Ooma Inc., a smart communications platform for businesses and consumers, announced that TouchTone Communications, an integrated communications service provider, will offer Ooma AirDial for POTS replacement to TouchTone’s extensive network of communications infrastructure providers, including those who support alarm and safety monitoring companies.

TouchTone’s partners, who provide communications services for central monitoring stations operated by alarm and emergency response companies, face a unique challenge: the phasing-out of legacy copper-wire phone lines, informally known as Plain Old Telephone Service or POTS. This threatens safety devices and business-critical systems that require a POTS line — ranging from fire alarm panels to elevator phones, fax machines, public safety phones, building access systems and more — and often can’t be migrated to internet-based connections.

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission lifted price caps and quality of service requirements for POTS carriers. The results, unsurprisingly, are steep increases in monthly rates for POTS lines along with declining reliability and — in some instances — regional shutdowns of POTS access.

Ooma AirDial provides turnkey replacement for POTS lines by combining the Ooma AirDial base station with virtual analog phone service and a data connection through a wireless network. AirDial deployments can be remotely managed through an online portal with automated alerts, reducing expensive “truck rolls” and lowering incident response time.

“With the sunset of copper phone lines, our partners are in need, more than ever, of a simple and cost-effective POTS replacement solution they can offer to their customers — especially those in the alarm and emergency response space,” said Ken McCormack, vice president of sales and marketing at TouchTone Communications. “Some of the biggest names in the industry trust TouchTone for their business-critical voice communications. And now through our partnership with Ooma, we can give these customers a solution — Ooma AirDial — that is not only easy to implement and reliable, but is also designed with regulatory requirements for life-safety systems in mind.”

“We’re excited to have TouchTone Communications recognize Ooma AirDial as the best POTS replacement solution for its partners supporting critical systems, such as fire safety and building security,” said Chris Burgy, vice president of corporate development at Ooma. “Ooma welcomes the opportunity to work with TouchTone to support its partners, along with the alarm companies they serve, and even the alarm companies’ end customers who need to replace POTS lines at their locations.”

For more information, visit: touchtone.net and ooma.com.