What is POTS Replacement?

POTS replacement moves analog copper phone lines (alarms, elevators, fax, gates) to wireless or IP alternatives as carriers retire copper.

POTS replacement substitutes aging copper phone lines (Plain Old Telephone Service) with LTE, wireless or IP-based equivalents. Carriers are retiring copper networks entirely, which forces the transition for lines that never mattered to your main phone system: fire-alarm panels, elevator phones, gate entry, fax lines and blue-sky call boxes.

What buyers need to know

• Special lines have special rules — fire and alarm circuits often must meet code requirements for supervision and battery backup; use providers whose replacement products are code-compliant (Cloudli and several carriers offer these).
• Cost drops ~30–60% versus legacy POTS rates, which carriers deliberately inflate to push migration.
• Start with the inventory: most businesses don’t know how many analog lines they still pay for. The expense audit finds them — they’re a classic zombie spend.