W2B-032 Computing-0.txt
Magee show BT voice and video link

By Karl Gallagher, Northern Ireland manager, Digital

A new type of telephone line looks set to bring Ulster businesses closer to European and world markets.

The all-digital lines can carry video, data and voice, all at once. It is now entirely possible to send a file to a customer in Germany, open the file on their computer and discuss its contents across a voice and video link, all from one telephone socket.

The service is known as ISDN, Integrated Services Digital Network. British Telecom has been supplying ISDN-like telephone links since 1987, but there have been compatibility problems when making calls to other countries.

All that has been resolved and the new look service, named Euro-ISDN, was demonstrated simultaneously throughout 18 European countries and 50 cities, in December last year.

Magee College in Derry was chosen as one of the six sites in the UK to show the ISDN phones lines off at the launch.

Omega Design, a graphic design company based in Derry uses its recently installed ISDN connection to get closer to both its suppliers and its markets. Omega uses reprographics resources and printers in Belfast, and used to send material by courier and train.

Now it dials the supplier on the ISDN line and delivers and receives artwork instantaneously. From Derry it also inspects and amends work in progress, in Belfast, using desktop conferencing software.

Omega claims it is now able to tender and compete for work in France and Germany, where even last year they would not have thought it was viable.

It is looking to servicing existing clients who have offices in Europe, and in the future to use video conferencing to take briefs from clients across the ISDN link.

There are two types of ISDN line, one for individuals and small companies, known as Basic Rate Access, and one for large corporations, called Primary Rates Access. British Telecom offer the Basic Rate Service as ISDN-30.

Both are dial-up services. ISDN-2 has two voice and data lines which can support voice, data and image both still and moving; ISDN-30 with 30 voice and data lines can offer refinements on this.

Transparent to the customer, BT will support both its proprietary ISDN implementation and Euro-ISDN. This is important for doing business with the other countries which have subscribed to the memorandum of understanding agreed between the European PTTs.

In looking at ISDN, we should also look at the benefits of national and province-wide connection. Many companies have isolated, local 'islands of computing' relying solely upon one of or two PCs. These users would have an intermittent need to access central information.

Using ISDN, and a product such as Pathworks, from Digital Equipment Corporation, these PCs may be integrated readily with central information bases.

The benefit is low cost, high performance integration for such users Ð a solution which is impossible by other means. This brings teleworking or working from home much closer.

Another application which lends itself to an ISDN solution is video surveillance. Organisations using video for security can cost effectively centralise management using ISDN.
