Telephone Exchanges - July 14th, 2008 by Diplomat Guru
Modern telephone exchanges are now very small and come packed with features.The most important feature that our customers need today is real time caller ID. This means that as soon as the phone begins to ring the telephone exchange can report the callers’number. This is normally a standard feature on most ISDN telephone exchanges but very few analogue exchanges have offered this feature until recently.
VOIP exchanges
In addition to conventional ISDN and Analogue exchanges there is a new generation of PC based exchanges that run a Linux operating system and provide all the functions of a conventional ISDN or analogue exchange with the added advantage that they can connect to telephone lines and also extensions over the internet. This opens up endless possibilities for teleworking and having low cost branch lines in other towns or countries.
Digital extensions
Digital extensions are different to conventional analogue phones and usually provide advanced features that are not available on pretty ordinary telephone systems (POTS). They often have a display that can display caller ID and trunk activity. They can also be used as the system or console phone and are used for programming or adjusting the features of the telephone exchange such as least cost routing etc.
Analogue extensions
These are exactly the same as ordinary telephones and although they do not have the advantage of the digital extensions features they are very simple, reliable and easily obtainable for very little money. Some of the modern analogue phones are quite well specified and will often support headsets, hands free operation and memory dialing. These are often a good option as telephones often need replacing in the tough environments they are used in.
VoIP Extensions
A voip telephone can look just like a conventional phone or it can be a peice of software installed on a PC and use the PC audio card to connect to a handset
PBX.exe Connectivity software
It is desirable for Diplomat product to easily integrate with any telephone system, PBX and emerging communications systems such as Cellular, GPRS, 3G and other communication methods including VOIP and internet phone systems.To facilitate integration of these products Diplomat has developed a program called PBX which converts the different protocols of the many manufacturers of telephone exchanges to a single protocol that can be understood by Diplomat Navigator and other PBX integrated products.
Connectivity
Serial or RS232
Most telephone exchanges have a serial or RS232 connector as it is sometimes known.
This connects directly by wire from the telephone exchange to the computer that is running the PBX program.
TCP/IP
Some more modern exchanges have a network style connection (RJ45) and can be directly connected to the workgroup switch. In this fashion the information is transmitted in TCP/IP message format and this can be received by any PC connected to the network. The TCP/IP method is preferred as no individual computer is connected directly to the telephone exchange and all computers can play a part in interpreting the messages.
Client Server
The PBX software runs as a server and an unlimited number of clients. The server looks and operates the same as the client software but must be installed on the machine that is connected to the PBX or telephone system. The PBX server machine must also have a fixed IP address so the other machines know where on the network the server is.
Features
The PBX software is fully integrated with Diplomat Navigator and also has stand alone features built in. It not only displays the incoming caller ID but has a CLI database cross reference file that can lookup the incoming number and cross reference it to a text database and display the callers name or company information. Telephone exchanges that support CTI can also be controlled by the program so it is possible to answer calls directly by using the mouse or keyboard.