Understanding the PRI Gateway Device
A PRI Gateway is a physical or software enablement that allows AKOM Technologies PRI phone line systems to connect with VoIP systems. PRI, a telecommunication standard, channels for carrying voice known as B channel, and one channel known as D channel for control or signaling purposes and is thus very useful for those business organizations dealing in huge traffic of voice communication.The gateway works in a manner of converting the data from a conventional PRI line to a common packet format suitable for use with today’s networks.
Benefits of a PRI Gateway
- Cost Efficiency: VoIP technology will help drive down communication costs dramatically. Conventionally, there are steep tariffs for local and global calls in analog communication while VoIP gives a new meaning to such calls.
- Scalability: It will also be important to point out that PRI Gateways offer high-quality voice transmission as one of the strong features of this technology. Through direct adherence to the PRI standard, such businesses can envisage receiving high-quality voice calls, more call connections, and less call delays hence first-rate communication services.
- High-Quality Voice Transmission: PRI Gateways provides businesses the opportunity to adjust the size of their communication solutions according to their needs and vice versa. PRI Gateways are ideal for businesses that have growth or undergo changes in call traffic patterns because the firm is able to add or remove lines easily without necessarily having to undergo a major redesign.
- Unified Communication: Merging PRI lines with VoIP systems results in the use of common communication channels. This means that business organizations can monitor all their voice, video and data compression through a single system and hence improve productivity.
Applications of the PRI Gateway
- Call Centers: Call centers work with large amounts of call traffic, therefore, availability and high communication lines are critical. With a PRI Gateway, they can wire up several voice channels at the same time thus maintaining the flow of activities.
- Enterprise Communication:PRI Gateways are more beneficial to large organizations with many departments and branches that require internal and external communication systems. By working with VoIP systems, they can continue to communicate across different geographic locations at a very high quality.
- Telecom Service Providers: PRI Gateways today serve as a means through which the telecom companies can integrate the PSTN networks with the new VoIP systems hence helping their customers obtain cheap and efficient means of communication.
How the PRI Gateway Works
PRI Gateway acts as a bridge for the PRI-based telephony system and the VoIP networked communication systems. Here’s a breakdown of how it works:
- Signal Conversion: The PRI Gateway takes the TDM (Time-Division Multiplexing) signals coming from the PRI line and puts the signal into the form of packet switching. This enables voice data to pass on over the internet or over private IP networks.
- Call Routing: After the voice data is converted to packets of the IP, the gateway transfers the call to the intended recipient through the VoIP network. This may be an internal extension, another office of the company, or an external line.
- Simultaneous Call Handling: PRI lines contain many channels, typically 23, implying that a PRI Gateway can satisfactorily process several calls at once without sacrificing voice quality. This makes it especially suitable for companies that receive many calls in their business.
- Failover and Redundancy: If there is a problem with the network or VoIP system, Contacts then the PRI Gateway has an integrated PRI fallback and can instantly revert to the PRI line.
Conclusion
A PRI Gateway is arguably a middle ground between traditional telephony solutions and relatively new VoIP technology, and its use is fundamental for any organization that wants to extract the maximum value of its telephony links. PRI Gateway offers scalable, effective, and most of all, reliable solutions for organizations that need to switch to IP telephony while avoiding having to get new equipment, as well as risking the quality of their conversations.
