LANs to WANs: The Complete Management Guide

7.1 Introduction

Over the years, the PBX has emerged as the undisputed cornerstone of today’s corporate voice network (see Figure 7.1). As the networking requirements of organizations continue to change, however, new approaches to handling voice communication are being considered, such as VoIP systems.

Figure 7.1: The PBX as the cornerstone of the corporate voice network. (ACD = automatic call distributor, KTS = key telephone system, SDN = software-defined network, ISDN = integrated services digital network, WATS = wide area telecommunication service, OPX = off-premises extension, FX = foreign exchange, SMDR = station message detail recorder.)