As the deadline looms for PSTN’s retirement party, it’s clearer than ever that Britain’s business users are all but oblivious to the potential risks to their companies’ support and alarm services.
First the good news: the Channel gets it. When we launched the Fit To Switch campaign at Channel Live, resellers and wholesalers immediately recognised the value of an all-industry, supplier-agnostic slogan around which to focus their ‘stop-sell’ messaging.
Now the bad news: most business customers still haven’t got a scooby. The really bad news: even the people businesses rely upon to help them understand the risks are still treating the PSTN retirement as a non-event.
When the Fit To Switch team raised the issue with the trade associations who represent two of the most obvious ‘at risk’ service sectors – lift suppliers and fire alarm companies – their responses yielded only referrals to Openreach articles and supplier sales presentations made at last year’s industry conferences.
We recently carried out initial unprompted research among factory managers through Manufacturing Management, a fellow MA Business publication. This confirmed that telecoms is still pretty much a ‘black art’ as far as most business customers are concerned. Even among informed, technically literate business managers.
Managing complexity
The difference between copper alarm lines and fibre alarm lines is not trivial. Especially when those lines are provided by third-party service providers like remote burglar- or fire-alarm monitoring companies, lift alarm call-handlers or overnight IT back-up services.
Legacy copper networks provide always-on, fail-safe functionality. IP, by contrast, is an innately non-fail-safe alternative which needs to be activated at the business end in order to send a prompt to third-party reporting centres. That difference could prove especially crucial in the event of a mains power failure.
It’s clear from our conversations at Channel Live that the problem is not with the Channel or its providers. The problem is with business owners whose understanding of telecoms often runs no deeper than picking up a handset and expecting to be able to talk. Up until now, they have been able to rely on third-party alarm and service providers.
Now, for business continuity’s sake, they need to know their companies’ future ability to cope with crises or power cuts will be up to the mark in a new all-IP world. They are simply not equipped with enough understanding to know where to begin.
Educating businesses
Fit To Switch has already started mapping out engagement strategies to equip those business owners to spot potential risks and seek expert advice from professional CPs. A programme of editorial articles and self-help questionnaires begins this summer in trusted industry magazines including Manufacturing Management, The Engineer, Farmers Weekly and Nursing & Residential Care. Fit To Switch will spell out the issues in language which non-experts can understand, and in the context of their own business needs.
The issues raised by the PSTN switch-off represent a once in a lifetime opportunity for our sector. Engaging with non-expert business customers will be crucial if we are to manage the all-IP transition, pave the way to a fully-digital future and reinforce our reputation as trustworthy and professional providers.
Meanwhile, the latest guidance for Channel players from Comms Council UK confirms the specialist needs of the business sector are generally playing catch-up with the far larger, and technically less complex, consumer market.
Comms Council UK’s guidance notes for resellers and consumers explained, “It has been obvious for some time now that the planning and focus for migration has leaned heavily towards the residential market. We anticipate a standard residential consumer will be well-served with sufficient broadband bandwidth and calling capability. However, this is not proving to be the case with business users.
“Where good fibre connectivity is reported to be available for installation, we are getting reports of long installation delays. There are particular concerns in any areas where fibre is not available, and it is our view that SOTAP is not fit for purpose as a replacement for ISDN services and will not serve business premises well at all.”
Comms Council UK recommends CPs take action now to get the migration delivered as smoothly as possible. Providers should make sure customers understand what is happening and why, and they need to know what equipment customers are using so they can work through the options for migration.
The association added providers should pay special attention to issues created in the event of a power cut, as well as ascertaining what services are available and how they could be delivered to customers.
There is huge potential to win new business, but the time to act is now. CPs must position themselves in the market as soon as possible.
This article appeared in our May 2023 print issue. You can read the magazine in full here.