Telephone services will again be offered at VCF MW 18. This page will list out the various service offerings as well as information on how to order them.
It is preferred that individuals wishing to obtain service do so prior to the date of the show so that provisioning and planning can be completed in advance. During table/exhibit registration for the show, you should indicate on the form that you are interested in telephony services. Otherwise, you may reach out to joe_z directly.
Prior to the show, you will be contacted to confirm the types and quantities of services you will require, as well as work out any special requirements that need to be addressed.
While it is strongly preferrable that services be arranged in advance of the show, we will do our best to accomodate orders submitted during the show. Orders will be serviced in the order that they are placed, and any orders made in advance of the show will be at the front of the line before any placed during the show.
At the show, you may find joe_z in person, or you may attempt to dial 611 from any of the phones connected to the show network. Once contact has been made, please describe the services you require so that they can be noted, and telephone company staff will establish service as soon as they are able to do so.
A multitude of line and trunk types will be available at the show, ranging from simple analog telephone service to ISDN PRI delivered over T1. To ensure you obtain the lines that you need, please determine the correct type from this list when ordering. If you do not see the line type that you require, please contact the telephone company to see if a special service can be arranged (subject to equipment capability and availability).
A simple analog phone line, often referred to as 'POTS' service. The line provided will be a 2W line using loopstart and DTMF or pulse dial signalling.
These lines will be served from a Northern Telecom Meridian 1 Option 11C unless otherwise requested.
The Northern Telecom Meridian 1 PBX line supports a variety of digital key telephone sets. Lines to support these telephones are available.
A T1 is a digital circuit which carries 24 DS0 channels (8kHz x 8 bit = 64kb/s) capable of supporting voice or data traffic. T1s are available for both voice and data use with a variety of signaling types and protocols.
T1s can be provided with either SF or ESF framing, and either AMI or B8ZS linecode, with a preference towards ESF/B8ZS.
DSX-1 or T1 line buildouts may be used as necessary to match the customer equipment.
Voice signalling can be ISDN PRI or bitrobbed CAS.
ISDN PRI is a trunk signaling type using a D channel and the ISDN Q.931 protocol. PRIs will be served out of a Cisco ISR using the NI-2 variant of ISDN, unless otherwise requested.
CAS signaled T1s support multiple signalling types using CAS signaling bits such as FXS or FXO loopstart or groundstart signaling, or various types of E&M signaling.
T1 circuits can also carry data as a high speed synchronous serial line. A number of protocols can be used to carry IP traffic such as PPP, frame relay, or Cisco HDLC. Other protocols, IP or otherwise, may be available on request.
T1 circuits are also, by nature, a channelized medium which can split the channel allocations between multiple purposes, if necessary. Such an arrangement is known as a 'fractional' T1 since only a fraction of the T1 is used for each purpose. In this fashion, data and voice services, or even multiple types of voice service can be mixed on a single T1 circuit.
An ISDN BRI is a digital line or trunk which supports 2 bearer channels (capable of supporting voice calls or data calls) and is signaled using a D channel and the ISDN Q.931 protocol.
U interface or S/T interface is available upon request, although U interface is preferred due to limited capacity of S/T interface equipment. A customer-provided ISDN NT1 will allow customer equipment with an S/T interface to interface with a U line. An NT1 will NOT allow customer equipment with a U interface to interface with an S/T line.
An analog DID trunk looks a lot like normal analog 2W phone line, except that it is intended to be used as a PBX trunk and may not present dialtone, and will not ring.
Different signalling types can be supported on a DID trunk, such as loopstart or groundstart, as well as others upon request (dependent on equipment capability).
DID trunks are generally unidirectional and used to perform Direct Inward Dialing to a PBX or other phone system. To pass traffic both ways between two phone systems, a pair of DID trunks would be necessary.
A leased line is a special type of circuit which can be considered a raw circuit without service offered on it directly by the telephone company. Leased lines vary from simple dry pairs to digital circuits like T1. A leased line will connect from one point to another point utilizing telephone company cabling. The leased lines can then be used either by one customer to provide a connection between two pieces of equipment, or by one customer to provide services to another customer.
Leased lines are offered in reasonable quantity so long as facilities are available where requested.
Equipment is available for customers to use with their service. It is expected that equipment be returned at the end of the show in the condition it was provided in.
A variety of analog telephones are available such as 2500 and 2554 sets and clones, and trimline style sets and clones.
A small selection of digital telephones for the Meridian digital lines are available, mostly M2616.
A selection of analog modems are available in a variety of bitrates and standards.
T1 data equipment is available for utilizing T1 circuits for high speed synchronous serial data connections.
A single ISDN BRI Terminal Adapter is available with a U-interface for providing two analog loopstart phone ports and V.110/V.120 data services.
Phone lines and trunks can support additional features on top of their basic functionality. The following list is not a complete list of features which are possible to implement. Special features may be available upon request.
Meridian analog and digital phone lines can be equipped with three way calling which allows the customer to create a small conference of three individuals (including the customer placing the three way call).
Meridian analog and digital phone lines can be equipped with six way calling which is similar in nature to three way calling, except that the conference can consist of up to six individuals including the customer who placed the six way call. Since six way calling allows more than a single additional party to be added to a normal phone call, the usage of the feature is more complicated than simple 3 way calling.
Meridian analog and digital phone lines can be equipped with the call transfer feature, allowing a call in progress to be transferred to another telephone set. Transfers can be 'blind' where the call is transferred before the destination is answered, or they can be announced to the new destination before the transfer is completed.
Meridian analog and digital phone lines can be equipped such that a second call placed to the phone while the phone is busy will alert the user and allow the second call to be answered while the first call is held. After the second call is complete, the user can then return to their first call.
Customers with multiple lines may want calls made to the first line while the first line is already in a call 'hunt' to their other lines. This has the advantage that multi-line services such as dial-in BBSes or the like can utilize a single number for the convenience of callers.
V.90 modem and V.110/120 dialup services such as PPP internet and terminal services are available.