What Are the Ways to Extend Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) To Remote Sites?

Plain old telephone service or POTS has gained gradual but immense traction since its introduction in the late 1870s. Until 1988 or before the Internet and data connectivity became popular, it remained the most preferred communication technology. POTS was introduced as a retronym voice-grade telephone that transmits analog signals over copper cables. Although internet-based telecommunication technologies, such as voice over internet protocol (VoIP), are popular these days, there are several businesses that still utilize POTS for local communication apart from a high-speed network for data communication. Amid all the advancements in electronics and networking, the demand for fiber optics has surged over the years. Fiber optic networks facilitate high-speed data transmission and seamless connectivity along with many other benefits. The best part is you can combine this new technology with old analog devices. Owing to their beneficial features including long-distance transmission capabilities and greater reliability, fiber optic technology has slowly paved its way to POTS. This technology also plays a key role when network scalability becomes a crucial consideration. There are many situations where you need to expand the network in areas where internet coverage is slow or sometimes inaccessible. POTS phone lines make a significant difference. With fiber optics, you can connect the good old POTS phone lines to remote sites. This post discusses the same. So, stay tuned.

A Quick Overview of Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)

POTS is primarily the traditional phone service or phone line. As the name implies, this technology works through physical wires. POTS allows analog voice transmission over copper wires across different countries or continents. For decades it has been the standard mode of communication for individuals as well as businesses. The technology relies on a few components to perform voice-grade communication over the POTS phone line. The list includes microphones, speakers, dial switches, ringer unit, casing, and more.

Apart from the mentioned components, several components and devices are utilized for voice signal transmission. This may include switching circuits, transistors, and modems.

Different Ways to Extend POTS to Remote Sites

There are several devices on the network that help extend POTS analog phone lines to remote sites. This may include an FXO gateway, FXS gateway, FXS adapter, and fiber optic POTS extenders. Before getting into the details of these devices, it is important to know the meaning of FXO and FXS terms. Both, FXO and FXS ports are used by analog POTS phone lines.

• FXS: The term stands for foreign exchange subscribers. This unit decodes the signal from the SFP module and sends it to the digital-to-analog converter to recover the analog signal. FXS is the interface to the phone system to which FXO devices can connect.
• FXO: The term stands for a foreign exchange office. It is installed at the PBX site. It is the plug installed on the devices such as the phone, fax machine, or analog phone system. It accepts the audio signal on the RJ11 connector and sends it to an analog-to-digital converter.

The next section describes the devices used to extend the POTS phone line. Let’s have a look at them.

1. FXS Gateways: These are the most effective devices when it comes to POTS phone lines to remote sites. An FXS gateway can connect one or more traditional PBX lines to VoIP phone systems. Alternatively, one can use it to connect analog phones and re-use the lines with VoIP systems. You need FXS gateways is used to connect the FXO ports to the VoIP or internet systems.
2. FXO Gateways: You need FXO gateways to connect analog phone lines to VoIP phone systems. This enables you to connect the FXO port of the phone to the FXO port of the gateway, which switches the analog phone lines to IP calls.
3. FXS Adapters: To connect an analog phone to a VoIP system, you need an FXS adapter. It connects the FXO port of the phone to the adapter.

Aside from this, fiber optic phone line POTS extenders play a huge role in the extension of analog POTS phone lines. As the name implies, the device helps extend the standard Ethernet distance. Basically, the device can forward the data between the networks.

To achieve optimum results of POTS technology, it is important to use superior-quality and performance-driven products. Which is why you should source these products from trustworthy suppliers, like VERSITRON. With several years of experience and market presence, the company specializes in a variety of networking devices, especially fiber optics. They offer high-quality FXS/FXO converter installation kits for your POTS network integration.

R.W. Tull is the President of VERSITRON. He interfaces daily with current and potential end-users. R.W. works closely with clients to review layout diagrams and drawings in order to ensure that the best fiber optic solution is achieved.