While ISDN is being turned off, it’s not going to happen tomorrow, next week or even next year – so don’t panic!

Although BT have started the gradual phase out already, the ISDN network will continue to work until the complete network switch off between April and December 2025. At this point, you’ll have no other choice but to use an IP option for your business telephone system.

From this year, you can’t order any new connections, but BT have recently extended their end of sale deadline from 2020 to 2023 to give businesses more time to prepare for the switch off. After this date, you will no longer be able to purchase any new ISDN services at all.

So while ISDN is still supported for the time being, it is important to start planning your migration sooner rather than later to ensure you are fully prepared when the ISDN switch-off arrives.

Although ISDN is still supported, it doesn’t change the fact that ISDN is old technology that isn’t really fit for the future and will soon be obsolete. There may be nothing wrong with the telephone system that you currently use, but it is probably costing you more money than you need to spend.

So, while it might seem easier to renew now, it will cause you headaches later down the line and leave you less time to migrate to an alternative.

We advise that if your telephony contract is up for renewal that you start exploring alternatives now. And if your contract is still live for a few more years, just ensure you have enough ISDN phone lines to cope with your immediate growth plans.

While it’s true that some legacy telephone systems are not compatible with modern ISDN technology alternatives, it’s not always the case.

If your system doesn’t support IP, could do with a refresh and you want to make the most of additional modern features that come with an upgrade, now could be the time to replace. But you don’t have to.

If your telephone system was installed in the last 5 years, it could be compatible with one of the ISDN alternatives like SIP.

It’s important that you check with your current provider to see if your telephone system can be upgraded to SIP instead of completely replacing your existing hardware unnecessarily.

Hosted VoIP and SIP trunks are the best and preferred alternatives to ISDN.

Both systems offer a lot more benefits than ISDN and are also actually less expensive to manage and maintain.

So you’ll end up paying less for a lot more whilst improving the way your business communicates! Bonus!

They simply rely on an internet connection to work and remove the limitation of physical lines. This means they are more scalable and flexible than ISDN, allowing you to make changes to your system quickly and with ease.

Plus, you’ll save in the long run too because your business will already have the foundations in place for when future technologies are released!

Moving away from ISDN technology is quicker and easier than you think – so don’t worry.

The migration process can take as little as three weeks, dependent on your current infrastructure, your business size and needs.

This can be managed by an external company who will help you to plan your switch-over to minimise business disruption and ensure the process is as seamless as possible.

Plus, you can keep all your existing numbers!