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Voice boards are often an integral part for the success of many telephony software applications. Without the use of a board, much software would almost be vaporware. TMC Labs uses telephony boards very often but has not recently written a review of one. When reviewing Envox 4.0 for this issue of Communications Solutions, we thought it would be beneficial to our readers if we actually discussed the voice T1 board we were using, the Intel D/240PCI-T1 board, in more detail than we have done in the past. Hence, this review which you are reading.
INSTALLATION
We placed the Intel D/240PCI-T1 board into a Windows 2000 Server, which we had installed on a CTI-400D industrial computer from Siliconrax-Sliger (also reviewed in this issue). From there, we installed the drivers and the rest of the 5.01 Intel (formerly Dialogic) system software package. To satisfy the Envox 4.0 requirements, we chose the Custom option so that we could add the GlobalCall API package and ISDN package with what is normally included with the Typical option. After the installation was finished (or so we thought), we rebooted the computer only to find that the software had not actually completely installed, even though it said it had been. We went through the entire process again, uninstalling and then reinstalling the Intel drivers. This time, the system software installed correctly, although every time we rebooted Windows 2000 Server, it detected new hardware (the Intel board). We asked about this and were told just to ignore it, and we did not find any other problems associated with the installation.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
We connected a line from the Intel board to our Gordon Kapes’ T1 simulator and opened the Configuration Manager for the board. We then double-clicked the board name to go to the screen to configure the properties of the board. This step could also be accomplished by right-clicking the mouse or by pressing the “Configure Device” button after highlighting the board name. From there, we could change settings from any of the following tabs: TDM Bus Configuration, Country, Files, System, Telephony Bus, Interface, and Misc. In case we had any questions, we could peruse the help files, which are context-sensitive and rather useful.
ith the Intel service not yet started, we set the ISDN protocol to NT1
so that it would synchronize with the T1 simulator, which was already set to that protocol. We then attempted (unsuccessfully) to start the Intel service. After we refreshed the Configuration Manager and tried again, the service started. From then on, we knew that we had to click the “Refresh” button every time we made an Interface change, which is commonly done in a lab setting. In any case, whether in a lab or in a real environment, the Configuration Manager should have the ability to auto-detect the protocol being used, tell the user this information, and automatically sync up using the correct protocol before the user starts the system service.
To test the board, we built a telephony voice script using Envox 4.0 and attempted to call into the system, but all we heard was a fast busy signal over the phone. For a long time we tried to figure out what was wrong, but all the settings seemed to be correct: the Envox 4.0 Communication Server was running, the script showed no errors, the Gordon Kapes’ T1 simulator was synchronized, the clock was correct, and Intel’s system service was running. Since our simulator can use other interfaces, we decided that the only thing left to try was to change the settings for the simulator and the Intel boards from NT1 to an ISDN PRI protocol, such as DMS, 4ESS, or 5ESS. We tried all of these interfaces, and they all worked — we could hear our IVR script when dialing in. That’s all well and good, but when we changed back to NT1, the fast busy signal was back. After examing this problem for a while longer (especially since we’ve been able to use NT-1 in the past with other equipment), we were unable to solve the mystery. We even tried the diagnostics, including the T1 loop back test. The system passed every test, but the problem persisted.
Finally, we decided just to use one of the other interfaces for the rest of the Envox 4.0 testing.
However, troubleshooting would have been easier if we had received some kind of error message pointing us in the right direction. The message could even have said to try another T1 or PRI protocol since the board should have detected a compatibility issue. Indeed, we found the Intel diagnostics sorely lacking and in need of improvement.
CONCLUSION
With that said, the Intel D/240PCI-T1 board still works with most T1 telephony applications on the market, which is more than can be said about most voice boards. Although still not perfect, the software accompanying the board has improved significantly from the days where this type of equipment came with no significant software and was more like “plug -and-pray” than “plug-and-play.” Overall, the Intel D/240PCI-T1 board is not difficult to operate and works as advertised.
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