What to do › Elevator emergency phone

An elevator emergency phone on a copper line

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.

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 plan

1. Call your elevator service company now

   Tell them which phone lines in the building may be on copper, and give them the date in Verizon's notice for your office.

2. Schedule the change before that date

   Book the work so it is finished well before the date, and ask whether the inspector must witness a test.

3. Test every car

   After the change, press the emergency button in each car. Make sure the call connects, and that the person who answers can tell which building and which car is calling.

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.

What to ask

• Which elevator phones in our building use a copper line?
• Do you install a cellular unit made for elevator phones that keeps the existing phone in the car?
• Does the change need an inspector to witness a test?
• Who answers the emergency calls after the change?

After the change

• A call from every car connects and is answered.
• The answering service can tell which building and car is calling.

From MeiSIM USA

MeiSIM USA doesn't sell elevator phone equipment or service. Your elevator service company installs and tests it.

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

The other plans

• Fire alarm panel
• Fax machine
• Security or burglar alarm
• Gate or door phone
• Card terminal or ATM
• Home phone or medical alert

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.”