Years ago telecommunications was rather straightforward. You had a phone on your desk, it rang and you answered it. The telephone operator sat
downstairs and answered each call, directing it to the proper telephone. Things have changed drastically since those days.
Now there are automated systems to answer and direct calls and the telephone system has hundreds of available features to make the telephone a
working office tool. The latest technology to make a lasting appearance is VoIP. This means using the Internet Protocol (network) to place and
receive voice calls.
Convergence is the combination of voice and data. This convergence is already taking place and is steadily going to continue to be the way of
the future of telecommunications. Voice calls can now be made using the same infrastructure that is already in place for your data
communications.
There are several factors driving this convergence. First, the complexity of telephone systems has steadily increased. They are now simply
large telecom computers. The reasoning is that by combining the two you can combine the services of both areas functionally and save time and
money.
You can also save money through hardware to the desktop as well as wiring to the desktop. The savings can be substantial when looking at
wiring a large office complex.
New technology allows for computers and telephones to be totally integrated. This technology is already available by most large telecom
companies. You can have voice mail messages drop into your computer inbox and have calls locate you and ring on various other instruments such as
your cell phone.
VoIP allows your telephone users the ability to make and receive calls directly through their computer. In fact it can allow for employees to
use their laptop computers when connected to the network from any location to make and receive calls as though they are sitting in the office.
The technology allows for the use of company telephone lines such as t1 long distance to place calls from any location.
There are several types of T1 services that are available to businesses. These services allow for transmission at high speeds over fiber networks. A single
T1 has 24 channels and can accommodate up to 100 users. For large applications there are other options. An OC3 is an optical circuit that is
equal to 100 T1s. This type of circuit is typically used for ISP backbones or for large applications such as campus environments.
T1 and OC circuits can be used for voice, data or a combination. The circuit comes into the premise and is terminated onto a jack in the
telephone or network room. From there it can be extended into either the telephone switch or the network equipment depending on its use.
