Analog/Digital Dialtone Phone Service

Purchasing dial tone is just as important as selecting the correct phone system. There are many choices and several options which can save you money and provide additional flexibility. Intellisys can provide help you find the best situation which fits your needs.

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Analog Phone Lines

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. Although they are simple and basic phone lines, there are many features that can be purchased at additional costs like Caller ID, Conference Calling, and Flash Transferring.

The benefits going with an analog or POTS lines is cost. If you are a small office and only need a few phone lines with fairly simple features, this is the most cost effective solution.

T1

A T1 is made up of 24 64 kilobit/second channels or total of 1.544 megabits delivered over two pairs of copper phone wires through your provider. The main feature of a T1 is the full duplex or reliability of the internet connection. Where as other connections like DSL or Cable will frequently download at 1.544 M they may only upload at 768 K or may burst to higher or lower speeds. A T1 gives you tier 1 internet with no spikes and no valleys, a consistent connection all the way though.

A T1 can either be used for voice or data. You can have up to 24 simultaneous calls on one T1, or it can be used for internet bandwidth. Multiple T1’s can be bonded together to increase bandwidth or phone line capacity, or it can be sold in partials if you need small amounts.

This service can also be used for point to point connections. For companies who have many locations and send and receive data between locations a T1 provides a means of connecting without going over the general internet, giving you security, QOS (Quality of Service) and prioritization. Most companies today have a computer network within a single office so that information and resources can be shared by those computers. This is known as a Local Area Network (LAN). Point to point networking is extending that network to other distant company locations creating a Wide Area Network (WAN). The price of this type of connection varies depending on distance between the two locations. This connection becomes very important when switching to a VoIP network. If obtaining telecom services at one location is more expensive than obtaining similar services at another company location, a point to point T1 can share bulk minutes and better rates from the less expensive site to the more expensive site.

PRI

A PRI (Primary Rate Interface) is a telecommunication standard used in the Integrated Services Digital Network or ISDN, for carrying voice and data transmissions between two physical locations. PRI was developed specifically for industrial or large quantity users.

A PRI has 23 B channels and one D channel at 64 kilobits/second a channel for a total of 1.54 Megabits (Same size as a T1). B Channel or the Bearer Channel is used for data transmission, including voice, and D channel or Data Channel is meant for signaling and controlling for things like caller ID or DID’s.

A PRI is used to establish communication between a phone system (PBX or a private branch exchange) and a Central Office of the telephone company. The advantage of a PRI is that you can dynamically allocate channels for a voice call or data depending on your needs, or have DID (Direct Inward Dialing) numbers.

Example of Dynamic Allocation: If you only need a few phone lines and don’t have any other options of data or internet connections besides a T1, then you can share the 1.54 M between phone line needs and data connections. As you pick up a phone line to call out or a phone call comes in it carves out 64K of bandwidth for the duration of the call then goes back in the pool for data usage.

Example of DID: You have several people working in your company and want everyone to have a direct line or phone number which reaches their desk or office. With a PRI you can have hundreds of DID number, ranging between $.15 and $.20 each and you only pay for the 23 simultaneous calls verses having an analog CO line for each person in your office.

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