Is Digital Phone Services Is The Same As Analog Phone Service?

Analog? Digital? What does it all mean?

Analog phone lines. Analog signals. Digital security. Digital PBX. Analog-to-digital adapters. In the telecom world, agreement analog versus digital isn't as simple as comparing one technology to another. It depends on what production—and in some cases, which product feature—you happen to be talking well-nigh.

Analog phones to be used with office headsets

Analog at a glance

As a technology, analog is the procedure of taking an audio or video betoken (in well-nigh cases, the homo vocalization) and translating it into electronic pulses. Digital on the other hand is breaking the signal into a binary format where the sound or video data is represented by a series of "ane"s and "0"s. Elementary enough when it's the device—analog or digital phone, fax, modem, or likewise—that does all the converting for y'all.

Is one engineering science better than the other? Analog technology has been around for decades. It's non that complicated a concept and it'due south fairly inexpensive to use. That's why we can buy a $twenty telephone or at ane time could sentry a few Telly stations with the use of a well-placed antenna. The trouble is, analog signals have size limitations as to how much data they can carry. And so with our $20 phones and obsolete TVs, we only get then much.

Enter digital

The newer of the two, digital technology breaks your vox (or television) signal into binary code—a serial of 1s and 0s—transfers it to the other end where some other device (phone, modem or TV) takes all the numbers and reassembles them into the original signal. The beauty of digital is that it knows what it should be when it reaches the end of the manual. That mode, it can correct whatever errors that may have occurred in the data transfer. What does all that hateful to you? Clarity. In most cases, y'all'll get distortion-gratis conversations and clearer TV pictures.

You'll get more, also. The nature of digital technology allows it to cram lots of those 1s and 0s together into the same space an analog signal uses. Similar your button-rich phone at work or your 200-plus digital cable service, that means more than features can be crammed into the digital signal.

Compare your uncomplicated home telephone with the i you may have at the office. At home you have mute, redial, and maybe a few speed-dial buttons. Your phone at piece of work is loaded with function keys, telephone call transfer buttons, and even vox mail service. Now, before audiophiles start yelling at me through their PC screens, aye, analog can evangelize better sound quality than digital…for now. Digital offers amend clarity, only analog gives you richer quality.

Simply like any new applied science, digital has a few shortcomings. Since devices are constantly translating, coding, and reassembling your voice, y'all won't go the same rich audio quality as you practise with analog. And for at present, digital is still relatively expensive. Just slowly, digital—like the VCR or the CD—is coming downwardly in cost and coming out in everything from cell phones to satellite dishes.

When yous're shopping in the telecom world, you oftentimes see products touted every bit "all digital." Or warnings such as "analog lines simply." What does it mean? The basic analog and digital technologies vary a bit in definition depending on how they're implemented.

Phone lines

Analog lines, likewise referred to as POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), support standard phones, fax machines, and modems. These are the lines typically found in your home or small function. Digital lines are found in large, corporate phone systems.

How exercise you tell if the phone line is analog or digital? Look at the dorsum of the phone connected to it. If you see "complies with part 68, FCC Rules" and a Ringer Equivalence Number (REN), then the phone and the line are analog. As well, look at the telephone'south dialpad. Are there multiple part keys? Exercise you lot need to dial "9" for an outside line? These are indicators that the phone and the line are digital.

A word of caution. Though digital lines carry lower voltages than analog lines, they yet pose a threat to your analog equipment. If yous're thinking of connecting your phone, modem, or fax car to your office's digital phone system, DON'T! At the very to the lowest degree, your equipment may non function properly. In the worst case, yous could zap your communications tools into oblivion.

How? Allow'south say y'all connect your home analog phone to your part'south digital line. When you lift the receiver, the phone tries to depict an electrical current to operate. Typically this is regulated past the telephone company's central office. Since the typical proprietary digital phone system has no facilities to regulate the current being drawn through it, your analog telephone tin draw too much current—and so much that information technology either chips itself or in rare cases, amercement the phone system's line carte.

What to do? There are digital-to-analog adapters that not merely let you employ analog equipment in a digital surroundings, but also safeguard against frying the internal circuitry of your phone, fax, modem, or laptop. Some adapters manufactured by Konexx come designed to piece of work with one specific piece of function equipment: phone, modem, laptop, or teleconferencer. Simply connect the adapter in between your digital line and your analog device. That'due south it. Or you can try a universal digital-to-analog adapter such equally Hello Direct'southward LineStein®. It works with any analog communications device. Plus, it's battery powered and then you're not running actress cords all over your office.

Cordless phones

The very nature of digital applied science—breaking a signal into binary code and recreating it on the receiving stop—gives you clear, distortion-free cordless calls. Cordless phones with digital applied science are also able to encrypt all those 1s and 0s during transmission, and then your conversation is prophylactic from eavesdroppers. Plus, more ability can exist applied to digital signals and thus, y'all'll savor longer range on your cordless telephone conversations.

The advantage to analog cordless products? Well, they're a bit cheaper. And the sound quality is richer. So unless you need digital security, why non salvage a few bucks and go with an analog phone? After all, in dwelling house or small office environments where you lot may exist the only cordless user won't accept whatsoever interference bug.

Keep in mind, when talking most digital and analog cordless phones, y'all're talking about the signals being transferred between the handset and its base. The phones themselves are however analog devices that can merely be used on analog lines. Also, the range of your cordless phone—analog or digital—will always depend on the environs.

Cellular phones

Perhaps the near effective use of the digital versus analog technology is in the booming cellular marketplace. With new phone activations increasing exponentially, the limits of analog are apace being realized. Digital cellular lets significantly more than people use their phones within a unmarried coverage area. More data can be sent and received simultaneously by each telephone user. Plus, transmissions are more resistant to static and signal fading. And with the all-in-one phones out now—phone, pager, vox post, net access—digital phones offering more features than their analog predecessors.

Analog'due south audio quality is still superior—as some users with dual-transmission phones will manually switch to analog for better sound when they're not concerned with a crowded coverage area—but digital is quickly becoming the norm in the cellular market place.

What to purchase?

The offset thing to consider when buying analog or digital equipment is where you'll exist using it. If you're buying for a proprietary PBX phone organisation, yous'll need to get the digital telephone designed for that item arrangement. Need to connect a conferencer on your digital system? Opt for a digital-to-analog adapter. Shopping for dwelling house office equipment? Well-nigh everything you'll consider is analog. Want an all-in-1 cellular phone—paging, voice mail service, spider web? A digital cellular phone will deliver it all. In fact, the only head-scratcher may be your cordless phone buy. Looking for security and distortion-free conversations in your pocket-size office? Go with a digital 900 MHz or two.iv GHz cordless telephone. Using a cordless at abode? An analog phone will give you the richest sound quality and usually plenty range.

Need A Headset For Your Phone System?

Check out our wireless, corded, or work-from-domicile headset options.