When we educate people about the upcoming switch off of analogue phone lines, a question we commonly get asked is "how can I tell what phone lines I have?". It's hard to know whether the switch-off even applies to you and your business without knowing what's going on behind the scenes.
So how do you know? It's not immediately obvious, is it? Especially if you don't have the expertise in-house.
So we'll take you through some simple self-diagnostics you can perform in order to know what types of phone lines you have, and whether you'll be affected by the switch-off.
Check Your Bill
Sometimes it can really be this simple, in your monthly phone bill, there may be a line or section titled "Line Rental" which will have information regarding the exact type of phone lines you use.
If you've managed to find out your phone lines already, scroll down so you can figure out where your phone line stands in the analogue switch-off!
Follow the wire
First of all, Make sure you have a phone that's plugged in and works properly.
Follow the wire (not the power cable) to the wall. What you're looking for is a device between your phone and the wall socket.
There is NO Device
If you have a fully functional phone, and the wire just goes straight into the wall, you have an Analogue Line.
There IS a Device
If you follow the wire to the wall, and you're met with a device between the wall and your phone, you may have ISDN lines, but we can't be sure yet.
Check the device
DSL modems, which work on analogue lines, have a similar basic appearance to ISDN modems so you need to check what the device says.
If that device is marked with "ISDN", "V-30", "INS-64", or "T/A" then you have ISDN.
Conversely, if it says "ADSL", "DSL", "eAccess" or "Yahoo! BB" the phone line is Analogue.
If you have ISDN or Analogue
If you've managed to figure out what lines you have from the above, then your phone lines are due to be cut off completely within the next three years (as of 2022). You'll need to transition your current phone system over to VoIP or another IP-based phone line.