A softswitch is the central device in a telephone network which connects calls from one phone line to another, entirely by means of software running on a computer server. On traditional telephone systems calls were formerly carried by hardware, with physical switchboards and inbuilt relays designed to route the calls between the handsets.
There are generally two main elements to a softswitch, namely the call agent and media gateway. Theses can be explained as follows-
- Call Agent takes care of functions like billing, call routing, signalling, call services and so on acting as the main processor.
- The Media Gateway connects different types of digital media stream together to create an end-to-end path for the media (voice and data) in the actual telephone call itself. These media gateways can support both traditional ISDN or PSTN telephone lines or the newer SIP trunking type connectivity (SIP trunks enable telephone calls to be routed directly over an internet connection such as broadband)
The softswitch is normally installed into the users office or comms room and is then in-turn connected to the outside world by means of one of the aforementioned trunking methods.
From a user perspective, the Media Gateway itself may be connected to several different access terminals. These terminals can range from IP keysets, softphones (a PC GUI enabling full control, often accessed with a headset) to basic analogue POTS connected to the softswitch via an ATA (analogue terminal adapter). Softswitches are normally connected to these terminals normally using Category 5e data cabling, however some are today being connected using WIFI technology.
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