1. The hardware

Before we dig into the depths of software programming I’ll try to address some of the questions regarding the hardware involved in making a call. You probably know at this point that you have a server or more, a “box” with some boards with a lot of lights inside and the phones.
Avaya uses these terms when it comes to the telephony world :
- The server is also called a media server. He is the brain of the system (eg: S8700, S8300)
- The “box” is called a carrier. All the signals and the conversion is done here. (eg: G650, G450)
- The cards inside the carrier are called boards. They have specific functions as for example converting analog data into VoIP data (these are the TNxx.. boards)
- The phones are called endpoints in Avaya world regardless of type.
- When two systems are connected together that connection is called trunk (imagine the trunk as being the highway between two cities). Each trunk has a specific number of connections that are called ports and that can carry different types of information (protocols). The ports would be the lanes on a highway and each type of car would be the carried information.