Legacy Transition

Carriers want you off legacy lines. They are expensive to maintain and less functional than new tech. They are using massive price increases to encourage you to transition. Here's what you can do to address this:

The main leverage the carriers are using to drive you away from your current infrastructure is price. So we need to work to control the budget while making this transition. A few ways to handle this initial step in the transition is to protect your budget. Here are some options:

  • Maintain contract rates with your current provider (if you can). At times vendors have said that renewals are not on the table. If that is the case, there are options on the table such as the next option.

  • Transition the lines to an aggregator. Some aggregators have longer term agreements with the ILECs to contract these lines, but this wont help long term when the ILEC providers terminate the lines and discontinue maintenance.

A review of your inventory and costs should be the first step of this project. To do this, request a Customer Service Record for each account. This will give you USOC level detail on the services and charges. This detail will allow you to identify the line type and use associated.

Next, identify the most impacted lines you will need to transition. These include PRI lines, POTs lines, or Private Lines (high grade voice).

Lastly, remove unused circuits from your billing as soon as possible. These will be the easiest changes you can make to impact your budget in the near term.

Once you understand what services you are using, and how you are using them, it's time to identify the technology you plan on replacing it with. Here are a few options for traditional uses of these legacy circuits.

Health & Safety Options (Alarm, Elevator, Gates):

ePots or Pots in a Box options


Voice: (VoIP / UCaaS / CCaaS)

IP based PRIs

Wireless

SIP Trunking


Remember, TDM Based Access Circuits (MPLS, Internet Access Ports, etc.) renewals will come with increasing charges as well. These will need to be migrated at some point as well.

Engage sourcing or find outside expertise (me) to pull together a broad selection of providers. Engage vendors on key business terms and their ability to support a migration of your scope. Include aggregators, Tier 1 providers, and smaller regional players. This can improve competitiveness of the quotes received.

All the pieces are together and now it's time to execute. Engage your team and start migrating lines, validating along the way and disconnecting service as you go. Make sure to keep updated documentation to show carriers in the event the next bill arrives and they are charging you for items that you've terminated. It happens more often than it should.