It all starts with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and Plain Ordinary Telephone Service (POTS).We’ll begin with the basics of telephony: loops, trunks, circuits, analog, the voiceband… fundamentals that are key
to understanding of newer technologies and services.To complete the picture, we take a practical journey through different types of equipment. We'll review switches,PBXs, Centrex, multiplexers and routers, as well as ancillary equipment like ACDs, voice mail and interactive voice response (IVR) systems.With this framework in place, we'll review the telecommunications industry and understand the main players andcompetitors, how Local Exchange Carriers connect to Inter-Exchange Carriers and how CLECs fit into the picture.The topics in this video course - how the telephone system and industry work, provide the essential foundation on
which everything else, including digital communications, data circuits and networking are built.