simultaneously. For the technology and services at the time, it served its purpose very well and continued to do so for many years.

Now we're deep into the 21st century, technology has advanced forward and old telephone solutions are falling behind the other options in an increasingly fast paced digital world.

How to get ahead of the ISDN Switch Off
If you currently have a traditional ISDN/PSTN based system, now is a good point to look into the alternative. Despite 2025 being a few years away, it’s best to get ahead and you may actually find you want to migrate sooner rather than later after finding out all of the benefits the replacement ‘IP’ based systems have to offer.

IP Technology - Life After The Great BT ISDN Switch Off
IP (Internet Protocol) telephony has been in the industry for some time and many businesses have already benefited from the technology. Eventually all phone lines will be superseded by IP technology, which is vastly ahead to what we have used in the past. Here’s a quick overview of the main business benefits for using hosted VoIP:

It’s very cost effective
There’s no need for heavy on site equipment, you only pay for as many users as you need and calls are made through internet lines.

Simple setup & maintenance
Because there is so little on site equipment, setting up and maintaining the system is a simple

Freedom
The flexible nature of the technology allows you to easily add and remove users as you need. Physical location doesn’t matter, anywhere you’ve got an internet connection, you can have a number.