Five steps to ensure the PSTN switch-off doesn’t ‘switch off’ your business

The UK’s Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) switch-off is fast approaching, with the full shutdown scheduled for 31 January 2027.

The milestone marks the end of analogue telephony, the copper-based network that has supported communication in the UK for over one hundred years.

After this day, all services will move to digital, IP-based technologies, such as VoIP, and there is no extension, no fallback, and no grace period for those who are not ready.

While this transition promises greater flexibility and efficiency, it also introduces a significant operational risk. Many organisations are still underestimating the scale of what is involved, not just in replacing phones, but in identifying hidden dependencies, upgrading infrastructure and ensuring business continuity throughout.

Migration to digital cannot be achieved overnight. It requires careful planning the right expertise, and enough lead time to get it right.

Despite growing media attention and industry warnings, many organisations are still underestimating the scale of the change.

Having guided numerous organisations through complex telecoms transitions, Jana Vidis, marketing lead at Converged Solutions Group, understands exactly what is at stake and what good preparation looks like.

Here are the five steps she believes every leadership team should be taking right now.

Step one: Audit your dependencies before the deadline does it for you

For many organisations, the biggest challenge is not the migration itself – it is visibility.

Before any migration can begin, businesses need a clear understanding of what they currently rely on.

This goes beyond desk phones and landlines. Analogue lines often sit behind critical systems that are easy to overlook, including alarm systems, lift emergency lines, door entry systems and payment terminals. Working with organisations across different sectors, these hidden dependencies are consistently the biggest source of delay and disruption when migration begins.

A straightforward starting point is a review of billing statements – services still being paid for are often services still in use, even if nobody is actively monitoring them.

But a billing review alone is rarely enough.

Carrying out structured, thorough audits and mapping every analogue dependency across the business, not just the obvious ones, is the kind of rigorous groundwork that prevents costly surprises further down the line.

This is best handled by your in-house IT team or a trusted specialist partner. For organisations without in-house IT support, working with a trusted expert to carry out a full audit can be invaluable.

The risks of not completing a full audit should not be underestimated, because once the shutdown happens, there is no back up or extended support option.

Organisations that have not completed a full audit before that point risk operational failure without warning – not a degraded service, but a complete halt.

The audit is not a box-ticking exercise. It is the foundation on which everything else is built on.

Step two: Review connectivity and network readiness

Once dependencies have been identified, organisations must ensure their network can support digital alternatives.

Unlike analogue systems, digital voice solutions rely entirely on internet connectivity, which makes network performance critical.

Organisations should assess the type and quality of their broadband, their available bandwidth during peak hours, and whether their infrastructure can support multiple simultaneous calls alongside everyday business applications.

In Jana’s experience, this assessment frequently reveals that an upgrade to full fibre or a higher-capacity connection is essential.

Without this, businesses risk poor call quality, latency issues and disruption to communications. Getting connectivity right is not a technical detail. It is the infrastructure your entire digital communications strategy will run on.

Step three: Choose a solution built around how your business actually works

With the right connectivity in place, organisations can begin to assess the digital solutions available to them.

There is no single approach that fits every business. The right solution depends entirely on how your teams work, where they work, and how your business communicates with customers.

Office-based employees may benefit from softphones or Microsoft Teams integration, while retail or on-site staff may still require physical handsets. Mobile teams may need calls routed directly to company mobiles to maintain flexibility across locations.

This stage is not a like-for-like replacement exercise. Organisations that simply replicate their analogue setup in a digital format miss the opportunity to work smarter. The goal is to adopt a solution that reflects how the business operates today, and has the flexibility to scale as it evolves.

 Step four: Understand internal workflows and communication needs

To get the most from digital systems, organisations must understand how communication flows across their business and whether the current approach is still fit for purpose.

This means looking at call volumes, how calls are routed between teams, and how customer interactions are handled from the first point of contact.

For example, should calls be directed through a receptionist or routed via an automated menu to the appropriate department? How are after-hours enquiries managed? What happens in an emergency?

Answering these questions allows organisations to design a system that improves efficiency and customer experience, rather than simply replicating existing processes in a digital format.

Step five:  Migrate with a plan

The final stage is implementation, but this is more than a technical installation. For many organisations, it is the most complex and time-sensitive part of the entire process, and the one most likely to cause disruption if it is not managed carefully.

Businesses need to work closely with providers to understand timelines, potential disruption and the steps involved in migrating services. This includes planning for number porting, which can take up to ten working days, and ensuring contingency measures are in place if systems are temporarily unavailable.

Just as importantly, organisations must prepare their people. Digital systems often change how employees work, so employees need to be trained so they are confident when the switch-off takes place. Training should not be an afterthought, it must be seen as a core part of delivery.

Many organisations will also benefit from appointing “super users” who receive training first and act as internal points of support for wider teams.

Crucially, this entire process takes time. For most organisations, migration will take several weeks, not days. This means leaving it until the final months risks delays, disruption and, in the worst case, loss of service.

The PSTN switch-off represents a fundamental shift in how organisations communicate and operate, and businesses cannot afford to wait until the deadline to act.

Instead, they must begin planning now, ensuring hidden dependencies are identified, connectivity is fit for purpose, and teams are ready to operate in their new modernised environments.

This article by Jana Vidis, Group Marketing Lead at Converged Solutions Group, was published in The Business Technology, IT & Workplace Magazine & Site for UK SMEs and Public Sector organisations on 21st April 2026.