VoIP Gateways Article

In describing enterprise and service provider networks, I frequently bring up the cult classic Blade Runner.

If you haven’t seen it, this 1982 Ridley Scott film stars Harrison Ford (News - Alert) in his quest to capture rogue androids in a dystopian, futuristic version of Los Angeles. The setting is an interesting mix of old and new. And it provides a stark contrast to the kind of environments we see in the world of the Jetsons and recent Sci-Fi movies.

Of course, the world in which we live today is more Blade Runner than Jetsons. That’s because, for all the technological advancements we’ve made in recent years, our communications and networking environments remain a mix of the old and the new. Indeed, just look at how many offices still have fax machines.

That takes us to a discussion about CAPI and why the world still needs solutions like beroCAPI SOHO and the beroNet CAPI business edition.

CAPI stands for Common ISDN API. It is a standard used to access ISDN equipment connected to basic rate interfaces and primary rate interfaces. And it was created many years ago to allow for compatibility of ISDN cards and fax servers.

Today, ISDN cards are no longer common. And they usually don’t work in virtualized environments, which are becoming more common today. However, fax server users still need to connect to ISDN or VoIP, as beroNet explains in a recent blog. So beroNet offers the CAPI solutions mentioned above.

SOHO is software that can be installed on a Window computer. It connects to ISDN via the beroNet VoIP Gateway (News - Alert)

CAPI business edition, meanwhile, connects the fax server to a SIP trunk of a VoIP provider. This kind of thing will be needed until fax servers all become SIP compatible, beroNet explains.