Word: isdn
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Most phone companies want to go even further. For them, video is the last link in their ultimate high-tech fantasy: the Integrated Services Digital Network. ISDN is the phone industry's grand scheme to be the dominant conduit for every conceivable communications service -- from faxes, newspapers and video conferencing to home shopping, radio broadcasts and TV. At least seven phone companies, including Pacific Telesis, Ameritech and BellSouth, are developing the ISDN software for special fiber-optic wires that can carry such multimedia information. But the companies need state regulatory approval for telephone-rate increases to cover installation costs. Public...
...capabilities of phones will be dramatically enhanced when an entirely new transmission technology, known as the Integrated Services Digital Network, is put into place across the U.S. Currently, most phone service is based on analog transmission, in which voices and data are carried by ordinary electric currents. ISDN uses a dense stream of digital signals...
...chief advantage of ISDN, especially for businesses, is that it enables phone users to transmit voices, video images and computer data along the same line simultaneously. In analog systems, separate lines are required for each of these functions. But with ISDN, callers can easily exchange documents, see each other and talk all at the same time. Moreover, ISDN will enable otherwise incompatible computer systems to communicate with one another. And greater amounts of data can be transmitted much more rapidly through ISDN than with analog equipment...
Working with Illinois Bell, McDonald's is now using ISDN technology to link its Oak Brook, Ill., headquarters with its Chicago regional office. Tenneco and Shell Oil will begin tests by early next year. To the consternation of the local and regional Bells, a few companies, including Westinghouse and the Travelers insurance firm, have installed their own ISDN internal systems. The Bells are concerned that they may lose some of their largest customers if more companies follow suit...
...ISDN is expected to be installed in most major urban centers. All the equipment in the Government's new phone network will be compatible with the new system. Households and businesses with older equipment will be able to place calls in the ISDN network, but special adaptors will be needed to take advantage of the system's enhanced capabilities, like simultaneously transmitting images and data...