These services were all created to use with old copper based telephone lines. While fibre isn’t a new service by any means compatibility issues will always be a problem with hardware built specifically for copper. From our own experience with these services & Fibre to the Home, the following information might help you prepare to transition from copper to fibre based services.

Faxes - Faxing services should work reasonably well If you have newish fax and voice equipment which supports the T.38 protocol. If you have an older fax and voice equipment which doesn't support T.38, it's still possible to fax however it can become extremely problematic and frustrating. There are other IP based faxing methods available such as Fax to Email or Email to Fax which may be preferable depending on your needs.

Dial-up Eftpos - This service will work over Fibre based voice services but may require a high quality codec to be reliable. IP Based Eftpos services/terminals are available and recommended.

Medical & Monitored alarms - The majority of medical & monitored alarms available in New Zealand today use DTMF signalling which does not work well with Fibre based voice services. If you require any type of monitoring the best & only real option is an IP based alarm which doesn't rely on DTMF signalling. AlarmNZ (https://alarmnz.com) are one of the only alarm companies in New Zealand to offer a variety of IP based alarm services.

Sky Digital Interactive services - At this point in time we've been unable to successful make this service work over Fibre based voice services. Please note this service relates to purchasing pay-per-view programming & requires a connection from your decoder to the Telephone line.

As is often the case with new technology, there is a delay between the capability of hardware & services that support the functionality on offer. In time I'm sure we'll see Sky, Medical & Monitored Alarm companies migrate to fully functional IP solutions.

If there is something you use which isn't on the list or you have a query about the above feel free to ask questions :)