POTS replacement looks simple — swap an old phone line for a new device — but the failure modes are unforgiving. A misconfigured fire panel line can void insurance. An unsupervised elevator phone can shut down a building. Below are the most common mistakes we see, and how to avoid them.
1. Treating life-safety lines like office phone lines
Moving a fire alarm or elevator line to your office VoIP system is the single most common mistake — and it usually breaks compliance the day the building loses power. Always use a listed POTS replacement device for monitored circuits. More on NFPA 72.
2. Undercounting lines
Walk the building. Bills always miss lines: gate intercoms, old burglar panels in unused suites, freight elevators, sprinkler tamper alarms, pharmacy modems. See how to audit POTS lines.
3. Waiting for the disconnect date
Carriers issue 90–180 day notices. Migrating in the final 30 days is when truck rolls slip and lines go dark mid-business. Start when you get the letter, not when the bill changes.
4. Skipping the supervision test
Install the device, plug in the panel, walk away. Six weeks later the monitoring company reports the panel has been off-air the entire time. Always perform an end-to-end test with the central station before signing off.
5. Choosing a single-carrier device
Single-carrier LTE devices fail in dead zones, during carrier outages and during severe weather. Dual-SIM / multi-carrier devices like the POTS Box automatically fail over.
6. Forgetting battery runtime requirements
NFPA 72 wants 24 hours of standby on the fire alarm itself, but the communication path needs to outlast a typical regional outage too. 8+ hours of battery on the POTS replacement device is the minimum we deploy.
7. Not centralizing billing on a portfolio
A 40-building portfolio with 40 separate carrier invoices is a finance nightmare. Consolidate on one provider with one master invoice from day one.
8. Ignoring the elevator inspector
Elevator phones are tested at every annual inspection. Inspectors increasingly ask how the line is provisioned — be ready to show the LTE device and battery. See the elevator guide.
9. Not asking about firmware update path
Devices live in the building for 7–10 years. Make sure your provider pushes firmware over the air; you do not want to send a tech to 200 closets.
10. Picking a vendor without a portfolio playbook
One-off installs and 200-site rollouts are completely different problems. See our multi-site rollout playbook if you're migrating more than five buildings.
Talk to us before your next migration — we'll review your plan for free.