Voice
Analog Phone Lines/POTS
Analog lines, also referred to as POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), support standard phones, fax machines, and modems. These are the lines typically found in your home or small office. Digital lines are found in large, corporate phone systems.
Integrated Access
T1 (also referred to as DS1) is a standard for digital transmission over phone lines at 1.544 Mbps. It is split into 24 channels of 64Kbps each. T1s are often “clear channel” and all bits are available for data as well as voice. Each 64Kbps channel (also known as a DS0) can carry data or voice traffic, and two or more channels can be combined into one higher speed data channel. Many telecom companies are providing integrated T1 solutions with the capability for voice, internet, and MPLS (private data) network solutions.
DATA
Ethernet
Ethernet is a network communication standard capable of handling large amounts of data at speeds of 10 Mbps upto 10 Gbps, and at up to 1500 bytes per packet. The specification uses an open protocol at the Application layer and is especially popular for control applications
Types of Ethernet
- Ethernet – Public Internet
- Ethernet over Copper (EoC)
- Ethernet over Fiber
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- Point to Point Ethernet
- Ethernet over Coax
Wireless
Cellular
A cellular network or mobile network is a communication network where the last link is wireless. The network is distributed over land areas called cells, each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver, known as a cell site or base station. This base station provides the cell with the network coverage which can be used for transmission of voice, data and others. A cell might use a different set of frequencies from neighboring cells, to avoid interference and provide guaranteed service quality within each cell.
When joined together these cells provide radio coverage over a wide geographic area.
Major telecommunications providers have deployed voice and data cellular networks over most of the inhabited land area of the Earth. This allows mobile phones and mobile computing devices to be connected to the public switched telephone network and public Internet.
Audio Conferencing
A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one party participate in to the audio portion of the call. The conference call may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party merely listens into the call and cannot speak
Long Distance/800 Service
A long distance call is a telephone call made outside a certain area, usually characterized by an area code outside of a local call area (known in the United States as a Local Access and Transport Area or LATA). Long-distance calls usually carry long-distance charges which, within certain nations, vary between phone companies and are the subject of much competition. International calls are calls made between different countries, and usually carry much higher charges.
800 Service or Toll Free Service is a number that allows your customers the capability to call you from outside your local call area without incurring long distance charges.
Fiber Optic
A technology that uses glass (or plastic) threads (fibers) to transmit data. A fiber optic cable consists of a bundle of glass threads, each of which is capable of transmitting messages modulated onto light waves.
Fiber optics has several advantages over traditional metal communications lines:
- Fiber optic cables have a much greater bandwidth than metal cables. This means that they can carry more data.
- Fiber optic cables are less susceptible than metal cables to interference.
- Fiber optic cables are much thinner and lighter than metal wires.
- Data can be transmitted digitally (the natural form for computer data) rather than analogically.
The main disadvantage of fiber optics is that the cables are expensive to install. In addition, they are more fragile than wire and are difficult to splice.
Fiber optics is a particularly popular technology for local-area networks. In addition, telephone companies are steadily replacing traditional telephone lines with fiber optic cables. In the future, almost all communications will employ fiber optics.
Experience
- Fiber Build Construction Projects
- Sourcing Multiple Types of Fiber Solutions
- Fiber Conduit Boring – Coordination, Project Management and Implementation
Wireless Failover
Wireless failover is an automated function in telephone networks and computer networks where a standard hardwired connection is switched to a redundant wireless connection upon failure or irregular closure of a default hardwired connection or component in the network such as a router, server, or computer.
Wireless failover is a business continuity function. That is, it allows businesses to continue operations even in the event of a network failure. In retail, wireless failover is typically used when a standard connection for a point of sale credit card machine fails. In this instance, the wireless failover allows business transactions to continue to be processed, ensuring business continuity.
Microwave (Licensed and Unlicensed)
Microwaves are widely used for point-to-point communications because their small wavelength allows conveniently-sized antennas to direct them in narrow beams, which can be pointed directly at the receiving antenna. This allows nearby microwave equipment to use the same frequencies without interfering with each other, as lower frequency radio waves do. In recent years there has been an explosive increase in use of the microwave spectrum by new telecommunication technologies such as wireless networks
ISDN PRI/T1 Solutions
PRI is also known as ISDN PRI or sometimes T1 PRI. ISDN stands for Integrated Services Digital Network. There are two speeds of service offered: BRI or Basic Rate Interface and PRI or Primary Rate Interface. BRI is a low capacity service intended for residential and small business applications. PRI is the high capacity service carried on T1 trunk lines between telco central offices and your location.
PRI divides a T1 digital signal into 24 channels of 64 Kbps capacity per channel. 23 of these channels can be assigned as one telephone call each, the equivalent of having 23 separate telephone lines. The 24th channel is used for signaling information and special features such as caller ID and hotel / motel information services. It is a popular service for call centers which need the ANI automatic number identification or caller ID data.
SD-WAN
SD-WAN is an acronym for software-defined networking in a wide area network (WAN). An SD-WAN simplifies the management and operation of a WAN by decoupling (separating) the networking hardware from its control mechanism.
A key application of an SD-WAN is allowing companies to build higher performance WANs using lower cost internet access, enabling businesses to partially or wholly replace more expensive private WAN connection technologies such as MPLS.
American marketing research firm Gartner predicted in 2015 that by the end of 2019 30% of enterprises will deploy SD-WAN technology in their branches.
T1 Solutions
T1 service can be provided as channelized or unchannelized. In the channelized T1 version, there are 24 channels. Each channel can be a telephone call. T1 gives you 24 phone lines in place of the 23 that can be accommodated with PRI. However, since there is no separate signaling channel, the signaling information that tells when a phone is on hook or off hook is carried within each channel by using or “robbing” the least significant bit. Unfortunately, channelized T1 doesn’t provide any capability for ANI or caller ID data. You need PRI service for that.
Unchannelized T1 treats all 24 T1 line channels as one big combined channel for carrying Internet service, point to point data download or VoIP broadband phone. This service is intended to be handled by digital routers, not PBX telephone systems. There are no dedicated phone channels or signaling assigned for switched telephone service.
DSL
Digital Subscriber Line(DSL) is a technology that significantly increases the digital capacity of ordinary telephone lines into the home or office. DSL speeds are based on the distance between the customer and telco central office. There are two main categories. Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) is used for Internet access, where fast downstream is required, but slow upstream is acceptable. Symmetric DSL (SDSL, HDSL, etc.) is designed for connections that require high speed in both directions. Many telecom/technology company s are also using DSL for private data connections on MPLS networks, which saves companies money from installed costly T1 connections.
T1
A 1.544 Mbps dedicated digital circuit provided by the telephone companies to connect to the internet. The monthly cost is typically comprised of the local loop, which connects a company’s office to the telecom providers’ internet equipment. The other major monthly cost is the port charge to provide access to the telecom providers’ internet backbone.
