Comms Council UK is the newest supporter of Fit To Switch, a Comms Business campaign to raise awareness and educate businesses from different sectors about potential risks to their business when the PSTN is withdrawn.
Comms Council UK is the first of our Approved Supporters, but stands with our National Champions: Daisy Communications, Daisy Partner Business, Gamma, Sangoma and Giacom.
Fit To Switch provides a platform for the industry to collaborate, own the narrative and ultimately to have their Channel partners upgrade their clients’ networks and be ready for an all-IP world.
Tracey Wright, head of Comms Council UK’s industry developments working group and director at Magrathea, discussed what the transition means for the organisation’s members.
She said, “There should be this massive opportunity for Comms Council UK members to get their services out into the mainstream but the risk, as we see it, is the general population are so unaware of the options and it’s so complicated, that it’s going to be very easy for them to just choose the first option that is presented to them.
“That option is likely to come from the likes of BT, who have got the largest budget and the most direct contact today. For our members this is about raising awareness that there are other options available, rather than just defaulting to the incumbent supplier.”
The lack of a government-led national campaign is making things difficult for the industry. Wright explained, “We feel the national messaging towards business customers is severely lacking, so we’ve been playing a lobbying role but we also created a switch-off area on the Comms Council UK website to educate the business community.
“That has been useful for our members to be able to signpost customers. There are a few resources: the government published a page, Ofcom has a page, so we’ve been trying to pull all of that together for our members.
“We have now joined the Fit To Switch campaign and, for us, this is about encouraging our members and giving them the resources to go out to their customers and move them towards all-IP alternatives ahead of the PSTN withdrawal.”
Neutral resource
Comms Council UK has joined the Fit To Switch campaign to complement those other ongoing activities for a few reasons. Wright said, “What we like about Fit To Switch is it is a neutral resource. Most of the things that have come out to date have been supported by one of the larger networks, which is great that they’re doing that but, again, it still sends this message that those are the only options. We hope that Fit To Switch gets that message out there in different way.”
Wright reflected on the disconnect between industry-led messaging and broad awareness. She said, “A lot of the work that’s been done to date is aimed at telecoms companies. Now, in theory, telecoms companies know about this and what they’re doing already. It’s those other sectors that the message needs to get out to. That’s what’s attractive about Fit To Switch because it has that reach into other sectors.
“We’ve always felt that the whole campaign needs a pincer approach. You need service providers going out to their customers saying: this change is happening, this is why, this is what you need to do. Then because of that increased awareness, those customers are going to start thinking: does this impact me and how does this impact me?
“Service providers can’t possibly know every convoluted setup that their customers or potential customers have got – many businesses have got things they don’t even know they’ve got – so if we can get the awareness out there, it will trigger customers to start thinking and asking questions of their providers. With Fit To Switch, hopefully the breadth of messaging will improve things.”
Wright added the issue with an industry-led campaign is that it can come across as marketing, rather than the national migration that it is.
She explained, “It feels like an upsell, doesn’t it? If your business or your home is running perfectly fine, and someone says: here, have this new technology, it might cost you a bit more, but you should buy it. If you’re already happy with what you’ve got, what’s the motivation to change?
“Without knowing it is going to have to happen, why would you change? Especially at the moment when everyone’s watching every penny.”
Standard terminology
With so many devices and services running on the PSTN, the migration options can be complex. As such, the Channel will need to guide businesses through the possibilities and help remove that complexity for them.
Wright explained, “It’s actually really complicated to figure out what you need. It used to be simple, you either needed a phone line or an ISDN line. Those were the choices. Now you have to think about so much more, from your broadband speeds to all the different capabilities that you want to plug into it.
“For the average person, it’s just so confusing. Everyone uses different terminology. Even for us in the industry, sometimes I have to look up my glossary of what things mean, so how can we expect the average business to understand it?”
It will be key to use standard terminology so the telecoms industry is understood. Wright said, “We can all help by using standard language and being more clear about what all these products and services are. Then we need to get that message out to the people that need to hear it, so they know these options are available to them.”
This feature appeared in our November 2023 print issue. You can read the magazine in full here.