POTS Replacement for Property Management and Multifamily
Elevator Phone Lines, Fire Alarm Lines, Gate Call Boxes and Pool Emergency Phones Across Every Building You Manage
AT&T can begin discontinuing copper phone service in parts of 18 states from November 15, 2026. Send us your building list: the providers that fit price every elevator, fire panel and gate at once, we negotiate, and the provider you choose pays us.
Price My Portfolio's LinesThis page is for property managers, multifamily owners and operators, HOA and condominium management firms, REITs and senior living operators, whether that means three buildings or three hundred. Each building has its own copper lines, often on separate accounts. Carrier notices arrive one wire center at a time, contracts end on different dates, and the fire marshal and elevator inspector sign off building by building. Run as one project, it becomes one line list, one negotiation and one rollout schedule. Our guide to POTS line replacement covers the technology; this page covers running it across a portfolio.
Sources: FCC, Voice Telephone Services: Status as of June 30, 2025 (lines); Broadband Breakfast, January 13, 2026 (AT&T); price guide source: AeroCom, August 6, 2026 (replacement price); sample tariff rates published by North Carolina's state IT department, effective January 1, 2026; the department says sample rates may not reflect final pricing and exclude surcharges and fees. Context, not a forecast of your bill.
What It Costs to Replace a Portfolio's Phone Lines
The chart takes an illustrative portfolio of 25 buildings, 16 mid-rise with elevators and nine garden-style communities with gates and pools, counts the copper lines a typical inventory turns up and prices each type at the published replacement range. Fire panels and elevators make up most of the lines, and they carry the code and monitoring requirements.
Illustrative portfolio; the line counts are an example, not a survey. Monthly cost is an MCA calculation: lines times $40 and lines times $60, the published range for POTS over cellular (price guide source: AeroCom, August 6, 2026). Life-safety lines often need dual-path service, battery backup and monitoring, so they price at the upper end or above. Fire panels are counted as two lines each, as most are wired today; a dual-path communicator may replace both, which the provider's site survey settles. Figures as of October 2026. Free to cite with a link to this page.
The carrier's own replacement is one option, not the only one. One line list goes to the replacement providers that fit, on the same day. Call one provider yourself and you negotiate alone: once you ask for pricing directly, it usually will not register an advisor on the deal.
Per-line and per-device pricing, equipment, installation, battery, monitoring and term, side by side, so you compare what you will actually pay.
Buildings added and removed as you buy and sell, matching contract dates, one bill, and installs scheduled around your inspections.
The provider you choose pays us, so it costs you nothing. If your carrier's own replacement is the right answer for a building, we will say so.
What Phone Lines Does an Apartment Building Have?
This is the inventory we ask for, building by building, with what usually replaces each line and who has to accept the change.
| Line | Why it still needs a line | Typical replacement | Rule or sign-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elevator emergency phoneIn every car | Two-way voice from the car to a location staffed by authorized personnel, required by ASME A17.1 | Cellular or IP elevator communicator with battery backup, often one per car | Elevator inspector: 4 hours of auxiliary power and a daily automatic line check. See elevator phone line replacement. |
| Fire alarm communicatorAt the fire alarm panel | The panel's communicator (DACT) reports alarms to the central station, traditionally over two phone lines | Dual-path communicator (cellular plus IP), or one phone line plus a second path that is not a phone line | The fire marshal (the AHJ) and the monitoring company. See fire alarm phone line replacement. |
| Area of refuge and elevator landing phonesStair landings and refuge areas | Two-way communication to a fire command center or approved central point | Cellular or IP communicator, with automatic dial-out where the central point is not always staffed | Building code and the fire marshal; North Carolina's state construction office, for example, cites its Building Code 1009.8 and NFPA 72 24.5 |
| Gate call box and entry phoneVehicle and pedestrian gates, lobby doors | Visitors and deliveries call residents, who open the gate from their own phones | Cellular call box or entry system, or a replacement line on the existing box | Usually no phone code requirement; fire department access through the gate is set separately by the local fire code official |
| Pool emergency phoneAt or near each pool | Where the pool code requires one, a phone that can reach emergency services while the pool is open | Cellular emergency pool phone with battery backup, chosen to meet the local rule | State or local pool code where one applies, usually enforced by the health department |
| Alarm panelsLeasing office, maintenance shop, access control | Burglar and access control panels that dial a monitoring center | Cellular alarm communicator | The alarm monitoring company |
| Leasing office voice and faxMain numbers, fax, backup lines | The office's published number and any fax still in use | Hosted voice and fax over IP, or a replacement line | None, but check that nothing else rides on the number |
| Equipment dial-out alarmsBoilers, generators, sump pumps, building automation | Equipment that calls maintenance or a vendor when something fails | Cellular line or an IP alert | The equipment contractor |
| Laundry, parking and payment terminalsOlder card readers and kiosks | Machines that dial out to process cards or report | Cellular or IP connection, often from the equipment's own operator | The equipment owner or contractor |
Sources: ASME A17.1-2019 requirements summary (elevator); Minnesota State Fire Marshal (fire alarm paths); North Carolina State Construction Office, POTS replacement requirements and options (area of refuge).
Why One Portfolio-Wide Project Beats Going Building by Building
Most portfolios start the hard way: a carrier letter lands at one property, the site manager calls the carrier or alarm company, and that building gets whatever was offered first. Then the next letter lands, and notices now move faster. The FCC's March 2026 order ended the filing and objection process for copper retirements and put every carrier's discontinuance applications on a 31-day automatic grant. Industry analyses of the order put the gap between a customer notice and disconnection at as little as 90 days (source: vCom, July 16, 2026). The copper retirement tracker follows the AT&T, Verizon and Lumen filings as they move.
| Question | Building by building | One portfolio-wide project |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts it | Each carrier notice, whenever and wherever it lands | You, on your schedule, with every building on one list |
| Pricing | A few lines per quote, so little to negotiate with | Every line in one request, priced by providers competing for the whole portfolio |
| Products | Different devices and portals at different properties | One approach per line type, so staff and vendors learn it once |
| Contracts and bills | Many contracts, many end dates, many invoices | One master agreement, matching terms and one bill |
| Code sign-off | Each fire panel and elevator handled as a surprise | A plan per jurisdiction for the fire marshal and elevator inspector, agreed before installs |
| Buying and selling buildings | Each new property starts over | Adds and removals at the contract rate, written in at signing |
Who Owns Which Line: Owner, HOA, Tenant or Alarm Dealer?
Before a provider can quote, every line needs an owner: who is billed, who signs and who has to accept the change. The usual pattern is below, but the management agreement, the association's governing documents and the leases decide it, so the line list carries a column for it.
The owner or operator
In rental buildings, elevator phones, the fire panel, gates, pools and office lines are usually the owner's bill, signed by the owner or by the management company under its agreement.
The HOA or condominium association
Common-element lines usually belong to the association. The management company runs the project; the board approves the contract and budget.
Commercial tenants
A tenant's own alarm, fax or payment lines are usually the tenant's. Stores, restaurants and branches have their own guides: retail and restaurants and banks and credit unions.
The alarm dealer and elevator contractor
They often hold the monitoring contract and know the wiring, but the copper line is usually on the owner's bill. They take part in the cutover either way.
Senior living and student housing campuses carry more healthcare and campus lines; schools, hospitals and public buildings covers those. Whoever owns each line, it can sit on the same list, marked with whose signature it needs. An HOA management firm can send one list for every association it manages, grouped by association, since each board signs its own contract.
Gate Call Box Phone Line Replacement
A gate call box is the entry phone at a vehicle or pedestrian gate that lets a visitor call a resident, who opens the gate from their own phone. Many older boxes dial out over copper, and when the line is cut the box stops working: guests wait outside, deliveries fail, and the leasing office takes the calls.
There are two ways to replace the line. A POTS replacement device can feed the existing box, keeping the hardware and the resident directory. Or the box is swapped for a cellular call box or a newer entry system that calls residents' mobile phones. The first is quicker; the second is a capital decision worth weighing while the gate is being worked on.
Cellular Gate Call Box: What to Check
Signal at the gate
Gates sit at property edges, behind walls and in low spots. The survey should test signal at each gate, not the leasing office.
How calls reach residents
Whether the box calls a mobile number, an app or a unit phone, and who updates the directory as residents move.
Power and fire access
What the box does in a power cut, and confirmation that the fire department can open the gate without it.
Fire department access through a security gate usually has its own approved method, not the call box. One city's example: Las Vegas Fire & Rescue's emergency access gate regulation lists a key override switch, a ground loop gate operator or a radio-operated controller as approved methods, and requires electrically operated gates to fail to the full open position when power is lost. Other jurisdictions set their own rules, so check with the local fire code official first.
Pool Emergency Phone Requirements
Pool emergency phone requirements come from state and local pool codes, enforced by health departments. They decide whether an apartment, condominium or HOA pool needs a phone and which kinds count. There is no national rule; two states show how far apart they can be.
| State | What the rule requires | What it means for a replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Texas25 TAC 265.190(i) | A pool or spa must have at least one emergency telephone, emergency monitoring contact device or alternative communication system, within 200 feet of the water and working whenever the pool is open. The rules cover pools at apartments, condominiums and property owner associations. | A dedicated cell phone can qualify if it meets the rule's conditions, including a permanent power supply, and a sign above the device must give the pool's precise location. |
| WisconsinATCP 76, October 2025 fact sheet | The code has long required a landline phone within the pool area at public pools. The state's guidance to public pool operators now accepts other devices, such as cellular and voice over internet emergency pool phones, without a variance if they meet eight criteria, including a signal the inspector can verify, permanent power and battery backup. | A device more than 25 feet from the pool enclosure is not approved, nor are cordless phones or free-standing cell phones that miss the criteria, so the device has to be chosen for the rule. |
Sources: Texas Department of State Health Services, 25 TAC Chapter 265 Subchapter L; Wisconsin DATCP, pool phone operator expectations fact sheet (October 2025).
Other states set their own rules, and some treat an apartment or HOA pool as semi-public or exempt. At seasonal pools, replace in the off-season, before opening day.
Apartment Elevator Phone Lines: Does Each Car Need Its Own?
Every elevator car needs two-way communication to a staffed location, backed by at least 4 hours of auxiliary power and checked automatically at least daily, under ASME A17.1 section 2.27.1.1 (ASME A17.1-2019 requirements summary). Older buildings often share one line across cars. North Carolina's state construction office, for example, recommends a dedicated line per car and says a phone service change may be treated as an upgrade that brings in the 2019 edition. That edition adds video and text messaging for passengers who cannot speak or hear, for elevators permitted for construction or modernization after the local authority adopts it (Elevator World, April 2020). Ask the elevator inspector before pricing; the answer changes the line count. Full rules: elevator phone line replacement.
How to Budget for POTS Replacement Across a Portfolio
Replacement is sold per line or per device, and the same building prices differently depending on which. The published price guide says some providers charge a flat $60 per line, while on appliance-based services the first line at a site runs about $60 a month and each additional line on the same appliance about $40, with up to four lines per appliance.
Illustrative. MCA calculation from published price points (price guide source: AeroCom, August 6, 2026): the difference is $1,500 a month, or $18,000 a year, across 25 buildings. Whether elevator and fire alarm lines may share a device is for the provider's engineers and the local authority, so real portfolios usually mix both. Figures as of October 2026. Free to cite with a link to this page.
| Cost item | How it is usually billed | What to get in writing |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly service | Per line or per device, monthly | What is included: carrier diversity, battery, the monitoring portal, support |
| Equipment | Included in the monthly fee, leased, or bought once | Who owns it at the end of the term, and who replaces it if it fails |
| Site survey and installation | One-time, per building or per device, sometimes bundled | The schedule by building, and charges for after-hours or repeat visits |
| Alarm contractor work | One-time, from your alarm vendor | Panel reprogramming and signal tests with the central station, per panel |
| Elevator contractor and inspection | One-time, from your elevator contractor and the jurisdiction | Whether the change triggers newer code requirements in your jurisdiction |
| Batteries | Periodic replacement | Battery runtime per device and who replaces batteries, at whose cost |
| Leaving the copper | Charges on the old carrier contract | The end date and notice period for each account, before canceling anything |
For an HOA or condominium, common-element lines come out of the operating budget, and one-time costs may need a board vote or a reserve decision, so price the project before the budget is set. For commercial buildings, whether the cost passes through to tenants depends on the lease, a question for your counsel. A published price guide says legacy lines with surcharges and fees often run over $100 per line per month; divide your latest invoice by its line count for your own figure. POTS replacement providers compared shows how the main providers package their service.
Industry analyses put notice-to-disconnection at as little as 90 days, and fire and elevator sign-off takes time in every building. Send the building list and a recent phone bill, with contract end dates if you have them; that is enough to start. The providers that fit price every building at once, so the number in your budget is a real one. You'll hear back within 24 hours. For organizations with multiple locations or 20 or more lines.
Scheduling POTS Replacement Around Inspections and Tests
Buildings with a notice letter or a contract ending soon go first, whatever their size.
Fire panels, elevators and refuge phones before offices and amenities: they carry the sign-offs and the risk.
Fire panel rooms, machine rooms and basements are often where cellular signal is weakest. The provider's engineers test there.
The fire marshal and monitoring company for fire panels, the elevator inspector for cars, the health department for pools, confirmed before the first install.
Line up each cutover with the building's fire alarm test or elevator inspection, so contractors visit once.
Keep copper live until the central station and elevator monitoring point confirm signals, then cancel against the contract dates.
Five POTS Replacement Mistakes Property Managers Make
Letting each property act alone
Each site manager takes the first product offered, and the portfolio ends up with as many devices and contracts as buildings. Decide centrally, even if installs roll out one property at a time.
Asking a provider for pricing before the list is complete
A partial list gets a partial price, and once you ask a provider for pricing directly, it usually will not register an advisor. Send us what you have first; the full list then goes to the providers that fit at once.
Treating the carrier's replacement as the only option
It is one option, not the only one. Price it against the same line list as the others; POTS replacement providers compared sets out the main ones.
Putting a fire alarm on plain VoIP
The Minnesota State Fire Marshal notes that VoIP is not recommended for fire alarm signals because it compresses the signal. Fire panels need a communication path the fire marshal and the monitoring company accept; fire alarm phone line replacement covers the NFPA 72 options.
Getting the copper dates wrong in either direction
Cancel too early and a building loses its alarm path; let a contract lapse and the lines can move to tariff rates. Keep copper live until each new path tests clean and is signed off, and track notices on the copper retirement tracker.
How We Place POTS Replacement
Metro Colo Advisory is an independent advisor. We do not install equipment, monitor alarms or sell hardware; we run the market and negotiate the terms. More on how we work.
You send the line list
The list above, or just the building list and a recent phone bill. You'll hear back within 24 hours, by email.
We run the providers that fit, at once
The providers that fit your line types and locations see the same request on the same day, so prices compare building by building.
The provider's engineers survey the buildings
Signal tests at fire panel rooms, machine rooms and gates, and the technical questions, are handled by the provider.
We negotiate and you sign
Price, equipment ownership, battery and monitoring, the install schedule, adds and removals as buildings change hands, and one bill, settled before you sign.
The provider pays us
The provider you choose pays us, so it costs you nothing. If your carrier's own replacement is right for a building, we will say so.
POTS Replacement for Property Management: Frequently Asked Questions
What is POTS replacement for property management?
It is replacing the copper phone lines across a portfolio of buildings, for elevator phones, fire alarm communicators, gate call boxes, pool phones and office lines, with cellular or IP service that the local authority and the monitoring company accept. It is usually run as one project with one line list rather than building by building. A published 2026 price guide puts replacement at about $40 to $60 per line per month.
How much does POTS replacement cost for an apartment portfolio?
At the published range of about $40 to $60 per line per month, an illustrative 25-building portfolio with 150 lines costs about $6,000 to $9,000 a month, or $72,000 to $108,000 a year (MCA calculation). Fire alarm and elevator lines often price at the upper end or above because they need dual-path service, battery backup and monitoring. Installation, equipment terms and alarm contractor work come on top, so compare full totals rather than per-line prices.
What phone lines does a typical apartment building have?
A typical mid-rise has an emergency phone line in each elevator car, usually two lines at the fire alarm panel, and lines for area of refuge phones, alarm panels and the leasing office. Garden-style communities add gate call boxes and pool emergency phones. Boilers, generators and older laundry or payment terminals may dial out too, so the count should come from the invoices.
Does an apartment elevator phone need a landline?
No. ASME A17.1 requires two-way communication from each car to a staffed location, with at least 4 hours of auxiliary power and an automatic line check at least daily, and a cellular or IP communicator can meet that. The elevator inspector decides whether a particular replacement is accepted, and in some jurisdictions a phone service change can bring in the 2019 edition's video and text requirements.
Does each elevator car need its own phone line?
It depends on the jurisdiction, and a dedicated line per car is the safer assumption for budgeting. North Carolina's state construction office, for example, recommends a dedicated line per car. Ask the elevator inspector before pricing, because the answer changes the line count for every building.
Can a gate call box work without a phone line?
Yes. A cellular call box, or a POTS replacement device feeding the existing box, works without copper. Check the signal at each gate, how calls reach residents' phones and what happens in a power cut, and confirm with the local fire code official that fire department access does not depend on the call box.
What are the pool emergency phone requirements?
They are set by state and local pool codes, and they vary. Texas requires at least one emergency telephone, emergency monitoring contact device or alternative communication system within 200 feet of the water, at pools that include those at apartments, condominiums and property owner associations. Wisconsin's guidance for public pools accepts cellular and internet-based emergency phones without a variance if they meet eight criteria, including a signal the inspector can verify and battery backup.
Who pays for POTS replacement in a condo or HOA?
The association usually pays for lines that serve the common elements, such as elevators, the fire panel, gates and the pool, though the governing documents decide it. The management company can run the project, but the board approves the contract and the budget, and one-time costs may need a vote. A unit owner's or tenant's own lines are theirs.
What happens if our copper phone contract expires?
Lines that come off contract can be billed at tariff rates, which can be much higher than contract rates. After AT&T did not renew North Carolina's state contract, the state's IT department published sample tariff rates of $2,460.12 a month per POTS line against $34.42 under the contract, noting that sample rates may not reflect final pricing. That is a state network, not a property portfolio, and not a forecast of your bill, but it is why contract end dates belong on the line list.
When will AT&T shut off copper phone lines?
The FCC approved AT&T's 18-state batch on January 12, 2026, and copper service in those wire centers can be discontinued starting November 15, 2026. The wire centers are in parts of 18 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. AT&T plans to retire the large majority of its copper outside California by the end of 2029.
Who signs off on the new fire alarm and elevator connections?
The local authority having jurisdiction does, usually the fire marshal for fire alarms and the elevator inspector for elevators, and the monitoring company has to confirm it receives the signals. Confirm what each will accept before installation starts. No replacement is accepted everywhere by default.
Do you install or monitor the equipment?
No. Metro Colo Advisory is an independent advisor: we put your line list in front of the replacement providers that fit and negotiate price and terms. The provider's engineers survey the buildings and install the equipment, and monitoring is handled by the provider or your existing monitoring company.
What do we need to send you?
The number of buildings, lines per building, what each line runs, your current monthly bill or a recent invoice, any carrier notice letters and contract end dates. If you do not have all of it, the building list and a recent phone bill are enough to start. You'll hear back within 24 hours.
Is this worth it for a single building?
Usually not through us. We are built for organizations with multiple locations or 20 or more lines. If you have one building and a couple of lines, your carrier's own replacement may be the simplest answer, and we will say so.
Send the Line List Before You Request Quotes
The order matters: once you ask a provider for pricing directly, it usually will not register an advisor, and you negotiate alone. Send the building list and a recent phone bill first; the full inventory can follow. You'll hear back within 24 hours from the person who will run your search. We line up the providers that fit, and their engineers handle the site surveys. It all runs by email.
For organizations with multiple locations or 20 or more lines. The provider you choose pays us, so it costs you nothing. If you have already spoken to one provider, tell us which; we can still run the rest of the market.
POTS replacement: POTS line replacement, the copper retirement tracker and POTS replacement providers compared.
Lines with code requirements: elevator phone line replacement and fire alarm phone line replacement.
Other portfolios: retail and restaurants, banks and credit unions, and schools, hospitals and public buildings.
Leasing office networks: SASE and SD-WAN, managed firewall services, managed security services and about Metro Colo Advisory.
