Digital Lines

Digital lines are most commonly provided for use in conjunction with a digital telephone system, however some companies do also use ISDN channels to send and receive data.

Call Flow provide two variants of ISDN delivery – ISDN2 and ISDN30. Both services offer cheaper installation and rental fees compared to BT, offering significant financial savings as well as a higher level of service.

ISDN2 advert

With basic installation you can connect up to eight digital channels, and harness the power and clarity of digital for your business. ISDN2 is provided over copper wiring and is installed in a similar way to a normal analogue telephone line.

The difference is the presentation to the customer. With a regular telephone line, you can simply plug a phone into the telephone socket, whereas with an ISDN line, you will need a form of digital equipment to plug into the end, usually a telephone system.

A two-channel (effectively two lines) ISDN2e circuit costs about the same as two conventional phone lines. Once you reach 8 ISDN2 channels, Call Flow’s recommendation would be to move to an ISDN30 instead.

 

ISDN30 advert

ISDN30 differs from ISDN2 in that it is more commonly provided using fibre technology, allowing for a much faster connection with supreme call quality.

 


Additional benefits of Digital Lines

With the use of either ISDN2 or ISDN30 digital connections, there are additional services available to enhance the use of your available telephone lines. These include -

  • Direct Dial In (DDI) - Enables you to give each employee and/or department a dedicated telephone number. A typical customer would have between 50 and 100 DDI numbers with maybe just 10 telephone channels. DDI routing via your telephone system enables calls to be routed directly to a telephone extension.
  • Calling Line Identity Presentation (CLIP) - Shows the telephone number of the person who is calling and is similar to the service ‘Caller Display’.
  • Calling Line Identity Restriction (CLIR) - Restricts the presentation of your telephone number on outgoing calls – allowing you to hide your telephone number when calling out.
  • Presentation Number Calling Line Identity (PNCLI) - Enables you to present a different telephone number for outgoing calls - e.g. You could present your company’s 0800 free phone number to your customers.