There are no copper lines in my building, so how do I make phone calls?

Moving to new business premises is both an exciting and stressful time. In order to make the move as smooth as possible and minimise disruption to your business you’ll want to plan, especially when it comes to the fundamentals like communications. But what if you contact your telecoms provider and find they can’t help you in your new building because of a lack of infrastructure?

Why would this happen?

You may have invested in a new building with all the mod cons and expect that a telephone line would be one of those, but as the 2025 switch off of copper telephone lines approaches, the builders of new residential and commercial properties are less likely to install ISDN (copper) telephone lines as standard.

Otherwise, it might be that you’re moving your operations to a more rural location such as a converted barn, where residents have not previously needed telephone connectivity and thus not installed the relevant infrastructure.

In some cases, copper infrastructure may have been installed to certain parts of a building but not others, and with the upcoming changes it’s not worth the expense and hassle of extending it.

What are your options if your new business premises have no copper lines?

Your first thought might be that you’ll just have to rely on mobile phones, but you’ll realise quite quickly that the functionality you need from a business telephone system can’t be mimicked by a set of mobile phones alone. Not to mention the fact that in some locations you’re likely to encounter problems with signal.

However, did you know that you can use your internet connectivity to communicate by telephone?

If your building has no internet connectivity as yet, you’ll need to arrange fibre optic connectivity to the premises. This could be in the form of either a fibre optic leased line or fibre to the premises technology (you can compare the two using our handy guide). Both provide super fast connectivity and – as long as you choose a provider that can guarantee a stable, reliable connection – should be able to handle your internet data transmission and voice calls.

You may have existing fibre optic connectivity at your new premises, in which case you can skip the step outlined above and move straight on to finding a telephone system you can use to make calls over the internet.

You have two main options here: an on-site PBX or a hosted solution.

Your PBX is the bit of kit that handles your telephone calls; transferring them to the correct extension and allowing for features like do not disturb or on hold music. As the name implies, an on-site PBX solution stays at your premises, meaning that installation, maintenance and updates must be carried out by an engineer.

With a hosted solution, however, the software needed to do everything the PBX does is looked after by your provider, away from your premises. The only equipment you need is the telephone handsets themselves, and in fact you might not even need those if you choose a soft phone option (an application on your computer that allows you to use all the usual telephone features).

Because there’s no on-site PBX, installation is a piece of cake, maintenance costs are kept to a minimum and updates or new features can be added at the touch of a button. Because the PBX is not tied to any specific location it can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection; ideal for remote working and disaster recovery. Look for a solution that’s been designed for business use to make sure you’re getting the best support and technology that delivers crystal clear call quality.

Don’t be put off by a lack of copper

There are many factors to consider when you’re choosing a new business location, but if a lack of ISDN infrastructure is currently putting you off remember that by 2025 these old systems will have been decommissioned anyway. By switching now you’re getting ahead of the curve and setting yourself up to work more efficiently and flexibly for the foreseeable future.