DECT - A Brief Explanation and How We Could Benefit From It

DECT stands for Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications. Unlike analogue cordless phones that used to be frequent in many homes and businesses around the world, DECT is a digital wireless communication technology that is through its advanced reliable infrastructure bound to make cordless phones even more common in businesses and homes around the globe.

DECT formerly stood for Digital European Cordless Telecommunications standard. This is because the technology involved was primarily developed by European companies. It was changed to reflect the global acceptance of this cordless telecommunications technology.

DECT uses TDMA which stands for Time Division Multiple Access, to transmit radio signals, much the same as Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). GSM is designed for mobile communications over longer distances, where as DECT has been designed especially with short distances and large user numbers in mind. Many of today's modern cordless phones can operate in dual mode, giving the user seamless DECT and GSM integration.

Below are five major applications of DECT cordless technology;

1. Cordless Private Branch Exchange (PBX)

This allows companies to connect to a wired telephone company and then re-distribute their calls over a DECT cordless phone system through a radio antenna. Users could each have their own number and make use of all the features of a fully functional PBX phone system. A DECT cordless PBX phone system would be especially useful to companies or organisations that have a large number of mobile employees, such as warehouses, hospitals and building sites etc. It is even possible to convert a wired PBX into a fully functional DECT cordless system with the addition of specialist DECT equipment to your existing wired phone system.

2. Wireless Loop (WLL)

Users in a neighbourhood typically served by a telephone company wired local loop can be connected instead by a cordless phone that exchanges signals with a neighbourhood antenna. A standard telephone (or any device containing a telephone such as a computer modem or fax machine) is simply plugged into a fixed access unit (FAU), which contains a transceiver. The wireless Local Loop can be installed in an urban area where many users share the same antenna.

3. Home Cordless Phones

With the huge range of multiple handset, one cell DECT systems on the market these days, people can install a single cell antenna anywhere in their home and have a DECT cordless handset in each room.

4. Cordless Terminal Mobility

The arrangement that is used by a lot of businesses for their cordless PBX phone systems, could also be used by a service wanting to provide cordless phone numbers for individual subscribers. This system in general will provide less mobility than that of a GSM based system, which would give it's users a greater range.

5. GSM/DECT Internetworking

The DECT standard is able to interact with the GSM standard, allowing users to move freely with a telephone from the outdoors (GSM signals) into indoor environments (DECT signals). In the future many GSM service providers will want to extend their services to support DECT signals inside buildings. A dual-mode phone would automatically first search for a DECT signal and then a GSM signal if DECT is not available.

Thank you for reading my article,

Jason

Jason Morris is co-author, search engine optimization and marketing consultant of Business Phone Systems Direct. Specialists in the supply and installation of business phone systems and accessories.