Overview

Today s enterprise communications market is in a considerable flux caused by major ongoing changes in the technology of core products and the network infrastructure. Notably, voice communications systems are migrating from a time- to a packet-based switching and transmission design. The last major market and product shift occurred in the mid-1970s when the first computer stored program control (SPC) and digital switching communications systems were announced and shipped to replace older generation electromechanical systems. Although every generation believes that product upgrades and enhancements occurring in their prime are the most significant ever, telecommunications managers who remember the limited feature and function capabilities available on communications systems 30 years ago may be less impressed with the current market upheaval than industry newcomers who have learned to expect a new generation of products every 18 months from the data networking world.

Today s typical enterprise voice communications network includes many, if not all, of the following ingredients:

1. A core communications switching system (Private Branch Exchange [PBX] system, Key Telephone System [KTS], or KTS/Hybrid system) that provides dial tone, call setup and teardown functions, and more call processing features than any one customer is likely to use

2. A management system to support fault and configuration operations

3. A call accounting system that analyzes and processes call detail records to generate billing and traffic reports

4. A voice messaging system that offers a wide array of services far beyond a basic answering system

Other widely used products that...