NetConnect digital networking is an advanced CallXpress application that allows
telephony servers to exchange voice and fax messages over any network based
on the TCP/IP protocol—a local area network (LAN), a wide area network
(WAN), or the Internet. This section provides a quick overview of this powerful
application.
NOTE The information in this overview that discusses how information is
transmitted over TCP/IP-based LANs or WANs can also be applied to direct
connections to the Internet.
Features
NetConnect builds on the capacity and durability of the Internet and its
associated protocols—and simultaneously increases the versatility of the
CallXpress software—by adding the following features:
• Improved sound quality. Since all digital network messages are
transmitted as data, rather than as audio signals, line quality between the
local CallXpress node and a remote node is rarely a concern.
• Reliability. Internet communication protocols are extremely flexible
robust; network transactions rarely fail due to communication breakdowns
between the two servers.
• Flexibility. NetConnect can operate over either direct or dialup connections
to an Internet service provider (ISP). It can also operate over direct
connections on a LAN or WAN.
• Familiarity. NetConnect follows the standard CallXpress voice networking
model, so subscribers need not learn new procedures for sending
messages.
• Fax support. NetConnect networking allows CallXpress subscribers
forward fax messages to remote mailboxes on other telephony servers
NetConnect installed.
• Support for enterprise-wide systems. In addition to voice and
messages, NetConnect can carry status messages, configuration changes,
and mailbox information between telephony servers. This, in turn,
enterprise-wide system of telephony servers to function in unison.
subscribers can send and forward messages to one another as though
were all on the same telephony server, and administrators can use
telephony server to manage the others through a process called global
administration. For more information on global user administration
to set it up, see the online book Managing an Enterprise System.
Combining Analog and Digital Networking
The exact combination of digital and analog networking you should use
depends on whether, and by what type of connection, the nodes in your
network will be connected to a TCP/IP-based network. For example, if all of the
nodes have permanent, direct, high-speed connections to such a network or to
the Internet, then they should use NetConnect exclusively. On the other hand, if
some of the nodes are not connected to the TCP/IP-based network and there are
no plans to connect them, the remaining nodes should use analog or Audio
Messaging Interchange Specification (AMIS) networking to exchange messages
with them. If you plan to use dial-up Internet connections, you may want to
consider a combination of analog and digital networking for the highest
possible efficiency. For more information on analog networking and how to set
it up, see the online book Analog Networking.
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