AT&T has partnered with RingCentral to digitise business wireline phone services, stating the move will boost security and reduce costs for its enterprise customers.

RingCentral provides cloud-based unified communications service, which AT&T is making available to businesses nationwide through a new service called AT&T for Business – Advanced. In a statement, the operator highlighted the benefits of combining cloud-based functionality with the reliability of traditional wireline phone service.

AT&T and RingCentral will use hardware made by DataRemote to digitise analog traffic so that it can be transmitted by VoIP networks. In addition, AT&T said the device can provide 12 hours of operation using an internal battery backup in the event of a power failure.

AT&T noted the new service can increase reliability for a number of wireline services in addition to voice, such as alarms, elevators, fax machines, modems, point-of-sale terminals and even healthcare equipment.

Nationwide businesses using wireline phones often need to pay separate phone bills in each state due to regional regulations, AT&T noted. This solution can consolidate all lines onto one bill, the operator explained.

AT&T is the second major mobile operator in the US to partner with RingCentral. In May, Verizon announced plans to combine RingCentral’s cloud-based messaging, video, and phone service with Verizon’s 5G, mobile edge computing, SD WAN, and security services.