POTS REPLACEMENT
Losing Copper Phone Lines? Your Elevator Phone Needs a Plan
If any of your buildings has an elevator whose emergency phone still runs on a copper phone line, replacing that line is an elevator code matter, not routine phone work. The elevator code requires a two-way emergency link from the car to people who can send help, with at least 4 hours of backup power, and current editions add a daily automatic check of the line. Your elevator contractor and state elevator inspector, not the phone company, decide whether the replacement meets it.
This article covers why the carrier will not handle this for you, what the elevator code expects from the replacement, and how to keep elevator phones from slipping through a copper project across many sites.
The carrier changes the line. The elevator phone is still yours.
New FCC rules are now in effect that streamline how carriers retire copper and discontinue older phone services. They do not set a single national shutoff date; carriers announce retirements area by area. A Verizon notice for 62 New Jersey wire centers, for example, lists implementation on or after December 10, 2026, and says customers may be required to move off copper earlier.
The FCC’s copper retirement rules don’t require carriers to notify end users, though carriers usually do. When a carrier discontinues a service, separate FCC rules do require customer notice. Either way, the notice goes to whoever holds the phone account, which may not be the person who manages your elevators.
So the replacement for the line is your project. Whether the elevator still meets code afterward is decided by your elevator contractor and, where required, your state or local elevator inspector.
What the elevator code expects
Elevator safety is governed by the ASME A17.1 code, adopted by states and some cities, and which edition applies depends on your jurisdiction and when the elevator was installed or altered. Public guidance from state elevator programs and fire officials describes these basics for elevators under recent editions; older elevators may have been approved under earlier rules:
- A call that reaches a person. The car’s emergency button must connect to authorized personnel who can take action, not an automated answering system. If no one acknowledges the call within 45 seconds, it must roll to another location.
- Backup power. If the elevator phone runs on building power rather than power from the phone line, it must keep working for at least 4 hours after building power fails. Copper lines carried their own power from the phone company. Internet phone service keeps working in an outage only if the customer maintains backup power, so that backup becomes the building owner’s job. If one replacement device serves both the elevator and the fire alarm, the fire alarm’s 24-hour requirement applies to that device.
- A daily check. The system must automatically verify, at least daily, that the line works, and signal a failure if it does not.
- Any technology that meets the rules. Wisconsin’s elevator program states that codes do not prohibit a particular technology; cellular and internet-based service can be used if they meet every requirement.
A change can also trigger newer rules. North Carolina’s State Construction Office notes that replacing the cab phone or call button will likely require compliance with the 2019 edition of ASME A17.1, which requires text and video communication and a separate line to each cab, and that the state Department of Labor may treat a telephone service change as a full communications upgrade. That is North Carolina’s guidance; ask your own state elevator inspector how your state treats the change.
How to keep elevator phones in scope at scale
For an organization with hundreds of locations, the decision is not about one phone. It is about making sure no elevator line is missed:
- Facilities lists every elevator and what its emergency phone connects through today. IT or telecom matches that list against carrier notices.
- The elevator contractor confirms the replacement meets the code edition that applies to each car, including backup power and the daily check, before the cutover date.
- The contractor tests the call end to end from inside the car to whoever answers, with the location identified, and records the result.
- One named person accepts the result for each site, including any inspection your state requires, before the copper project is closed.
Our perspective
Elevator phones get missed because no single team owns them. IT runs the phone migration, facilities runs the elevator contractor, and each can assume the other covered the emergency line. A copper project can be marked complete while an elevator car has no working way to call for help.
The fix is to put every elevator line on the replacement list by name, with an owner and a tested result, before the carrier sets a date. Nadicent helps multi-site organizations find which sites still depend on copper, compare replacement options, and line up the change with the contractors and inspectors who have to approve it.
Does your copper replacement list include every elevator?
Sources
- Federal Communications Commission, “Reducing Barriers to Network Improvements and Service Changes” (FCC 26-19), Report and Order, Federal Register, April 20, 2026
- Federal Communications Commission, effective-date announcement for FCC 26-19 amendments, Federal Register, October 1, 2026
- Verizon, New Jersey copper retirement notice, September 8, 2026
- Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, Elevator Safety Program, “Two-Way Voice Communication in Passenger Elevators and Vertical Platform Lifts,” September 12, 2017
- City of Santa Clara Fire Department, “Emergency Elevator Communication Systems,” May 31, 2023
- North Carolina State Construction Office, “Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) Copper Telephone Line Replacement Service Requirements and Options”
- U.S. Access Board, Guide to the ADA Standards, Chapter 4: Elevators and Platform Lifts
This article is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Requirements vary by location and change over time, so check the sources above and confirm with your local authorities and licensed contractors.
