What to do when your copper landline is retired

Phone companies are retiring copper lines and moving the services on them to fiber, internet phone and wireless. What you do depends on what the line runs. Pick yours for a step-by-step plan.

• Fire alarm panel

  Fire alarm panels often report to the monitoring center over phone lines. Those lines are part of an inspected system, so the replacement is chosen with your fire alarm service company.

• Elevator emergency phone

  Elevator emergency phones are inspected. The replacement has to keep the phone working the way your inspector expects, so start with your elevator service company.

• Fax machine

  Fax works poorly on some replacement lines, so choose with care and test before the copper line is gone.

• Security or burglar alarm

  Many alarm panels report to the monitoring center over the phone line. Most can switch to a cellular or internet communicator.

• Gate or door phone

  Gate phones, door phones and call boxes usually dial out to residents or a guard. Most can move to the cellular network.

• Card terminal or ATM

  Card terminals and ATMs that dial out over a phone line need a new connection before the copper line goes.

• Home phone or medical alert

  A home phone on copper keeps working until the line is moved. These steps help you move it on your own terms, before the date in Verizon's notice.

First: is the line on copper?

• Ask your phone company: “Is this line on copper or on fiber?” They can see it on the account.
• A corded phone that kept working through a power outage, with no battery backup, usually runs over copper.
• If the phone line plugs into a Verizon Fios box (an optical network terminal) on a wall or in the basement, the line already runs over fiber, and a copper notice may not apply to it.
• Lines from a cable company or a mobile company don't run over Verizon's copper.

The replacements Verizon names

Verizon's New Jersey copper retirement notice names the alternatives itself: “VoIP service from Verizon or a cable company, or fixed or mobile wireless service from multiple providers including Verizon Wireless.”

• Cellular landline-replacement devices that keep the existing panel or phone working.
• Internet phone service (VoIP), from Verizon, a cable company or another provider.
• Fixed or mobile wireless service.

Each office's page shows the date in Verizon's notice. Verizon says it may ask customers to move “well before” that date, so it pays to start early.

In New Jersey?

Check whether Verizon has filed a notice for the office that serves your line, and get an email if it changes.

Check a New Jersey number