Inter-Tel AXXESS Manual page 42

Overview
® ®
INTER-TEL AXXESS
4. "ENDPOINTS" AND "PHONES"
4.1
guage of telecommunications has had to change to keep pace. Not long ago, voice and modem-
encoded text were communicated from one telephone instrument to another across a global
network of copper wire, optical fiber, microwave antennas, and satellites. More recently, how-
ever, the development of the Internet and of World Wide Web (www) sites have introduced a
multimedia dimension to information and made it all more readily accessible through computer
networking. As this evolution has occurred, new words and meanings have been introduced to
describe the new methods and equipment used for communicating.
4.2
become "communication platforms" that support many devices that people can use for per-
sonal and business communication. Phones now share communication space with personal dig-
ital assistants (PDA), with wireless phones capable of text messaging, taking photos, and
recording video, with fax machines that transmit and receive messages across Internet Protocol
(IP), and with "soft" phones that are displayed and used from computer screens.
A. COMPUTER SCIENCE ROOTS
4.3
describes an entity on one end of a Transport Layer connection. The Transport Layer is the
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) layer in the Open Systems Intercon-
nect (OSI) network model. Utilizing the TCP/IP layer standard, Internet servers send and
receive packets of data across the World Wide Web.
B. USAGE IN THIS MANUAL
4.4
Inter-Tel Axxess family of products supports. In this context, digital and IP phones are end-
points, as are data modules, fax machines, computer telephony (CT) gateways, Single-Line
Adapters (SLA), IP Single-Line Adapters (IP-SLA), and answering machines.
4.5
endpoints are used as appropriate. In particular, desktop IP endpoints are also referred to as IP
phones. Digital endpoints are also referred to as digital phones. Wireless endpoints are also
referred to as wireless phones. And, analog single line endpoints are also referred to as single
line phones or single line sets.
NOTE:
reference to the phone and its environment are intended. Or, it may be called "device" in the
most general sense.
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MANUAL VERSION 11.0 – May 2008
As digital, wireless, and computerized communication methods have evolved, the lan-
Telephone systems that once provided only audio phone service to consumers have
When referring to communication protocols in computer science, the term "endpoint"
This manual uses the term "endpoint" to describe the entire category of devices that the
And, to promote clear communication and understanding, commonly accepted names of
In the manual and in DB Programming, a phone may also be called a "station" when
"Endpoints" and "Phones"