Money is tricky. For school districts, that is no exception.
Who decides where the money goes can be complicated. But after working with more than 67% of the school districts in Alabama, we have seen a lot of money go toward dial tone and phone numbers when it may not have to.
One school district recently approved a phone bill increase without batting an eye. Their carrier had raised the cost of five analog phone lines from a few hundred dollars a month to $18,000 a month.
Not $18,000 a year.
$18,000 a month.
Why This Is Happening
Major carriers are sunsetting analog lines. Totally understandable because they are expensive to maintain and repair. So the strategy is to hike the prices so high that they either get to stop worrying about physical lines and PRI Circuits or they get a ridiculous payday.
There’s actually a third option. Switch to SIP Trunking.
The Way Off Analog Is SIP Trunking
SIP trunking replaces analog lines and PRI circuits with a digital connection that runs over your existing internet connection.
And it costs a lot less than $18,000 a month.
At Ambit, we are the carrier, not a reseller. That means we control the call paths, manage number routing, and handle porting in-house instead of passing your calls through another company.
We are STIR/SHAKEN compliant and we have ported more than 30,000 phone numbers for schools and organizations across the Southeast.
But Switching Is Scary
It really does not have to be.
It is our opinion that we have the best porting department in the world. We have simply done this enough times to know how to guide a district through every step.
Moving away from analog does not mean losing your existing phone numbers or starting over. It means moving those numbers onto a system built for where phone service is actually headed.
But Why Are Schools Paying for So Many Numbers?
How many phone numbers does one school really need?
When you Google a school, how many phone numbers usually appear?
One.
Does the school need a fax number and a CNP number? Sure.
So maybe three.
How many phone numbers do you think the average school is paying for?
Not three.
Try more than 100.
That is how schools and businesses used to operate. Every phone had its own outside number.
Y’all, it is 2026! You don’t need those numbers anymore!
Those numbers can cost anywhere from $1.50 to $4 each per number, every month.
Your school may not need more than three public-facing numbers. That means you may be able to stop paying for the other 97 and use that money somewhere else.
Two Questions Worth Asking
1. Is your school district still using analog lines or a PRI circuit?
2. How many phone numbers is your district paying for every month?
You may be surprised by the answer.
Schedule a free phone system audit and let us help you find out.
