As AT&T Looks to End Landline Phone Service, Ooma Offers Both Consumers and Businesses An Easy and Affordable Path to POTS Replacement

Ooma, Inc., a smart communications platform for businesses and consumers, is offering both consumers and businesses easy and affordable paths to replacing POTS, or Plain Old Telephone Service, as AT&T and other legacy carriers prepare to shut down their landline infrastructure.

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As AT&T and other carriers look to end traditional landline phone service, consumers and businesses have options for replacing Plain Old Telephone Service, or POTS. Ooma Telo LTE with Battery Backup, shown here, delivers free phone service (subscribers only pay applicable taxes and fees) and stays connected during power failures for up to eight hours. (Photo: Business Wire)

AT&T recently mailed notifications to its landline customers in California informing them of upcoming hearings by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) where the company will present plans to discontinue POTS service in the state.

AT&T said it would guarantee to continue providing POTS service for no more than six months after the request is granted. The Federal Communications Commission already removed price caps on POTS service in 2022, leading in some cases to big increases in monthly rates, and many other state regulators are in the process of allowing a gradual end to landlines.

This presents a dilemma for consumers and businesses who still rely on POTS. Consumers, for example, may live in a location with no cellular signal or may have a home phone number they don’t want to lose. Businesses may have safety equipment such as fire-alarm panels, elevator phones, burglar alarms and building entry systems that can’t be switched to an internet connection because of regulatory requirements or concerns with reliability.

Ooma has answers for both groups of users.

Ooma Telo (https://www.ooma.com/home-phone-service/) for consumers provides free internet home phone service, with subscribers only paying applicable taxes and fees. The service is designed to address the most common questions for customers switching from a traditional landline:

• Can I keep my existing home phones? Yes. Ooma Telo is compatible with all standard home phones.
• Can I still dial 911 in an emergency? Yes. With the E911 service included with Ooma Telo, first responders will see your address registered with Ooma displayed on the screens even if you can’t talk. What’s more, family members can get automatic alerts whenever 911 is dialed. For example, parents away from home will know if a babysitter makes an emergency call.
• Will I lose my home phone number? No. Landline customers can transfer, or “port,” their existing home phone number to Ooma for a one-time fee of $39.99.
• Will my home burglar alarm system still work? Yes. Ooma Telo has an Alarm Mode to support most home burglar alarm systems that require an analog phone line.
• Will my phone work during a power outage? Yes, if you get Ooma Telo LTE with Battery Backup (https://www.ooma.com/home-phone-service/residential-voip-phone-with-lt ...), which provides a wireless internet connection and a backup battery that will last up to eight hours whenever the power goes out.

The optional Ooma Premier plan at just $9.99 a month (https://www.ooma.com/home-phone-service/premier/) delivers advanced features such as receiving voicemail messages as email attachments, customizable call blocking, a mobile app for answering calls away from home and a virtual second phone line.