Telephone Maintenance and other related FAQs

Q1. What does DDI Stand for?

A1. DDI stands for Direct Dial Inwards and is a number provided by BT that can be set to bypass a switch board and ring direct to an individual’s phone or Fax. They are also commonly used during advertising campaigns, so that the sales or marketing departments can “see” how often a number is being used from different Adverts etc.

Q2. What does LCR stand for?

A2. LCR stands for Least Cost Routing and is simply a system devised to route a telephone call the cheapest way. It could involve different carriers for local, national, international, mobile and even for different times of the day.

Q3. What is the difference between ISDN and analogue?

A3. ISDN Stands for Integrated Services Digital Network, which just means that it is a digital connection between you and the local exchange. The services refer to such things as Caller ID Display DDI numbers etc. Although analogue lines at home can display the Caller’s number this is not common with business telephone systems. ISDN2e lines cost £93 per quarter to rent but they have 2 channels (2 calls at the same time). Analogue lines only allow 1 call at a time and cost £41.15 to rent per quarter.

Q4. What is the difference between ISDN30 and ISDN2e?

A4. ISDN 30 is a service that has a minimum of 8 channels and a maximum of 30 in one connection. It allows easy upgrade of lines from 8 to 30 although once enabled you are still contracted to 1 year, so adding is easy but reducing means you might have to wait for the minimum contract to expire first. ISDN2e will only allow 8 channels (4 pairs of IDSN) with the same number. ISDN30 is the only way of getting more than 8 lines on the same number (except analogue).

Q5. How much does a system cost?

A5. A telephone system can cost as little as £500 + phones. At least 1 digital display phone is usually required for system programming, but all others could be analogue phones like the ones you have at home. This cuts down on phone costs, even using existing phones if required. Installation and maintenance could be from £120.00.

Q6. How much do BT charge for installation or upgrade?

A6. BT Charge £99 to install 1 analogue line, this goes down to £79 each for 2 or more. ISDN2e costs £249 per pair from new or £149 as an upgrade from analogue. ISDN30 costs vary with the number of channels and location. You should check with their sales dept on 0800 400 400 to confirm though.

Q7. What does Broadband mean?

A7. Broadband is a term that refers to the bandwidth of the signal providing the connection. This usually is just fast internet. There are 3 main types ADSL offered by BT over an analogue telephone line, Cable that comes in over coaxial cable like a TV aerial offered by Telewest and NTL or Leased Line that is usually provided over a fibre optic cable and is expensive but reliable. There is no Service level agreement (SLA) (maintenance agreement) for the first 2 connection types of broadband. This means that the provider is under no contract to keep it running. Although in practice they would loose business if it goes down regularly for too long.

Q8. What is VOIP Voice over IP?

A8. Voice over IP is a protocol for the transmition of a telephone call over the Internet. The Internet, usually reserved for just data transfer is a huge network of connections all over the world that has spare capacity. VOIP is a method of packaging a normal phone call so that it can be sent over the same network. Both ends of the conversation must have the equipment required to pack and unpack the data and in the right order. This protocol is now becoming more and more popular but until everybody has it with a system of calling direct it is mainly used by business to communicate for free between sites. For the smaller business the equipment required is reasonably expensive still so, unless you have a need to talk between sites for hours everyday, it is still cheaper to route your calls over the BT network. The pay back time for a company that might talk for an hour a day across the UK would be about 3 years at present.

Q9. Can I use my DECT Cordless phones with a telephone system?

A9. Yes, the DECT Cordless system, while digital from the base to the phone has an analogue connection to the outside world. Providing the telephone system installed has an analogue extension connection this type of phone can be used.

Q10. Can I connect my Fax line to my telephone system?

A10. Yes, a fax line is just an analogue telephone line like most domestic lines. Provided the telephone system fitted has both an analogue line input and an analogue extension out put you can connect it. The system would need to be programmed that when this particular line rang it only rings the fax extension. This makes good use of a line that is commonly underused.

Q11. What is covered by your Maintenance Contracts?

A11. Vale Tel-Com’s maintenance, unlike most other companies, will cover your handsets against accidental damage. Most maintenance companies will only cover phones that fail during normal wear and tear, But our maintenance will cover them for accidental too. We realise that a phone is very reliable and that most faults are due to being dropped or something spilt on them. So when your current maintenance contract expires, ask us for a quote.

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