The Legacy You Can’t Afford: Why It’s Time to Replace Your POTS Lines

The lines are still active. But they shouldn’t be.

For years, organizations have been making bold strides in digital transformation—investing in cloud platforms, unified communications, cybersecurity, and mobility. But quietly, behind the scenes, many still rely on a technology that hasn’t evolved in decades:

Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines.

You’ll find them tucked into elevators, running point-of-sale systems, or wired to emergency alarms. They may not be visible in your innovation roadmap—but they’re holding your modernization efforts back.

Outdated Infrastructure. Rising Costs. Real Risk.

Legacy systems like POTS aren’t just old—they’re becoming unsustainable.

According to research from Frost & Sullivan, more than 20 million POTS lines in the U.S. are in the process of being decommissioned. Carriers like AT&T are sunsetting copper networks by 2029, and regulatory changes mean they’re no longer required to maintain these services.

Meanwhile, the cost of maintaining POTS is rising fast—up 27% from 2005 to 2020—while the reliability of these lines is declining.

Let’s be clear:

If your emergency systems, transaction processing, or safety infrastructure still run on POTS, you’re operating on borrowed time.

Why POTS Still Matters—Until It Doesn’t

Despite their age, POTS lines are often deeply embedded in critical workflows:

• 🚨 Emergency and life-safety systems (e.g., fire alarms, elevator phones, E911 access) 
• 🏥 Medical monitoring in hospitals and assisted living facilities 
• 🛒 Point-of-sale systems in retail stores and remote locations 
• 🏛️ Secure lines in financial institutions and government agencies 
• 🏭 Industrial equipment that relies on analog connectivity 

These systems can’t fail. But with aging copper infrastructure, the risk of downtime, regulatory non-compliance, and operational disruption is growing.

The Problem with Patchwork Modernization

Modernization often happens in silos. A department upgrades a tool. A new platform is rolled out for remote work. But legacy systems like POTS get left behind—until they fail or cause compliance issues.

This fragmented approach can create more problems than it solves:

• Separate monitoring and management 
• Increased training requirements 
• Security and compliance gaps 
• Poor integration with digital systems 
• Unnecessary overhead 

The fix? Modernize everything, together. Especially the parts hiding in plain sight.

A Smarter Way Forward: Clearspan’s POTS Replacement Solution

At Clearspan, we believe modernization should be holistic, not piecemeal. That’s why we created the POTS Replacement Solution (PRS)—a reliable, secure, and cloud-enabled alternative to legacy analog lines.

With Clearspan PRS, you get:

✅ Support for critical analog devices (fax, alarms, entry systems)
✅ Built-in security and regulatory compliance
✅ Centralized cloud management and monitoring
✅ Reduced cost and complexity
✅ Seamless integration with your existing cloud stack

This isn’t just about replacing wires. It’s about removing risk and gaining visibility, control, and flexibility.

The Clock Is Ticking

By 2026, 81% of IT leaders say they plan to replace analog and specialty POTS lines with modern alternatives. Why?

Because the longer you wait, the more costly and complicated it becomes.

The transition away from POTS isn’t coming—it’s here. And Clearspan is helping organizations like yours make the shift confidently, without disruption.

Final Thoughts: It’s Time to Take Action

Your communications infrastructure is the backbone of your business. It deserves more than outdated copper lines and rising maintenance bills.

Let’s turn your legacy liability into a modern strength—starting today.

🔗 Explore Clearspan’s POTS Replacement Solution: link
📞 Ready to talk? Connect with a Clearspan specialist: +18007291872