CTA Customer Premises Equipment & Unified Communications

Question 1

What is a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) and what function does it serve in enterprise telephony?

Accepted Answer

A private telephone switching system within an organization that connects internal extensions and provides shared access to external PSTN lines

Answer

A public telephone exchange owned by a carrier serving a city

Answer

A VoIP gateway connecting enterprise LANs to the internet

Answer

A call recording system for compliance purposes

Question 2

What is the difference between an IP PBX and a hosted/cloud PBX?

Accepted 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

Answer

An IP PBX uses digital phones; a cloud PBX uses only analog phones

Answer

An IP PBX supports VoIP; a cloud PBX only supports PSTN calls

Answer

IP PBX and cloud PBX are the same thing marketed differently

Question 3

What is UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service)?

Accepted Answer

A cloud-delivered model combining voice, video conferencing, messaging, and collaboration tools into a single integrated platform delivered as a subscription service

Answer

An FCC program for universal broadband access

Answer

A hardware appliance that integrates PBX and Wi-Fi access points

Answer

A security framework for enterprise communications

Question 4

What is the function of a Session Border Controller (SBC) at an enterprise network boundary?

Accepted 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

Answer

To connect analog PBX systems to digital ISDN lines

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To convert between IPv4 and IPv6 addressing for VoIP devices

Answer

To record all VoIP calls for compliance archiving

Question 5

What is Power over Ethernet (PoE) and how does it benefit IP telephone deployments?

Accepted 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

Answer

A wireless standard for connecting phones to the network without cables

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A fiber optic power delivery system for remote equipment

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An electrical safety standard for data center UPS systems

Question 6

What is the purpose of a 'hunt group' (or ring group) in a PBX or phone system?

Accepted Answer

To ring multiple phones (in sequence or simultaneously) when a single number is dialed, distributing incoming call load among a group of users

Answer

To route calls to the least recently used agent in a contact center queue

Answer

To track call history for billing purposes

Answer

To provide voicemail for multiple users under a single mailbox