Forum Communications Confer III

Forum ECS Brochure

Confer III Award

Consortium Brochure

• 8 to 72 port system (expandable)
• Easiest, most cost effective solution to conferencing
• Connects to analog ports on PBX or CO lines
• Transfer callers to a designated extension number
• Meet-me capability, or use dial-out option
• Conference meeting can include any combination of internal and external lines
• Requires disconnect supervision (loop break; dial tone; busy tone; reorder tone)
• Easily installed by a telecom technician (plug and play)
• Authorization Code option programmable/disabled by bridge card for security
• Grows in 8 port modules; can be reconfigured in 4-party multiples

Capacity

• Unit – Eight Meet-Me lines, up to 4 units may be coupled with Desk top Coupler
• Card Cage – Implemented in multiples of eight lines to 72 lines
• Control/Monitor/Remote Administration Port

Interface

• Two wire analog telephone lines
• Four wire E&M optional
• Four wire audio optional
• Ring-detect joins port to conference with tone burst(two wire)
• Disconnection: loop current interrupt, dial tone busy tone and reorder tone detection
• Control/Monitor position
• Line interfaces: RJ-11 jacks or Amphenol-style 50 - pin connectors
• Audio output jack, audio input jack: Subminiature
• Optional RS232 interface for CONFERWEB PC control
• FCC compliance

Features

• State of the art DSP technology
• Automatic gain adjust for high-quality conversation
• Per port adaptive echo cancellation
• Full-duplex conversation using patented algorithm
• No first word clipping
• Security options, custom features available

Power

• 115/220 VAC 50-60hz, 25 watts nominal (unit) 130 watts max (card cage)

Physical Info

Confer Unit

• Capacity: Eight ports
• Size: 20" x 9" x 3"
• Weight: 10 lbs.

Card Cage

• Capacity: 1 to 9 Confer Cards (8 to 72 ports)
• Size: 19"W x 16"H x 12"D
• Weight: 11.5lbs. With power supply plus 1.75 lbs. per card
• Wall or rack mount

PBX Interfaces

• Intertel
• Avaya
• Siemens
• NEC
• Nortel
• Mitel
• Panasonic
• Toshiba
• 3-Com
• Many others

Desktop Coupler

• Couple up to four Confer Units (32 ports)
• May be located remotely for convenient use
• Includes monitor jack
• Front panel controls for coupled or independent use of eight-port units
• Indicators to display bridge configuration

Environmental

• Operating Ambient: 5° C to 50° C
• 10% to 80% Relative Humidity, noncondensing

The Confer III card cage is rack or wall mounted. Its dimensions are: 20" W x 16" H x 12" D. It includes a power supply and card guides to plug in up to nine Confer III boards for space-efficient mounting of multiple bridges and up to 72 ports. Flexible configurations in multiples of 4 ports

Coupler

The Confer Coupler Unit is a self-contained, desktop coupler for connecting up to 4 bridges (32 ports). The Coupler makes possible 8, 16 or 24 port conferencing with easy push-button control. Switches for coupling and monitoring of bridges are located on the front panel of the Coupler. The Coupler will work with the Confer III or the previous model, the Confer II. An AC plug-in power pack is included. The Coupler Unit may be located remotely from the bridges.

Authorization Code

The authorization code provides security to access the bridge. When a person calls into the bridge, he/she must enter the correct 4-digit code assigned for the conference to be allowed into the conference. A wrong code will disconnect the caller.

Per Port Options

• 2-wire audio
• 4-wire audio (always in the conference, no supervision)
• 4-wire E&M.(similar to Type 5)
• Live line

Contact Forum for details on these port types.

Voice Announce Package (VAP)

Provides a voice greeting plus voice prompts and confirmations for various feature/option functions

Remote Administration

Allows an administrator to dial into the control port of the Master board for remote configuration of conferences, remote programming of authorization codes (authorization code option not included) and remote monitoring of conferences. Includes Voice Announce Package.

Remote Administration w/Custom Greetings

Includes the Remote Administration option plus the ability for the user to record custom greetings for conference participants.

Dial Out (Coming Soon)

Allows a person to place a call OUT of the bridge for purposes of consultation or for adding a party to a conference in progress.

CONFERWEB PC (Coming Soon)

For control and monitoring via LAN and/or Internet

Special Configurations

The flexibility of the design of the CONFER III, it is readily adaptable to special requirements.

The Confer III detects ringing signals on a line and answers that line. To release a line when a party hangs up, the Confer III requires disconnect from the line (the PBX or CO.) The preferred method is to see loop current interrupt on the line when the calling part hangs up, much like many voice-mail systems require. This is provided by virtually all COs and by most PBXs (except Northern Telecom and Toshiba). It may require a "voice mail" card or an OPX card in the PBX.

If a loop-current-interrupt is not provided, the Confer III can be set (by switch selection) to disconnect when North American dial, busy, or reorder tone is present on the line. This is the method used on any Northern Telecom or Toshiba PBX, plus others, and the PBX typically must be programmed to provide the appropriate tone to the Confer III when the caller hangs up.

A third, default, disconnect is available (switch selectable) if no disconnect supervision is provided. It requires that a user enter a DTMF code on their phone to have the system hang up for them. As stated, this is a last-resort to releasing lines at the end of a conference.