Customer Premises Equipment & Unified Communications Flashcards
6 cards from real CTA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Customer Premises Equipment & Unified Communications flashcards as text
What is a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) and what function does it serve in enterprise telephony?
Answer: A private telephone switching system within an organization that connects internal extensions and provides shared access to external PSTN lines
A PBX manages internal extensions, voicemail, call routing, and shared PSTN trunk access within an enterprise, enabling employees to call each other via short extensions and share a smaller number of outside lines.
What is the difference between an IP PBX and a hosted/cloud PBX?
Answer: An IP PBX is on-premises equipment owned and managed by the enterprise; a hosted/cloud PBX is operated by the provider off-site with service delivered via the internet
IP PBX is CAPEX—enterprise-owned hardware on-site; hosted/cloud PBX is OPEX—the provider manages all the infrastructure and the enterprise subscribes as a service.
What is UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service)?
Answer: A cloud-delivered model combining voice, video conferencing, messaging, and collaboration tools into a single integrated platform delivered as a subscription service
UCaaS platforms like Microsoft Teams Phone, RingCentral, or Cisco Webex bundle voice, video, chat, and collaboration into a single cloud service, replacing multiple disparate communication systems.
What is the function of a Session Border Controller (SBC) at an enterprise network boundary?
Answer: To secure and control VoIP traffic at the edge of a network, providing NAT traversal, protocol normalization, security, and call admission control for SIP trunks
An SBC acts as a security and interoperability gateway for SIP trunks, protecting the enterprise from VoIP attacks, normalizing different SIP implementations, and handling NAT traversal.
What is Power over Ethernet (PoE) and how does it benefit IP telephone deployments?
Answer: A standard (IEEE 802.3af/at/bt) that delivers DC electrical power over Ethernet data cables, allowing IP phones and APs to operate without separate power supplies
PoE eliminates the need for separate power outlets at each IP phone location, simplifying installation and allowing phones to be powered from centralized UPS-protected PoE switches.
What is the purpose of a 'hunt group' (or ring group) in a PBX or phone system?
Answer: To ring multiple phones (in sequence or simultaneously) when a single number is dialed, distributing incoming call load among a group of users
Hunt groups distribute incoming calls across multiple phones/agents by hunting through them in sequence (linear) or ringing all simultaneously (blast), improving call answer rates.