Modernizing Mission-Critical Voice Infrastructure Across 400+ Airports
Executive Summary
- Sourcing-led engagement modernizing legacy POTS services across a national airport network
- More than 400 airports supported with life-safety and regulatory requirements preserved
- Inventory-driven, regulation-aware sourcing process reduced operational and compliance risk
- Replacement solutions vetted for reliability, failover, and long-term viability
- Engagement established a scalable framework to retire analog services safely at scale
The Challenge
For decades, analog POTS services supported emergency phones, elevator lines, fire panels, security systems, and operational voice circuits across airports nationwide. These services were historically stable and inexpensive. That changed rapidly. Carriers increased POTS pricing, introduced surcharges, and signaled long-term sunset plans. Costs escalated year over year while service reliability declined. Documentation was often incomplete, ownership unclear, and inventories outdated. At the same time, the organization faced non-negotiable constraints:
- Emergency and life-safety services could not be disrupted
- Replacement solutions had to meet strict federal, state, and local regulations
- Airports operate under layered governance involving public agencies, operators, and regulators
- Any modernization initiative had to scale across hundreds of locations without introducing risk
This was not a cost-reduction exercise. Selecting the wrong solution could create compliance violations, operational outages, or public-safety exposure. The organization required a national, defensible POTS replacement strategy and a partner capable of executing it safely at scale.
The DBC Consulting Approach
Dev-Byrne & Company led a discovery-first, regulation-aware sourcing engagement designed to replace legacy analog services while preserving safety, compliance, and operational continuity. DBC treated this initiative as a national infrastructure modernization program rather than a carrier migration.
Inventory and Legacy Service Identification
The engagement began with a comprehensive inventory effort to establish a defensible baseline.
DBC worked with stakeholders to:
- Identify and validate thousands of legacy POTS lines across airport locations
- Classify services by function, including emergency, life-safety, operational, and auxiliary uses
- Map services to physical locations, systems, and ownership
- Flag undocumented, orphaned, or misclassified circuits
This inventory was foundational. Without it, any sourcing decision would have been incomplete and high-risk.
Regulatory and Compliance Vetting
DBC incorporated regulatory requirements into the sourcing process from the outset, including:
- Interpretation of federal aviation, safety, and communications regulations
- Evaluation of state and local jurisdictional constraints
- Validation that proposed solutions supported alarm signaling, line supervision, and failover
- Review of vendor certifications, testing standards, and compliance documentation
Only solutions meeting strict regulatory and operational criteria advanced in the evaluation.
POTS Replacement Sourcing Event
DBC designed and managed a national sourcing event to evaluate POTS replacement solutions capable of operating at airport scale. Vendors were assessed based on:
- Technology architecture and reliability
- Support for emergency and life-safety use cases
- Scalability across hundreds of geographically distributed sites
- Network resilience, redundancy, and failover capabilities
- Monitoring, support, and escalation procedures
- Long-term viability as analog services are retired
Rather than defaulting to the lowest-cost alternative, DBC prioritized risk mitigation, compliance, and operational fit.
Program Scoping and Launch Readiness
Given the scope and criticality of the initiative, DBC also supported:
- National rollout scoping and phased deployment planning
- Site-by-site implementation sequencing
- Coordination requirements across airports and governing authorities
- Project governance and change-control models
This ensured the selected solution could be deployed consistently without disrupting airport operations.
The Outcome
- Selection of a national POTS replacement solution aligned to emergency and life-safety requirements
- Mitigation of escalating legacy POTS costs across hundreds of airports
- Reduced regulatory and operational risk through compliant, modernized services
- A scalable framework to retire analog services as carrier sunset programs continue
- Clear inventory, governance, and project structure supporting national rollout
Most importantly, the organization gained confidence that a mission-critical infrastructure transition could be executed safely, compliantly, and at scale.
What Changed
The organization moved from reactive management of aging analog services to a controlled modernization strategy. Legacy services were documented, risks were surfaced, and replacement decisions were made with full visibility into compliance and operational impact. What had been an urgent cost and risk problem became a governed, executable national program.
Why It Worked
Discovery-first sourcing grounded in accurate inventory
- Deep understanding of regulatory and life-safety requirements
- Vendor vetting beyond pricing and marketing claims
- Execution-aware planning for national deploymen
- Governance discipline appropriate for critical infrastructure environments
DBC ensured modernization did not compromise safety, compliance, or operational continuity.
Client Snapshot
Industry: Transportation & Critical Infrastructure
Organization Type: National aviation services organization
Footprint: 400+ regional and national airports across the United States
Technology Environment: Legacy POTS lines supporting emergency services, Fire panels,
Elevators, Security systems, Operational voice circuits
Engagement Type: Technology Sourcing (Analog Replacement and POTS Modernization)
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