Networking & Cyber Security
Keep the faxes flowing as we face PSTN switch-off
Scott Wilson, Vice President, Sales & Service at eFax explores what businesses should be considering if they are going to continue with fax in a post-PSTN world.
U
K businesses are being urged to look to Germany to get prepared well in advance of the PSTN switch-off because fax is still
a critical IT tool. Public switched telephone networks (PSTN),
the analogue lines that kept us connected since the 19th century, are being switched off. Tis turn-off of legacy infrastructure is necessary to propel us into the digital era. But according to eFax while this process is being led by carriers and telecoms providers, businesses have a duty to themselves to ensure that they do not lose access to vital comms tools, and that includes fax. PSTN is no longer fit for purpose. Te
infrastructure is expensive to maintain, and the technology itself is not suitable for the massive demands placed on it by our digital lives. On
“PSTN is no longer fit for purpose. The infrastructure is expensive to maintain, and the technology itself is not suitable for the massive demands placed on it by our digital lives. On top of that, new, faster and better-equipped alternatives, such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) are available.”
26 | July 2022
top of that, new, faster and better-equipped alternatives, such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) are available. But for those businesses that are still going
through PSTN switch-off, it is worth considering where the changeover has been less successful and seeing where those that have already completed the migration have struggled. For example, Germany’s PSTN switch off, while largely successful, faced several issues impacting fax and security, fire prevention and more. It is all too easy to assume that just because
most people do not use a particular tool or service, no one else does either. Yet fax is a critical part of many organisations’ communication channels. However, when it comes to corporate oversight, quite oſten something like fax is hidden from view. As it has relied upon the phone line for so long, many people, including business decision-makers, will assume that it simply migrates to VoIP when PSTN is switched off. Rarely do people consider that rather than being one and the same, telephones and fax machines are actually different types of technology using the same infrastructure. Whilst many businesses assume that fax and
telephone are the same, there are several points of differentiation that IT departments need to be aware of as they face the PSTN switch-off:
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