Mobility and the Death of the Landline
Reducing Support for the POTS
CNN reported that recently, “AT&T applied for a waiver that would allow it to stop servicing traditional landlines in California. AT&T and Verizon previously stated they want to be fully operational on newer infrastructure within the next few years.
“That’s part of a sweeping move by phone service providers to replace older copper wire-based telephone systems lines, also known as Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), with faster and more advanced technology that doesn’t work with landlines,” the network reported.
“Consumers will have to decide whether to give up their landlines or potentially face higher costs because of complex, expensive workarounds from the phone companies. The alternatives might not be as reliable as old-fashioned landlines either, and the process of switching the old equipment for the new could be a massive undertaking,” CNN reported.
Business Users Ready to Retire Landlines
The trend to mobile in the consumer market is being echoed in the business market too.
We commissioned two key market studies with Cavell over the last 6 months with over 800 IT managers across multiple sectors in the US and Europe. They revealed that 99% of IT managers would be willing to retire landlines in favor of mobile-only communications using eSIM technology, based on the employees role.
That is an overwhelming proportion in favor of major technology change, largely based on both the end user desire to use mobile devices when out of the office, and a desire to reduce the cost and under-utilization of office-based telephony.
Today’s mobile phones universally support eSIM technology, enabling a business line to be added to the mobile, even using a different mobile network from the personal line. The personal SIM remains completely private and separate in the device. The business pays for and controls the use of the additional business eSIM and can configure it as an extension of its UC platform, just as if the worker carried a traditional landline desk phone with them.
This approach unlocks easy-to-use, compliant voice communications to a vast portion of the workforce, many of them frontline employees who have traditionally had no access to corporate communications. It also provides a fully UC integrated mobile solution to replace expensive company-provided mobile phones for knowledge workers and executives.
The reduction of desktop and company mobile phones not only saves costs, but also has the added benefit of cutting carbon footprints and boosting the trajectory towards those hard to achieve ESG targets.
GTIGLOBAL Extend: Simple Business Mobility for Any User
The advent of dual SIM phones and particularly eSIMs has meant that we are able to put an office extension with an existing business number into an existing mobile phone within seconds. All the end user must do is scan a QR code, which can be done any time out of the office. No need to mail out or fiddle with nano SIM cards!
GTIGLOBAL Extend is a fully functional UC extension in a mobile phone, and delivers an office extension experience, regardless of which UC platform is used. It’s essentially the desk-phone-in-your-pocket.
It’s a rare win-win for both sides of the business. Employees get to use the personal, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phones that they know and love and get the best quality business calls. Meanwhile their employers retain control over mobile UC with all the benefits of company-owned phones, but without the expense.
Featuring the most advanced implementation of fixed mobile convergence technologies, GTIGLOBAL Extend supports many use cases for a distributed workforce, including Mobile Unified Communications, mobile workforce communications, and programs for remote working, work from home, telecommuting and business continuity.
Get in touch today to learn how GTIGLOBAL Extend will make BYOD truly business ready and paves the way to retiring landlines for your company.