Telecommunication??

Telecommunication is the transmission of information, over significant distances, for the purpose of communication. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded drumbeats, lung-blown horns, or sent by loud whistles.

Telegraphy (from Greek: tele "at a distance", and graphein "to write") is the long-distance transmission of textual (as opposed to verbal or audio) messages without the physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus semaphore is a method of telegraphy whereas pigeon post is not.
Semaphore Flags is the telegraphy system conveying information at a distance by means of visual signals with hand-held flags, rods, disks, paddles, or occasionally bare or gloved hands

The Heliograph is basically a mirror that uses the light from the sun to flash a message across a distance.

~~WHY Telecommunication~~
Telecommunication in a business is no longer restricted to traditional voice calls. The latest telecommunication systems run on the same networks as video and data systems, enabling companies to integrate voice, data and video in sophisticated communication applications that improve productivity, collaboration and customer service. Mobile telecommunications devices and networks extend the reach of the company telecommunication system, offering employees and professionals at home or in the field the same communication facilities as their colleagues in an office.
Efficiency

The latest telecommunication devices combine a wide range of functionality on a single handset. Employees can use smartphones linked to a network to make conventional voice calls, send emails, visit websites, join a videoconference, access data, or work on documents. Using a single device improves efficiency and productivity, in addition to reducing equipment costs.
Collaboration

Telecommunication helps employees in different departments or separate locations work together more effectively. Employees can use networked telecommunication systems to send and receive emails, share documents, and collaborate via videoconference or teleconference. This can speed up decisionmaking and reduce the time to complete projects, such as new product development programs.

~~WHY Telecommunication~~
Time
Telecommunication systems reduce the time it takes to find information or contact colleagues. The latest telecommunication systems incorporate a feature called presence, which enables callers to determine if the person they wish to contact is available via email, telephone, instant messaging, or another communication channel. Employees post their status on the telecommunication system with messages such as free for calls," "busy," "away," or "do not disturb.

Customer Relationships
An efficient telecommunication system can strengthen customer relationships. By using call-center facilities such as call management, call routing, or interactive voice response, customer service teams can make it easier and more convenient for customers to contact a company. The contact center can then provide an efficient response for service requests, telephone orders, requests for information, or complaints. Agents in a call center can use quiet periods during shifts to make courtesy calls to customers to update them on new products or ask if they were satisfied with the service they received from the company.

Flexibility
Mobile telecommunication increases flexibility and choice for employees. If they wish to work from home or join meetings while they are away from the office, they can use smartphones to participate in video conferences or carry out work that requires secure access to a corporate database. Mobile telecommunication also reduces travelling costs, as employees no longer have to travel to meetings or visit the office to carry out computer-based tasks.

Public Switched Telephone Network [PSTN]

PSTN Topology

local loop Local Exchange

Local Exchange Long distance network trunk circuit

Local Exchange

subscriber line

Optimized Telephony Routing

Public switched telephone network

Public switched telephone network

The Telephone Network

Many countries have government agencies that regulate data and voice communications. A common carriers are private companies that sell or lease communications services and facilities to the public. Those providing local telephone services are called local exchange carriers (LECs), while those providing long distance services are called interexchange carriers (IXCs). As telecommunications services are being deregulated, the differences between these two are disappearing.

PSTN Architecture
Unlike LANs and other data networks, the PSTN is circuit switched. During the set up portion of a telephone call, a special circuit is created, which is then torn down when the call is completed. Originally, the entire telephone network was analog, but it is now mostly digital. The digital parts include the switches and backbone lines between them (called trunk lines). The connection between the customer premises equipment and the first telephone switch, called the local loop, is still analog.

Sound Waves
Sound is converted into electricity by a telephone and then transmitted as an analog signal. These waves have 3 fundamental characteristics:
Amplitude, meaning the height (intensity) of the wave Frequency, which is the number of waves that pass in a single second and is measured in Hertz (cycles/second) (wavelength, the length of the wave from crest to crest, is related to frequency.). Phase is a third characteristic that describes the point in the waves cycle at which a wave begins and is measured in degrees. (For example, changing a waves cycle from crest to trough corresponds to a 180 degree phase shift).

Sound wave

Modulation
Modulating a wave means changing one or more of its fundamental characteristics to encode information. The unmodulated wave used for this is called a carrier wave. There are three basic ways to modulate a carrier wave:
Amplitude Modulation Frequency Modulation Phase Modulation

Amplitude Modulation
Amplitude Modulation (AM), also called Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK), means changing the height of the wave to encode data. Figure 1 shows a simple case of amplitude modulation in which one bit is encoded for each carrier wave change.
A high amplitude means a bit value of 1 Zero amplitude means a bit value of 0

Amplitude modulation

Sending Multiple Bits Symbol

Each modification of the carrier wave to encode information is called a symbol. By using a more complicated information coding system, it is possible to encode more than 1 bit/symbol. Figure 2 gives an example of amplitude modulation using 4 amplitude levels, corresponding to 2 bits/symbol. Increasing the possible number of symbols from 4 to 8 corresponds with encoding 3 bits/symbol, 16 levels to 4 bits, and so on.

Figure 2 Two-bit amplitude modulation

Frequency Modulation
Frequency Modulation (FM), also called Frequency Shift Keying (FSK), means changing the frequency of the carrier wave to encode data. Figure 3 shows a simple case of frequency modulation in which one bit is encoded for each carrier wave change.
Changing the carrier wave to a higher frequency encodes a bit value of 1 No change in the carrier wave frequency means a bit value of 0

Figure 3 Frequency Modulation

Phase Modulation
Phase refers to the point in each wave cycle at which the wave begins. Phase Modulation (PM) or Phase Shift Keying (PSK) means changing the carrier waves phase to carry data. Figure 4 shows a simple case of phase modulation in which one bit is encoded for each carrier wave change.
A 180o phase shift corresponds to a bit value of 1 No phase shift means a bit value of 0

Two bits per symbol could be encoded using phase modulation using 4 phase shifts such as 0o, 90o, 180o and 270o.

Figure 4 Phase Modulation

Digital Transmission of Analog Voice

The analog voice signal created by the senders telephone is converted a digital signal using a codec (coder/decoder). A second codec later converts the digital signal back to an analog one at the receivers end. The codec converts the incoming analog signal to a digital signal by taking repeated samples of the analog signal (see Figure 5). Each sample is then rounded off to a whole number and then encoded as a binary number. The resulting stream of binary values is sent as a digital transmission over the telephone network.

Figure 5 Pulse amplitude modulation (PAM)

How Telephones Transmit Voice

The telephone network uses a digitization technique called Pulse Code Modulation (PCM). PCM samples the incoming analog signal 8000 samples/second using 8 bit samples. The resulting 64,000 bits per second signal, called a DS-0, that is used throughout the telephone network to send digital transmissions of voice transmissions.

Signaling
Signaling is the generation, transmission, and reception of information needed to direct and control the setup and disconnect of a call.

PSTN Signaling
Generally, two types of signaling methods run over various transmission media
User-to-network signaling
This is how an end user communicates with the PSTN

Network-to-network signaling
This is generally how the switches in the PSTN intercommunicate

Signaling
Originating CPE

Originating Switching Office

Terminating Switching Office

Terminating CPE

1 2

Idle Off-hook Dial Tone Dialed Digits Off-hook Off-hook (wink) On-hook (wink) Dialed Digits Audible Ring Answer Disconnect Ringing Off-hook

Signaling
Originating CPE

Originating Switching Office

Terminating Switching Office

Terminating CPE

1 2

Idle Off-hook Dial Tone Dialed Digits

3 5
Off-hook Off-hook (wink) On-hook (wink)

4 6 6
Dialed Digits Audible Ring Answer Disconnect Ringing Off-hook

Signaling
Originating CPE

Originating Switching Office

Terminating Switching Office

Terminating CPE

1 2

Idle Off-hook Dial Tone Dialed Digits

3 5
Off-hook Off-hook (wink) On-hook (wink)

4 6 6 7
Dialed Digits Audible Ring Answer Disconnect Ringing Off-hook

Signaling
Originating CPE

Originating Switching Office

Terminating Switching Office

Terminating CPE

1 2

Idle Off-hook Dial Tone Dialed Digits

3 5
Off-hook Off-hook (wink) On-hook (wink)

4 6 6 7
Dialed Digits Audible Ring Answer Ringing Off-hook

8 9 10

10

Disconnect

Common Channel Signaling (CCS)

Common Channel Signaling (CCS) is a signaling method that uses a separate dedicated channel to send and receive signaling information for a group of trunks or facilities by means of labeled messages.

Signaling System 7 (SS7) LINKS

CO CO A

F
CO A

STP

STP

C
B
STP

B D
STP

C A SCP
A SCP

SS7
Switching Office A STP Customer A IAM IAM ACM ANM REL RLC Customer B Switching Office B

ACM
ANM

REL
RLC

Network Administration, Maintenance and Services

Network Management Traffic Measurements Billing Maintenance Customer Services

User-to-Network Signaling
When using twisted copper pair as the transport, a user connects to the PSTN through analog, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), or through a T1 carrier The most common signaling method for userto-network analog communication is Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) DTMF is known as in-band signaling because the tones are carried through the voice path

DTMF Keypad
The DTMF keypad is laid out in a 4x4 matrix, with each row representing a low frequency and each column representing a high frequency A single key press such as 0 will send a sinusoidal tone of the two frequencies: 941 and 1336 hertz (Hz) The two tones are the reason for calling it dual-tone multi-frequency These tones are then decoded by the switch to determine which key was pressed

Network-to-Network Signaling
Network-to-network communication is normally carried across the following transmission media:
T1/E1 carried over twisted pair T1 is a 1.544-Mbps link used in America and Japan E1 is a 2.048-Mbps link normally used in Europe T3/E3, T4 carried over coaxial cable T3 is 44.736 Mbps = 28 T1s or 672 64-kbps connections E3 is 34.368 Mbps = 16 E1s or 512 64-kbps connections T4 is 274.176 Mbps = 168 T1 circuits T3, T4 carried over a microwave link

PSTN Numbering Plans

In some places in the United States, it is necessary to dial 1+10 digits for even a local call This will become more and more prevalent as more devices require telephone numbers The need to dial 1+10 digits for a local number is normally due to an overlay
An overlay can result in next-door neighbors having different area codes. An overlay is when a region with an existing area code has another area code "overlayed." This offers the existing customers the benefits of not having to switch area codes, but forces everyone in that region to dial 10 digits to call anywhere.

PSTN Numbering Plans

Essentially, two numbering plans are used with the PSTN:
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) and The International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T; formerly CCITT) International Numbering Plan

Drawbacks of the PSTN

PSTN does a good job to switch voice calls, but there are many business whereby voice is an application on top of a data network for several reasons:
Data has overtaken voice as the primary traffic on many networks built for voice The PSTN cannot create and deploy features quickly enough (Equipment Vendors provide applications for their PSTN) Data/Voice/Video (D/V/V) cannot converge on the PSTN as currently built The architecture built for voice is not flexible enough to carry data

Circuit Switching Versus Packet Switching

Circuit-switching model is breaking into a new model by which open standards exist between all three layers
A packet infrastructure will carry the actual voice (media) The call-control layer will be separate from the media layer, and open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) will enable new services to be created by ISVs

Moving towards IP-PBX[VOIP]

The benefits of replacing your old PBX with an IP PBX What is an IP PBX?

An IP PBX is a complete telephony system that provides telephone calls over IP data networks. All conversations are sent as data packets over the network. The technology includes advanced communication features but also provides a significant dose of worry-free scalability and robustness that all enterprises seek. The IP PBX is also able to connect to traditional PSTN lines via an optional gateway so upgrading day-to-day business communication to this most advanced voice and data network is a breeze! Enterprises dont need to disrupt their current external communication infrastructure and operations. With IP PBX deployed, an enterprise can even keep its regular telephone numbers. This way, the IP PBX switches local calls over the data network inside the enterprise and allows all users to share the same external phone lines.

An IP PBX or IP Telephone System consists of one or more SIP phones, an IP PBX server and optionally a VOIP Gateway to connect to existing PSTN lines. The IP PBX server functions in a similar manner to a proxy server: SIP clients, being either soft phones or hardware-based phones, register with the IP PBX server, and when they wish to make a call they ask the IP PBX to establish the connection. The IP PBX has a directory of all phones/users and their corresponding SIP address and thus is able to connect an internal call or route an external call via either a VOIP gateway or a VOIP service provider. More information and commonly asked questioned about IP PBXs can be found on IP PBX, SIP & VOIP FAQ Benefit #1: Much easier to install & configure than a proprietary phone system: An IP PBX runs as software on a computer and can leverage the advanced processing power of the computer and user interface as well as Windows features. Anyone proficient in networking and computers can install and maintain an IP PBX. By contrast a proprietary phone system often requires an installer trained on that particular proprietary system! Benefit #2: Easier to manage because of web/GUI based configuration interface: An IP PBX can be managed via a web-based configuration interface or a GUI, allowing you to easily maintain and fine tune your phone system. Proprietary phone systems have difficult-to-use interfaces which are often designed to be used only by the phone technicians. Benefit #3: Significant cost savings using VOIP providers: With an IP PBX you can easily use a VOIP service provider for long distance and international calls. The monthly savings are significant. If you have branch offices, you can easily connect phone systems between branches and make free phone calls. Benefit #4 Eliminate phone wiring! An IP Telephone system allows you to connect hardware phones directly to a standard computer network port (which it can share with the adjacent computer). Software phones can be installed directly onto the PC. You can now eliminate the phone wiring and make adding or moving of extensions much easier. In new offices you can completely eliminate the extra ports to be used by the office phone system!

Benefit #5: Eliminate vendor lock in! IP PBXs are based on the open SIP standard. You can now mix and match any SIP hardware or software phone with any SIP-based IP PBX, PSTN Gateway or VOIP provider. In contrast, a proprietary phone system often requires proprietary phones to use advanced features, and proprietary extension modules to add features. Benefit #6: Scalable Proprietary systems are easy to outgrow: Adding more phone lines or extensions often requires expensive hardware modules. In some cases you need an entirely new phone system. Not so with an IP PBX: a standard computer can easily handle a large number of phone lines and extensions just add more phones to your network to expand! Benefit #7: Better customer service & productivity: With an IP PBX you can deliver better customer service and better productivity: Since the IP telephone system is now computerbased you can integrate phone functions with business applications. For example: Bring up the customer record of the caller automatically when you receive his/her call, dramatically improving customer service and cutting cost by reducing time spent on each caller. Outbound calls can be placed directly from Outlook, removing the need for the user to type in the phone number. Benefit #8: Twice the phone system features for half the price! Since an IP PABX is software-based, it is easier for developers to add and improve feature sets. Most VOIP phone systems come with a rich feature set, including auto attendant, voice mail, ring groups, advanced reporting and more. These options are often very expensive in proprietary systems. Benefit #9 Allow hot desking & roaming Hot desking the process of being able to easily move offices/desks based on the task at hand, has become very popular. Unfortunately traditional PBXs require extensions to be re-patched to the new location. With an IP PBX the user simply takes his phone to his new desk No patching required! Users can roam too if an employee has to work from home, he/she can simply fire up their SIP software phone and are able to answer calls to their extension, just as they would in the office. Calls can be diverted anywhere in the world because of the SIP protocol characteristics! Benefit #10 Better phone usability: SIP phones are easier to use Employees often struggle using advanced phone features: Setting up a conference, transferring a call On an old PBX it all requires instruction. Not so with an IP PBX all features are easily performed from a user friendly Windows GUI. In addition, users get a better overview of the status of other extensions and of inbound lines and call queues via the IP PBX Windows client. Proprietary systems often require expensive system phones to get an idea what is going on on your phone system. Even then, status information is cryp tic at best. Conclusion Investing in a software-based IP PBX makes a lot of sense, not only for new companies buying a phone system, but also for companies who already have a PBX. An IP PBX delivers such significant savings in management, maintenance, and ongoing call costs, that upgrading to an IP PBX, should be the obvious choice for any company.

TRUNK LINES
Telephone Trunk Lines: What is a SIP Trunk? Like how you can use an IP Phone/ ATA to make inexpensive long distance calls from your home using a VOIP Service, SIP Trunks enable the users in an organization to do the same. To use a SIP Trunk, you need an Internet Connection, an IP PBX/ Analog-Mixed PBX, IP Phones / Analog Phones, ITSP (SIP Trunk service provider) and users who want to make outgoing calls! Let us look at SIP Trunks a little more deeply, in this article. What are Telephone Trunk lines? Telephone trunk lines are the ones that enable users to make outgoing calls / receive incoming calls in an organization. We are talking about land-line calls, not cell phones! So, in an organization there might be many users with either IP Phones or Analog Phones and they connect to the IP PBX or Analog-Mixed PBX. This is on the user end. On the other side, you can get some trunk lines (Analog Trunks, ISDN Lines/ PRI-E1-T1 Lines, etc) from a Public Telephone Exchange or Telecom Service Provider (PSTN) and terminate them to the PBX as well. So, when a user makes an outgoing call with his analog phone/ IP phone, the call reaches the PBX and the PBX will connect the call to any of the free Trunk Lines. Similarly, when there is an incoming call, it lands up on the PBX and the PBX routes it to the appropriate extension.

TRUNK LINES
What is a SIP Trunk? One of the biggest advantage of VOIP / IP Telephony is its ability to enable users to make inexpensive long-distance calls as these calls are transported on the Internet and hence it can by-pass the normal toll charges applicable for analog & digital trunks for inter-state / intercountry calling. So, a SIP Trunk is a virtual IP based trunk line that uses the Internet to make calls / receive calls to land-line numbers, cell phone numbers and other VOIP numbers. The SIP Trunk is terminated on the PBX (both IP PBX and supported Analog-Mixed PBX models) and the users call can be sent over the Internet. There is a SIP Trunk provider called ITSP Internet Telephony Service Provider who has connections with other VOIP Service providers/ PSTN Service providers to enable VOIP phones to call PSTN phones and vice versa. So, when an international call is made by the user, the PBX connects this call to the SIP Trunk, it reaches the ITSP over the SIP Trunk (via the Internet), it is carried to the destination country/city over the Internet / packet switched network by the ITSP and then transferred to the local PSTN exchange over there to reach the destination number.

TRUNK LINES
What are Private SIP Trunks? SIP Trunks also refer to the Interconnectivity of two private IP PBXs located at different places over the Internet / IP Network. This creates a (Virtual) Private Network between the two of them so that users at one location can call/receive calls from users in the other location without incurring additional call charges. For example, if there are two branches of the same company in City A and City B, the PBX in City A can be Trunked over the Internet/ Leased Lines/ IP Networks (using SIP Trunks) with the PBX in the City B. The calls between the users of these two locations do not incur additional cost as these are internal calls carried over existing network.

Salient Features of SIP Trunks (Public/ ITSP):

SIP Trunks connect to the Enterprise PBX over the Internet through an ITSP Internet Telephony Service Provider/ Business VOIP Service provider. They enable VOIP users to call PSTN numbers and vice-versa. SIP Trunks are virtual circuits that use the existing Internet connection (Internet Leased Lines) for physical transport of the voice packets. Using SIP Trunks, users can make calls to local PSTN numbers, long distance land line numbers, cell phone numbers and other VOIP numbers. SIP Trunks come with their own telephone numbers, just like PSTN phone numbers which can be reached from anywhere. It is possible to get a local phone number with a local area code (and) toll free numbers. For each IP call, it is recommended to provision at least 80 kbps of upload / download Internet bandwidth. So, symmetric Internet connection like Internet Leased Lines are always better than business broadband. ITSPs offer calling plans for SIP Trunks like normal telecom/ PSTN service providers. There is either a fixed rental for each line every month offering some free calls and charging for additional calls (or) there are unlimited calling plans for each line with a flat monthly rental. SIP Trunks can be obtained quickly (usually within a single business day) and individual line increments/ decrements are possible. SIP Trunks can provide Local Number Portability, Direct Inward Dialing, Enhanced 911 Services, and other services provided by E1/T1 trunks. SIP Trunks can co-exist along with Telecom/PSTN trunks in a PBX and the PBX can choose the best trunk for each call, based on certain pre-programmed parameters.