Abstract:
A PBX (private branch exchange) is a telephone system within an enterprise that switches calls between enterprise users on local lines while allowing all users to share a certain number of external phone lines. The main purpose of a PBX is to save the cost of requiring a line for each user to the telephone company's central office. The PBX is owned and operated by the enterprise rather than the telephone company (which may be a supplier or service provider, however). Private branch exchanges used analog technology originally. Today, PBXs use digital technology (digital signals are converted to analog for outside calls on the local loop using plain old telephone service). A PBX includes: Telephone trunk (multiple phones) lines that terminate at the PBX. A computer with memory that manages the switching of the calls within the PBX and in and out of it. The network of lines within the PBX. Usually a console or switchboard for a human operator Asterisk is an open source software PBX. Asterisk runs on Linux and other UNIX platforms with or without hardware that connects our server to the traditional global telephony network, the PSTN. With Asterisk as telephony switching p latform, PBX, we'll not only have a high-class PBX replacement. Asterisk is much more than the standard PBX. With Asterisk in your network, you can do telephony in new ways. Connecting employees working from home to the office PBX over broadband connections. Connecting offices in various states over VoiP, Internet or a private IP network. Giving all employees voicemail, integrated with the Web and their E-mail. Building interactive voice applications, that connect to your ordering system or other inhouse applications Asterisk includes: Music-on-hold for customers waiting in queues, supporting streaming media as well as MP3 music. Call queues where call agents jointly handle answering incoming calls and monitor the queue. Among the larger manufacturers of PBXs are Lucent Technologies, Northern Telecom (NORTEL), Rolm/Siemens, NEC, GTE, Intecom, Fujitsu, Hitachi, and Mitel.
