Old phone lines are leaving. Your services still need to show up.
For charities and not-for-profits, an overlooked analogue line could affect much more than office calls. Wanstor helps you find what is connected, prioritise what matters and build a practical migration plan without wasting limited time or budget replacing equipment unnecessarily.
Find the hidden connections behind your frontline services
Not-for-profit technology estates are rarely simple. Services may operate across offices, charity shops, community centres, residential facilities and shared buildings, often with systems introduced at different times and funded through different projects.
Our readiness assessment helps identify potential dependencies across:
- Advice lines and service-user helplines
- Office and community-site phones
- Telecare and personal alarms
- Fire and intruder alarm signalling
- Lift emergency communications
- Door entry and access control
- Donation and payment terminals
- Charity-shop EPOS
- CCTV and remote monitoring
- Fax lines and older equipment
Complete the form and we’ll help you establish where further checks are needed.
Alternatively, call our expert directly.
No obligations.
No unnecessary replacement project.
Just a clearer view of your risk, priorities and next steps.
What we’ll check
Frontline communications
Review the numbers and services used by beneficiaries, volunteers, donors and partner organisations.
Safety-critical systems
Identify alarms, telecare, lift phones and other connections that may support vulnerable people or building safety.
Charity shops and payments
Review EPOS, card terminals and supporting connectivity across retail locations.
Diverse sites
Assess the differences between offices, shops, service-delivery locations, community buildings and residential settings.
Budget-conscious migration
Prioritise what genuinely needs action rather than treating every location or device in the same way.
Hidden dependency check
We'll full scope out your estate to see exactly what depends on legacy connections.
What is changing?
The network is changing. Your mission is not.
The UK is moving from analogue phone lines to digital services delivered through internet connectivity. Other PSTN-dependent devices, including alarms, telecare and door-entry systems, also need to be considered.
For charities, the biggest risk is often visibility. A head office may have modern telephony while a community centre, shop or service-delivery site still has equipment connected to an old phone socket.
The question is not only:
“Can people still call the office?”
It is:
“Can every service, site and safety system continue supporting the people who depend on us?”
PSTN, ISDN and related legacy services are being withdrawn on 31 January 2027
Your phones may be digital. Is everything else?
When legacy services are withdrawn, a few other things may become exposed or stop working altogether.
Helplines and advice lines
Main numbers, call routing and older telephone infrastructure need to be understood before migration.
Telecare and personal alarms
Charities supporting older or vulnerable people should confirm compatibility directly with their telecare and equipment providers.
Donation and payment terminals
Older payment technology in charity shops, cafés or fundraising locations may still use analogue connectivity.
Fire and security alarms
Monitored alarms may depend on traditional phone lines to report incidents.
Lifts and access systems
Community buildings, offices and supported facilities may use analogue lift phones, intercoms or door-entry connections.
Remote and lightly staffed sites
Sites without permanent IT support can contain forgotten lines and equipment that have remained in place for years.
How Wanstor helps
Before you replace anything, find out what actually needs replacing.
Wanstor’s existing hospitality work includes network environments supporting EPOS, corporate connectivity and guest Wi-Fi, giving the messaging a credible wider-IT context rather than treating each analogue line in isolation
Here’s how we’ll work on it with you:
| Step One | Step Two | Step Three | Step Four |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review | Assess |
Plan |
Migrate |
| Map locations, services, telephone lines and connected equipment. |
Prioritise dependencies according to safety, frontline delivery, income and operational impact. | Build a realistic migration route around budgets, resources and service commitments. | Support a phased transition that avoids unnecessary disruption to staff and beneficiaries. |
When budgets are tight, the last thing you need is an avoidable emergency project.
Leaving migration late can mean less time to compare options, coordinate suppliers or schedule work around frontline services.
For organisations with decentralised sites and limited internal IT capacity, the first challenge is simply establishing what exists. One forgotten alarm line, shop terminal or service number can create disruption that affects staff, volunteers, beneficiaries and income.
Finding dependencies early gives you more control over priorities, costs and the timing of the work.
Why Wanstor?
Because “replace everything” is not a strategy.
- Not-for-profit understanding: We’ve delivered this exact migration for many NFPs, shaped around restricted resources, varied sites and frontline priorities.
- Hidden-dependency discovery: We know how to identify overlooked services before they cause disruption.
- Prioritised roadmap: With our roadmap you can separate urgent, safety-critical requirements from lower-risk changes.
- Multi-site support: We’ve delivered practical migration across shops, offices, community facilities and service locations.
- Plain-English guidance: We don’t do jargon. Get clear information for leadership, operations, trustees all in non-technical teams.
Wider IT context
Wanstor understands the wider IT environment, not just the individual line being replaced.
Hidden-dependency discovery
Support identifying overlooked systems before they become operational issues.
Interim connectivity options
Where a permanent solution needs more time, temporary connectivity may help reduce risk.
Frequently Asked Questions
What systems could be affected by All IP Switch Off?
It’s not just your phones. Alarm and monitoring systems, lift emergency lines, payment terminals and door-entry systems may also rely on old analogue connections. If you don’t identify and migrate them to the right replacement, the switch-off could disrupt these critical services.
We have a small IT team. Can Wanstor help with the discovery work?
Yes. The assessment is intended to help organisations identify services and dependencies rather than expecting internal teams to already have a complete inventory.
We already use digital phones. Do we still need to check?
Yes. Digital phones don’t necessarily mean everything else is ready. Other services, sites or equipment may still rely on analogue connections, including alarms, lifts, payments and monitoring systems. That’s why it’s worth checking the wider business rather than assuming the phone migration has covered everything.
Who should be involved in the assessment?
Typically IT, operations or facilities, office managers, landlords and suppliers responsible for lifts, alarms and access systems.
What happens after we submit the form?
A Wanstor specialist will review the details you provide and confirm the most relevant next step within a few hours. There’s no obligation, and the aim is to understand what you’re concerned about and whether further assessment or migration support is needed.
Can Wanstor help if we have left All IP migration late?
Yes. Leaving it late doesn’t mean you’ve run out of options. Openreach will be applying EVAC lines to those who migrated too late. However, this is a costly and temporary solution. Wanstor can help identify what needs attention and accelerate the migration process. Where a permanent solution needs more time, interim options such as mobile or satellite connectivity can also be considered to help keep operations moving.
How long does All IP migration usually take?
There isn’t one migration timeline that fits every organisation. Ultimately, the timeline depends on what still relies on legacy services and the complexity of your sites and infrastructure. That’s why identifying dependencies early matters. However, we have rolled out migration services to customers within 2–4 weeks.
Can Wanstor support firms with several locations?
Yes. Each location can be assessed and prioritised according to its systems, lease arrangements and operational requirements.
What happens to existing lines or providers?
You don’t necessarily need to change everything at once. Instead, we’ll first identify which existing services need to migrate and which can remain. We’ll also check whether any contractual or notice-period requirements apply before you make changes.
Your organisation has more important things to deal with than a preventable connectivity crisis.
Find what still relies on analogue services and create a migration plan that protects your people, services and budget.
Check your NFP readiness