Moving from ISDN to SIP

ISDN has been with us for nearly 30 years, it stands for INTEGRATED SERVICES DIGITAL NETWORK and has been the driving force behind business communications ever since. It allows the transmission of digital signals for voice, data and video over the legacy copper wired PSTN network. However with the massive increases in data transmission and the necessity for speed accommodate this many businesses have moved onto VoIP platforms, utilising new protocols and using modern cabling – indeed cabling which has been created in the data age.

It is not only the speed of the new system which is forcing obsolescence upon ISDN but whilst ISDN provides a solid backbone for communications there are new practices which require a freedom of endpoint assignation which just can not be handled by traditional methods; staff increasingly work from varied locations and access the same data streams via a host of devices – Unified Communications requires the freedom that fibre broadband can deliver.

Benefits for Business Moving from ISDN to SIP

  • Savings – call costs and line rentals are far cheaper
  • Flexibility – an admin can add lines from a cloud based interface
  • Disaster Recovery – in the event of failure of system or component data and calls can be re routed
  • Scalability – the system has no physical limits – it can grow ( or shrink ) with your business
  • Control – all data pathways can be redirected as needs dictate

Hence it came as no surprise that in early 2015 BT CEO Gavin Patterson announced that BT would be aiming to deliver “Britain’s Digital Future” and that in consequence, ISDN would be phased out by 2025

So what does this mean for UK businesses?

Well, at time of writing this the majority of UK businesses still rely upon the IDSN although a large proportion are already making the switch to IP. Not only is it important for businesses to consider planning for the 2025 switch but they also must realise that BT will not be investing much further in the existing ISDN network so a diminishing level of service should be expected.

So we urge IT administrators, procurement executives and comms managers to inform themselves about coming changes and to see how an efficient implementation of an IP system will benefit their company from day one and certainly from 2025 and thereafter.

Best4Systems has many years’ experience in the provisioning of VoIP/ SIP/ IP solutions for businesses; providing an ‘all in one solution’ to allow migration from ISDN to a fully featured and scalable system.

View Avalle4Business for more info on Business VoIP Packages