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Replacing copper phone lines (POTS) for fire alarms, elevators and fax: a 2026 guide for New Jersey businesses

Verizon is moving New Jersey customers off copper phone lines. What still depends on them, the rules for fire alarm and elevator lines, your replacement options and how to switch safely.

By GBTech.ai · Published · Last reviewed

The short answer

Copper phone lines, often called POTS lines ("plain old telephone service"), are being retired one area at a time:

  • In August 2026, Verizon asked the FCC for permission to stop offering traditional copper-based voice service in parts of New Jersey.
  • In September 2026, Verizon posted a notice retiring copper in 62 New Jersey wire centers on or after December 10, 2026.

Nothing shuts off overnight, and Verizon says it won't disconnect anyone without a replacement service.

If a fire alarm, elevator phone, security alarm, fax machine or card terminal in your building still runs on a copper line, plan the switch now. The FCC no longer requires carriers' replacement services to work with alarm equipment, so checking that falls to you. Changing how a fire alarm reports also involves your alarm company and, in New Jersey, your local fire official.

What's happening to copper lines

The FCC has made copper retirement easier. In an order adopted March 26, 2026 (FCC 26-19), the FCC:

  • removed its own filing and objection steps for copper retirement notices (carriers still have to post notice and tell other carriers, including 911 providers)
  • set applications to discontinue a service to be granted automatically after 31 days unless the FCC acts
  • let carriers stop selling legacy voice service to new customers

The order was scheduled to take effect in mid-October 2026, and it is being challenged in court.

Alarm compatibility is now your job. A 2016 FCC rule required replacement services to work with alarm and medical devices. In its 2026 order, the FCC noted that this rule "sunset in 2025." It also declined to add the alarm-compatibility condition the alarm industry asked for, and only encouraged carriers to prevent alarm signaling failures.

Verizon in New Jersey.

  • On August 10, 2026, Verizon (including Verizon New Jersey) applied to discontinue legacy copper-based voice service in parts of nine states, including New Jersey. The earliest date it gave was October 23, 2026.
  • On September 25, 2026, the FCC took the application off automatic approval, calling this "not a final determination on the merits."
  • New Jersey Board of Public Utilities staff have asked for a fuller review. Verizon told regulators it doesn't expect to start discontinuing service until 2027.

Copper retirement notices. Separately, Verizon's September 8, 2026 notice for New Jersey covers 62 wire centers, including Hackettstown, Netcong, Hopatcong/Landing, Newfoundland, West Milford, Piscataway and Linden. Retirement is on or after December 10, 2026, and Verizon says it "may require customers ... to migrate services off of copper facilities well before" that date. Check the notice for your area.

What Verizon says about replacements. Verizon says it won't disconnect customers without an approved replacement: fiber or wireless service with battery backup. It also says these replacements support "many legacy alarm systems, faxes, and many medical devices." Many isn't all, so test yours.

New York and Pennsylvania. In September 2026, Verizon and its Frontier companies filed a similar application covering parts of New York, Pennsylvania, seven other states and Washington, DC. Nationally, AT&T plans to exit most of its copper network outside California by the end of 2029.

Prices are rising in some places. In Pennsylvania, Verizon raised business dial-tone line prices by $2 a month from January 1, 2026. Verizon North raised its business line from $25 to $27 a month on March 1, 2026, before usage charges, taxes and fees.

In New Jersey, the Board of Public Utilities reclassified Verizon's landline service in 2015. Rate increases were capped for five years, and since then Verizon has set its own rates. We couldn't find a current published New Jersey business-line rate.

What in your building may still use a copper line

  • Fire alarm panel communicators (dialers)
  • Elevator emergency phones
  • Burglar and security alarms
  • Fax machines
  • Credit card terminals and point-of-sale systems
  • Gate and door entry systems

To find them, look for lines on your phone bill that nobody makes calls from. Also ask your alarm company and your elevator service company which lines their equipment uses.

Rules for fire alarm lines

NFPA 72, the national fire alarm code, governs how a fire alarm panel reports to its monitoring center.

Communication paths.

  • The 2007 edition required a digital alarm communicator (DACT) to have two means of transmission, with a phone line as the primary one.
  • From the 2013 edition on, it's one phone line plus a different path, such as radio, cellular or IP. A second phone line is allowed only as an exception approved by the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ), which is usually your fire official. As the Nassau County, NY fire marshal puts it, "A single POTS line is not acceptable as a sole transmission path."
  • The 2019 edition says a single communication path must be checked at least every 60 minutes. With two paths, each must be checked every 6 hours, and they can't share a single point of failure.
  • The 2025 edition keeps this, and allows two channels from a "managed facilities-based voice network" (MFVN), the kind of service many copper replacements use.

Which edition applies to your building depends on when your system was installed and what your local fire official enforces. Ask before you change anything.

Battery backup.

  • NFPA 72 requires a fire alarm panel to run for 24 hours on standby plus 5 minutes in alarm.
  • Under the 2013 edition, on-site communications equipment that the alarm shares needs 24 hours of backup. It can be 8 hours only if the AHJ accepts it.
  • New Jersey's guidance for MFVN equipment at the premises sets 8 hours.

Your fire official decides what's required for your building.

New Jersey's conversion form. When a fire alarm communicator moves from a copper line to an MFVN service, New Jersey's form UCC F391 applies. A licensed alarm company must:

  • confirm the dialer works on the new service (loop start and line seizure)
  • confirm an 8-hour battery
  • retest signals to the central station
  • file the form with the local fire protection subcode official within 24 hours

New Jersey's Bulletin 11-2 also requires an approved fire alarm contractor to be present. We found no newer New Jersey guidance that replaces these.

Don't assume VoIP will work. The Minnesota State Fire Marshal advises against using VoIP for fire alarm signals, because compression can alter them. An ordinary VoIP adapter isn't a safe default for a fire alarm.

Rules for elevator phones

ASME A17.1, the elevator safety code, requires an emergency phone that:

  • connects to a staffed location
  • doesn't use automated answering
  • reroutes the call if it isn't answered within 45 seconds

Editions from 2019 on add visual communication, such as video and text messaging. That matters when elevators are installed or modernized, so ask your elevator contractor what applies to yours.

A commonly cited backup requirement for elevator phone lines is four hours of standby power. In New York City, the building code requires the phone line, or its equivalent, to be checked automatically at least once a day, with an alarm if it fails.

If you're also moving your regular phone lines

If you move everyday calling to a cloud phone system at the same time, two federal rules apply to multi-line phone systems:

  • Kari's Law (systems installed after February 16, 2020): people must be able to dial 911 directly, and someone on site must be notified when they do.
  • RAY BAUM'S Act: the system must send a "dispatchable location," such as the building, floor and suite.

Your replacement options

1. POTS-replacement services. A device on site keeps your existing equipment's phone jack working and carries the calls over cellular networks, and sometimes your internet connection, on a managed voice network. Examples include Ooma AirDial and Granite's EPIK. Look for:

  • battery backup that meets your fire official's requirement
  • more than one network path
  • listings and approvals your fire official accepts

2. Cellular fire alarm communicators. A radio module added to the fire panel that reports over cellular. One example is Napco's StarLink Fire Max 2, which Napco describes as a UL 864-listed communicator that can run as a single cellular path or as a dual path. Whether a single cellular path is accepted depends on your fire official.

3. Fiber or cable voice from a carrier. This means Verizon's replacement service or a cable provider's voice line. It works for many devices, but confirm alarm compatibility first.

4. A cloud phone system for everyday calling. Your regular business lines can move to a system like Zoom Phone, RingCentral, Dialpad or Vonage. Keep the alarm, elevator and fax lines on a service built for them.

About Ooma AirDial

GBTech is an authorized partner for Ooma AirDial, so here's what Ooma says about it:

  • It combines hardware, LTE data and phone service in one package.
  • Its MultiPath feature sends voice over LTE and Ethernet at the same time.
  • It has four analog ports and two SIMs, and runs on a managed facilities-based voice network.
  • The battery lasts 16 hours as standard, or more than 24 hours with an optional external battery.
  • It supports fire alarms, elevator phones, security alarms, fax, point-of-sale terminals and gate entry.
  • Ooma says it's certified with AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and UScellular.

Ooma also says an independent third-party testing firm certified AirDial to UL 864, UL 2054 and UL 62368-1, and that it has a California State Fire Marshal listing and an FDNY record. As with any option, confirm with your fire official and alarm company that it meets the requirements for your building.

How to switch, step by step

  1. List every copper line and what it serves. Your phone bill and your alarm and elevator companies can help.
  2. Talk to your alarm company and monitoring center before changing anything on a fire or security alarm line.
  3. Ask your local fire official what's required. In New Jersey, that means the fire protection subcode official or fire official. Converting a fire alarm dialer to an MFVN service needs form UCC F391, filed within 24 hours.
  4. Check elevator phones with your elevator contractor.
  5. Choose the replacement, and confirm its battery backup meets the requirement for each system.
  6. Test end to end. For fire alarms, check line seizure and that alarm, trouble and supervisory signals reach the central station. Check that the elevator phone calls through and passes its line check. Check fax and card terminals too.
  7. Keep records of forms, test results and approvals.
  8. Start early. Verizon can ask you to move before the retirement date in its notice.

How GBTech can help

GBTech is vendor-agnostic. We can help you:

  • list the copper lines in your buildings
  • compare replacement options and carriers
  • manage the rollout with you

We work with Verizon Business, Spectrum Business, Comcast Business, Optimum Business and Lumen for connectivity, and with Zoom, RingCentral, Dialpad, Vonage and Ooma AirDial for phone service. Changes to a fire alarm system itself must be made by a licensed alarm company.

See Ooma AirDial, compare phone systems or talk to an advisor.

Frequently asked questions

Is our copper line going away, and when?

It depends on your area. Verizon has posted copper retirement notices for 62 New Jersey wire centers, effective on or after December 10, 2026, and can ask customers to move earlier. Its separate application to stop offering copper-based voice in parts of New Jersey is under fuller FCC review. Verizon has told regulators it doesn't expect to start discontinuing until 2027, and it says it won't disconnect anyone without a replacement.

Can our fire alarm use our VoIP phone system or an adapter?

Not by default. Fire officials have warned that VoIP compression can alter alarm signals. Use equipment your alarm company and fire official approve for fire alarm communication.

Does New Jersey accept cellular-only fire alarm monitoring?

It depends on the NFPA 72 edition your local fire official enforces and on their approval. Newer editions allow a single communication path in some setups if it's checked often, but ask first.

Who has to approve the switch?

For fire alarms, your alarm company, your monitoring center and your local fire official. In New Jersey, converting a fire alarm dialer to an MFVN service needs form UCC F391. For elevator phones, check with your elevator contractor.

Do our elevator phones need video or text?

Editions of the elevator code from 2019 on add visual communication. That usually comes up when elevators are installed or modernized, so ask your elevator contractor.

How much battery backup do we need?

Your fire official decides. NFPA 72 requires 24 hours of standby plus 5 minutes of alarm for the fire alarm panel. New Jersey's MFVN conversion form checks for an 8-hour battery on the communication equipment. Four hours is commonly cited for elevator phones.

Will our fax machine, card terminals and gate entry still work?

Usually, on a POTS-replacement service, but test each one before you cancel the copper line.

Will switching save money?

Sometimes. Some Verizon copper business lines in Pennsylvania now cost $27 a month before usage, taxes and fees, and prices have been rising. Compare the full cost of each option, including equipment and battery requirements, before you decide.

Sources

FCC and carriers:

Codes and guidance:

Products:

Questions about your setup? Talk to an advisor.

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