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Technology Stocks : Flexion -- PBX/Computer Telephony/Voice-Data -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: blankmind who wrote (11)	1/24/2000 3:14:00 PM
From: blankmind	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 72

terminology: PC-Based PBX Terms From PC Magazine December 14, 1998 ACD (automatic call distribution) systems intelligently distribute incoming calls among banks of call-handling agents. They manage queues of on-hold callers and use flexible call-balancing algorithms to determine which agent receives each call. An automated attendant (auto-attendant) is a software module that lets you create voice menus to handle incoming calls. Sophisticated auto-attendants provide a large selection of call-routing and notification options, as well as the ability to create complex multilevel menu systems. Caller ID pop-ups are floating windows that appear on the user's screen when an incoming call arrives. Using Caller ID and stored database records to identify the caller, they let users screen incoming calls and define caller-specific greetings and routing procedures. Call notification is a phone-system feature that sends an automatic alert, via pager, by fax, or to an internal or external phone number when a user receives voice mail. Console programs are applications that let administrators, operators, and users manage calls with a mouse or keyboard but without using a telephone touch pad. Calls may appear in pop-up windows, in drop-down lists, or in any of the ways that Windows applications can display information. Better phone systems include remote-control console applications accessible through a RAS connection or the Internet. Extensions are virtual phone numbers assigned to a PBX's internal lines. In most cases, each user's telephone handset has a unique extension number. IVR (interactive voice response) systems add database functionality to a standard auto-attendant. They can be used to create sophisticated voice applications that report bank account balances or look up credit card transactions. An operator is a live person who manually receives and transfers calls, sets up conference calls, and performs other call-handling operations. Most PBX systems can be run with an operator, an auto-attendant, or both. A PBX (private branch exchange) is an in-house phone system that uses switching functions to share a relatively small bank of trunk lines among a larger number of extensions. Modern PBXs also include extensive selections of call-handling, routing, and notification features. A PBX administrator manages the phone system, performing tasks such as adding and moving extensions, configuring features, training users, and resolving hardware and software problems. In smaller businesses, the administrator may act merely as a liaison to manufacturers and service organizations that perform these tasks. A port is a physical interface that can be connected to either a trunk line or a telephone extension. In a PC PBX, ports are provided by add-in telephony cards. A PSTN (public switched telephone network) is a public telephone system. A T1 line is a high-speed 1.5-Mbps phone line that can carry 24 analog phone calls at a time. Most carriers offer T1 trunks for a fraction of the cost of 24 single-channel lines. Toll quality is the quality of sound produced by traditional analog telephone systems. Trunk lines are external phone lines leased from your local phone company.

To: blankmind who wrote (11)	1/24/2000 7:47:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 72

I have come across two criticisms you might try to address. when implementing these pbx/computer systems you have now complicated the network because of the introduction of new equipment. blankmind, In our case, the Flexion X300 switch actually decreased the complexity of our network and has resulted in more stable server. That is because we were able to move RAS services, which was rather flaky and caused crashes, off of the server. We were able to do so because the X300 can handle modems and, therefore, dial-up networking (our legacy PBX system could not deal with modems, as it had no modem card, so we had additional lines installed that were managed by the server). In addition, because the X300 is a separate stand-alone switch, it largely keeps telephony demands off of the server. (The phones work, for example, even when the server crashes). One key component that is on the server is voice mail, but this functions as seamlessly as the existing email services and doesn't seem to create any kind of complexity. the second problem has to do with how voip has not been standardized upon between the different vendors. (vendors always come to an agreement on standards so i know they will agree on voip eventually also). In talking to the Flexion engineers, I'm told the X300 is VoIP ready. It simply is a feature that they have not turned on because there is no standard. Once there is a standard, the function can be used. In addition, they are supposed to have a DSL card within a few months. This will allow for a still greater reduction in the cost of obtaining services from the central office. Gary Korn