Parking structures are full of communications equipment that tends to stay in service for years. Elevator emergency phones, entry intercoms, gate systems, call boxes, and other analog devices may continue working reliably long after the telephone technology supporting them has become outdated.
For parking structure owners and facility managers, that creates an increasingly common problem: the equipment still works, but the traditional copper phone line connected to it is becoming expensive and obsolete.
Destra Business Services helps parking structure owners address this problem with Mobile Connect 2, a copper-to-cellular solution that can replace traditional POTS telephone service while allowing many existing elevator phones, intercoms, and other analog systems to remain in service.
Instead of replacing working equipment, it may be possible to simply replace the connection.
Why Parking Structures Still Have So Many Copper Phone Lines
Parking structures are a perfect example of where legacy telephone infrastructure can hide in plain sight.
A dedicated telephone line may have been installed years ago for an elevator emergency phone. Another might serve an entrance intercom. A gated parking facility may have an analog access or call box system connected to another line.
As long as everything works, these lines receive very little attention.
The monthly bill is another matter.
Traditional POTS, or Plain Old Telephone Service, is no longer the inexpensive utility it once was. Telecommunications providers have been transitioning away from legacy copper infrastructure, and maintaining dedicated analog lines can become increasingly costly.
For a property with several elevators or communication systems, those individual monthly charges can add up to a significant annual expense.
Your Elevator Phone May Not Need to Be Replaced
When an elevator phone line becomes too expensive or unreliable, it is easy to assume that the elevator communication equipment needs to be replaced.
Often, it doesn’t.
The telephone inside the elevator may still be functioning exactly as intended. The problem is the old copper telephone service connecting that equipment to the outside world.
Mobile Connect 2 replaces the traditional telephone connection with cellular service.
For compatible equipment, the gateway provides the analog telephone interface and dial tone expected by the existing elevator phone while carrying calls over a cellular network.
This allows parking structure owners to modernize the underlying communications service without automatically replacing otherwise functional elevator telephone equipment.
Cellular Service for Parking Structure Elevator Phones
Elevator emergency communications are particularly important in parking structures.
Many parking garages operate around the clock. Some are minimally staffed during evenings and weekends, while others may have no permanent staff physically located inside the structure.
If someone becomes trapped in an elevator, the emergency communication system provides an important connection to assistance.
Moving that communication path from a traditional copper line to an appropriate cellular solution can eliminate dependence on aging POTS infrastructure while preserving the function of compatible elevator emergency telephone equipment.
Destra Business Services can evaluate the existing equipment, determine whether a cellular conversion is appropriate, install the Mobile Connect 2 gateway, and test the completed connection.
Parking Garage Intercom and Gate Systems Can Be Candidates Too
Elevators are not the only reason parking structures still have analog telephone lines.
Entry intercoms, gated access systems, security call boxes, and other communications equipment may also depend on traditional telephone service.
Replacing an entire access or intercom system can be expensive. It can also involve much more than replacing a telephone.
A new system may require changes to wiring, access controls, directories, gates, credentials, software, or other equipment throughout the property.
If the existing system is still doing its job, replacing the telephone connection may be a much more practical approach.
Mobile Connect 2 can provide compatible analog equipment with the telephone interface it expects while moving the actual communications path to cellular service.
POTS to LTE: A Bridge Between Old and New Technology
The technology is often referred to as POTS to LTE, POTS to cellular, or sometimes POTS in a Box.
Whatever terminology is used, the basic idea is straightforward.
Existing analog equipment was designed to connect to a conventional telephone line. A cellular gateway creates an interface between that legacy equipment and a modern cellular network.
The connected device can still receive the characteristics it expects from a telephone connection, including dial tone, while calls are transmitted using cellular service rather than the telephone company’s copper network.
For parking structure owners, this can provide a practical middle ground between maintaining increasingly expensive copper service and replacing an entire building communication system.
How Much Are Your Parking Structure Phone Lines Actually Costing?
One of the first things we recommend is simply looking at the telephone bill.
Identify the dedicated lines associated with elevators, gates, intercoms, emergency phones, and other building systems. Then determine what each line actually costs per month.
The results can be surprising.
A line installed many years ago may have gradually increased in price without anyone questioning whether the service is still the best option. Multiply that cost across several lines and then across 12 months, and an overlooked utility expense can become a substantial operating cost.
Destra Business Services offers Mobile Connect 2 service starting at $44 per month, per line.
For a parking structure paying substantially more for traditional telephone service, the difference can create meaningful recurring savings.
The opportunity becomes even greater for parking operators, commercial property owners, municipalities, HOAs, hospitals, universities, hotels, and property management companies responsible for multiple parking facilities.
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Per elevator; Mobile Connect 2 service is $44.00 per month.
Older Parking Structures Are Excellent Candidates for Evaluation
Many parking garages were built when copper telephone service was simply part of the building infrastructure.
That does not mean all of the equipment connected to those lines has reached the end of its useful life.
A decades-old structure may have had its elevators modernized at one point, its gate equipment upgraded at another, and its intercom maintained or repaired several times. Different generations of equipment can coexist throughout the same facility.
The telephone lines supporting those systems may be even older.
This is where copper-to-cellular conversion can make particularly good sense. Instead of undertaking a large-scale replacement project, management can evaluate individual systems and determine which existing telephone connections can be moved to cellular service.
An Opportunity for Multi-Property Parking Operators
The economics can become particularly attractive for organizations managing multiple parking structures.
Consider an operator with several garages, each containing elevator, gate, or intercom telephone lines. Even relatively small savings on each line can become significant when multiplied across an entire portfolio.
It also provides an opportunity to standardize communications.
Rather than maintaining a mixture of telephone providers, aging copper lines, and different billing arrangements, eligible systems can be transitioned toward a consistent cellular solution.
For property managers and accounting departments, reducing unnecessary recurring telecom expenses can be just as valuable as replacing outdated technology.
Reliability Comes Before Savings
Lower monthly costs are attractive, but an elevator emergency phone or building access system should never be converted based on price alone.
Parking structures can present unique cellular challenges because they contain large amounts of concrete, steel, below-grade areas, elevator equipment rooms, and other locations where signal conditions can vary.
A proper conversion therefore starts with evaluating the equipment and conditions at the property.
The goal is not simply to eliminate a copper telephone line. The goal is to replace it with an appropriate communication path and verify that the connected equipment operates correctly.
Still Paying for Copper Lines in Your Parking Structure?
If your parking structure has elevators, intercoms, gates, call boxes, or other analog communications equipment, there is a good chance that at least some of those systems are still connected to traditional telephone lines.
Those lines are worth reviewing.
You may discover that you’re paying increasingly high monthly charges to maintain old copper connections for equipment that could operate over cellular service.
Destra Business Services can evaluate your existing parking structure communications and identify systems that may be good candidates for Mobile Connect 2.
With service starting at $44 per month, per line, Mobile Connect 2 offers parking structure owners and managers a practical way to move away from expensive legacy POTS service without unnecessarily replacing working equipment.
Before replacing the elevator phone, intercom, or gate system, take a look at what’s connecting it. The equipment may be fine. It may simply be time to replace the phone line.