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AT&T Gives Business ‘Plain-Old’ Phone Service a Cloud Makeover

AT&T Phone for Business-Advanced digitizes analog phone service for voice and data lines

What’s the news? AT&T is modernizing business’ traditional analog phone lines using the cloud. AT&T Phone for Business-Advanced is designed to breathe new life into ‘plain-old-telephone-service’ (POTS) by pairing the reliability of POTS with the voice quality, security and lower maintenance costs of digital lines using market leading cloud capabilities with RingCentral. The new service is available now to nearly any business in the U.S.

Why is this important? Many businesses across the U.S. still use traditional wireline phone service not just for standard voice capabilities, but also for specialty functions. Tens of millions of alarms, elevators, fax machines, modems, and point-of-sale terminals across the country depend on these lines for voice and/or smaller-scale data transfers. For example, healthcare providers use these lines for potentially lifesaving communications and equipment. In many of these cases, reliability is paramount.

Using an enterprise-grade appliance by DataRemote® that converts analog traffic so that it can be transferred over a VoIP Managed Facility Voice Network (MFVN), providing that traffic with inherent enhancements in security using infrastructure that is easier and less expensive to maintain with built in failover options.

The new service will give users an easy way to maintain business continuity and monitor connections to help ensure they are working properly before an issue arises. Data Monitoring Centers help monitor and maintain highly secure connectivity and can keep phone lines running for 24/7 using the AT&T Wireless network. Additionally, in case of local power failure, the device can provide 12 hours of operation using an internal battery backup.

For businesses with locations across the country, this could help simplify billing as analog phone and data rates and regulations vary by state. Businesses using AT&T Phone for Business-Advanced can standardize rates and consolidate all lines into one simple bill—nationwide.

What are people saying?

“Tried and true. Until now, traditional wireline phone service has been hard to beat for specialty data and voice lines. With AT&T Phone for Business-Advanced, we’ve found a way to modernize these lines to introduce customers to new cloud capabilities while maintaining the reliability and regulatory compliance that they require.” – Rich Shaw, Vice President, Voice and Collaboration, AT&T Business

"We are excited to launch a new offering with AT&T and DataRemote to the millions of customers with traditional phone services including specialty lines. RingCentral believes enterprises today are looking for trusted relationships and joint innovation to deliver the most seamless journey to the cloud across every use case.” – Sandra Krief, VP Service Providers, Americas, RingCentral

Where can I find more information? Please visit here for more information.