While supporting the voice systems across the Tops Friendly Markets footprint, we identified a growing issue: nearly 170 stores were still operating on aging POTS infrastructure that had become expensive to maintain and increasingly prone to service interruptions. We proposed a full migration to SIP-based voice services to eliminate these legacy challenges and bring every store up to a consistent, modern communications standard.
Each location had its own mix of legacy configurations and vendor-specific fixes built up over years. That made POTS support inconsistent and slow to resolve. Our team created a streamlined migration plan that evaluated every store, designed a uniform SIP solution, and coordinated installation with minimal impact to daily operations.
A key part of the rollout was implementing one consistent SIP provider across all Tops locations, replacing the patchwork of legacy services. This unified approach simplified support, ensured predictable performance, and created a stronger foundation for future technology upgrades.
Within six months, every Tops store was operating on a resilient SIP voice platform—reducing outages, lowering costs, and bringing long-term stability to the company’s communications network.
Migrating nearly 170 stores from aging POTS lines to a modern SIP platform delivered immediate operational benefits. Legacy POTS infrastructure had become a frequent source of outages and slow repair cycles, often leaving stores without reliable phone service during peak business hours. By standardizing every location on a consistent SIP provider, Tops significantly reduced unplanned downtime and gained a communications environment that is far easier to support and maintain.
The financial impact was equally substantial. Eliminating high monthly POTS fees and replacing them with efficient SIP services resulted in an estimated annual savings of roughly $1 million annually, with a full return on investment achieved in just a few months. This modernization provided Tops with long-term cost stability and a more dependable foundation for store operations.
