ISDN, or Integrated Services Digital Network, is a service available from many phone companies. It is a significant enhancement over basic phone services (POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service), the familiar dial-tone service your home phone is probably connected to today. This enhancement is similar to the way Microsoft Windows is an enhancement over DOS -- it allows you to do more things, quicker and easier. As a service, ISDN is available using the same telephone wiring currently used in the home or office, usually resulting in low installation cost. Also, due to the full integration of the ISDN and POTS networks, ISDN users can talk to POTS users and vice versa.
The fundamental difference is that ISDN is a digital service while POTS is analog. This means that instead of the signal being continually amplified as it crosses the network, it is cleanly regenerated at each point in the network. As a result, many of the annoying issues with POTS, such a line noise, poor connections and echo, are eliminated or reduced. If you have ever used a fax and had to resend a document due to poor quality or an interrupted transmission, then you can appreciate the benefits of a virtually error-free digital connection.
One of the key advantages of an ISDN channel is that it can carry any type of traffic: voice; video; or data, and it does this much faster than a POTS connection. In fact, each ISDN channel is more than twice as fast as the fastest phone line. For those who like all the numbers, a typical POTS connection will range from 9.6 Kbps (Kilobits per second) to a maximum of 28.8 Kbps depending on line quality. In addition, the speed must be negotiated by the devices at each end (the whistling noises at the beginning of a fax or modem call), a process that can take upwards of 30 seconds. An ISDN channel operates at 64 Kbps, each and every time. Since there is no negotiation, these connections are made in as little as 2 seconds. With less time spent connecting and with a faster line, more time can be spent working.
Another benefit of ISDN over POTS is ISDN has two information carrying channels on each wire, compared to one for POTS. It is similar to having two telephone lines coming into your home, with the advantage of only having to install and pay for one. These channels can be used separately, as two POTS lines would be, or together, which doubles the speed at which information can be transferred.
Let's take a look at an example of how this technology can benefit the teleworker and their employer. A sales executive (Lori) spends a significant amount of time communicating with customers, the regional sales office and the head office. In her home office, she has an ISDN device supporting her phone, fax machine and personal computer. All of this is connected to a single ISDN line.
Using the high-speed ISDN line to connect to the head office, Lori starts her day catching up on e-mail and transferring her updated sales forecast to her boss. While she's doing this, the phone rings (using one of the ISDN channels), and she takes a call from a major customer, who urgently requires a specific product. Since she has two channels to use, she uses one to talk to the customer, and one for her computer to talk to the inventory system at head office. Within seconds, she has confirmed product availability, placed the order, and satisfied the customer.
After completing the call, she returns to finish her e-mail. While she's doing that, a fax comes in (across an ISDN channel) with a proposed contract. She needs to make some changes, so she calls a colleague at the regional sales office. They direct her to a similar contract residing on the office file server, which she connects to and copies to her computer. The updated contract is then faxed back to the customer.
Due to the integrated nature of ISDN, Lori's day has been very productive. Queries can be investigated and answered while still on the phone. In addition, the high-speed of ISDN allows her to use exactly the same applications her colleagues use in the office. This reduces the training necessary, and makes her extremely productive -- no time lost to slow file transfers, modem problems, and unfamiliar applications. Lori's day has been spent teleworking, not telewaiting.
CONTACT:
Douglas Frosst Director of Marketing Gandalf Technologies Phone: (613) 723-6500e-mail: douglas.frosst@gandalf.ca
Mr. Frosst is responsible for business and market planning for Gandalf's remote access solutions. This product line, called Xpress, provides dynamic, large-scale connectivity for remote users via ISDN, switched 56, and async services.
Gandalf delivers leading solutions in network infrastructure by connecting remote locations to central resources and designing and supplying high-speed backbones for data, video and voice transmission providing customers with strategic advantage in today's competitive world.
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