When Marc Andreessen said, “New technology tends to go through a 25-year adoption cycle,” he could have pointed to technologies like ISDN and the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
After all, he’s no stranger to tectonic shifts in the technology industry. Indeed, when he introduced the Mosaic web browser in 1993, no one – not even Andreessen – could have forecast the immense impact the web would have on humanity. And it took about 25 years of adoption to get it where it is today.
Consider ISDN, the once heralded telephony advancement that ushered in a new era of voice and video capabilities over copper wire. Launched in 1986, it gained significant acceptance as a viable and stable telephonic technology to harness new methods of connecting businesses with voice and video at exceptionally high speeds for its time.
But the Internet Changed Everything
After a 30-year run, it was clear to telephone providers like BT that ISDN had reached its technical limits. VoIP and mobile phones were rapidly supplanting it. So, in 2015, BT announced that it would phase out its ISDN and PTSN capabilities in the UK by 2025.
BT’s announcement represents the most significant change in the telecom industry in the last 30 years, ending the traditional copper wire network and pushing companies to the Internet Protocol (IP).
Goodbye ISDN and PTSN. Hello IP
Companies need to update their telephony systems. Because, by 2023, vendors like BT will no longer provide PTSN solutions. All copper phone line services will switch to the Internet Protocol (IP).
There are two established IP technologies to replace the traditional phone system.
VoIP: This technology delivers multimedia and voice communications over IP. It converts analogue voice calls into data packets transmitted over the public internet and private IP networks on the web. VoIP drives peer-to-peer calls such as Microsoft Meetings within Teams or an application like Vonage.
SIP: Session Initiation Protocol or SIP is the set of rules used in multimedia communications leveraged by VoIP. SIP makes external calls to a phone number possible,
How to Switch to VoIP and SIP Solutions
With the rise of hybrid and remote working, collaboration and calling solutions must also enable employees to interact anywhere, on any device.
Switching to VoIP and SIP allows companies to access significant cost savings and flexibility. Implementing VoIP is a good way for companies to set up a new phone system, but it lacks the connectivity offered by a SIP solution. So, consider a SIP provider to retain existing phone numbersor to enable calling to landline and mobile numbers.
Switch with Resonate
Resonate offers an enterprise-grade SIP solution to make the transition. It’s a scalable cloud solution that can port existing numbers into the new system while removing on-premises equipment and legacy lines.
Resonate also offers a comprehensive system within Microsoft Teams, using direct routing and a host of advanced features like contact centre, call recording, analogue device integration and emergency calling and a Power Platform-based Voice Tooling suite.
Everything in the Fullness of Time
Andreesen was right. It takes about 25 years for new technologies to take hold. Twenty-five years ago, who could have predicted the global acceptance of internet calling and the end of the copper line? Today, VoIP and SIP are at an inflexion point. Because everything has its time.
And it’s time to contact Resonate for the ISDN/PTSN switch-off.