Msg: 196 *Conference*

07-09-91 22:59:16

From: ED DAHLGREN

To : MARK BARTNIK

Subj: MODEMS & PBXS

Let me give a hearty second to Richard's recommendation that you go direct from
system to system whenever possible; the more you put between them, the more
problems you're going to have.
 
Yes, the curly-brace is caused by extraneous junk on the line.  No, it's not
caused by the PBX.  It's most likely from the fact that you're using an outside
line -- two of them, in fact.  One to go out and one to come back in.  If you
can't physically put the two systems next to each other and use a short, direct
cable, then try calling between them on an extension (if possible) rather than
having the call leave the building.
 
Problems with voice-grade lines once prompted the founder, president, and CEO
of the second-largest computer company to tell a colleague of mine that our
company wouldn't put our nice, clean data over dirty old  telephone lines.
What a tease he is!  But his comment reflects that fact that switching
equipment itself, whether intended to handle voice (and data, as all modern
PBXs are) or just data, isn't the source of our headaches.  It's the wonderful
copper wire that acts like an antenna to pick up signals from the alien life
forms on Alpha Centauri.  So don't look at the curly-braces as a problem, but
rather as an opportunity to receive communications from like-minded life forms
that you'd otherwise only know about through science programs like Star Trek!
 
                                                    -- Ed