Only 25% of Homes are Projected to Have Wired Phone Service by 2015

Traditional phone lines, also known as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), are being made obsolete thanks to new technology that's more affordable and convenient like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). At the PSTN peak, almost every home was connected by it. This figure will be cut by 75% in the U.S. come 2015. Don't let your business get stuck with obsolete technology!

How is VoIP Better?
VoIP is a powerful communications solution that uses the same network as your Internet to transmit and receive media such as data, voice, and video, through the use of data packets. Additionally, in the same way you can wirelessly connect to the Internet, you can wirelessly use VoIP for all of your communication needs, including video conferencing, webinars, accessing your communication apps in the cloud, and of course, making phone calls with your IP-enabled phone.

VoIP lets you do everything you can do with a traditional phone line at a fraction of the cost, and VoIP has been shown to save businesses up to 80% on their long distance phone bills. VoIP is also versatile and can be combined with cellular phone technology. All of these reasons are largely contributing to businesses and consumers alike cutting their old PSTN cords and taking advantage of better solutions by the droves!

Transitioning Between the Old and the New
One would think that the traditional phone companies would be doing everything they could to counteract the rise of popular solutions like VoIP by adjusting their business model to stay competitive. However, this isn't the direction PSTN providers are heading. Instead, we're seeing traditional phone companies do little to compete. They're choosing to keep their rates high. It's almost as if the phone companies would prefer that you make the switch to VoIP.

Due to how expensive it is to build and maintain PSTN systems, this push from traditional phone line providers to switch may be real. Forbes makes this point in a recent article:

The endgame is now in sight. Even the FCC, which regulates the old network (in the US) ... has called for its quick and orderly retirement ... PSTN providers can't beat better and cheaper with worse and more expensive, especially when worse and more expensive has to stay that way as a matter of law. Something has to give, and regulators know it.

Many of the PSTN providers are willingly allowing the PSTN market to die because they have moved on and invested their resources into developing better communication solutions. For example, many of the PSTN carriers that were the biggest players in the days when every home had a landline are now leading the charge of putting a smartphone in every pocket.

VoIP has Arrived
When VoIP was first introduced, PSTN providers were skeptical that VoIP could handle the multiple communications demands of a business. However, Forbes goes on to explain how VoIP's position in the marketplace has drastically changed, "Carriers large and small have now embraced the Internet as the only option to satisfy exploding demand from consumers, cloud-based services, and the coming data deluge of machine-to-machine communications known as 'the Internet of Things.'"

Since VoIP is the direction of where business communication is going, it's a good idea to re-evaluate your dependency on PSTN lines if you're still using them. Give Computerware a call at (703) 821-8200 and talk to us about the benefits of VoIP, like saving money and taking advantage of the latest solutions. Call Computerware today, we can make your technology work for you!