Trunk and Trunk Groups

"Trunk" denotes a connection to another network, e.g. the public telephone network. A connection to another network can be e.g. an "ISDN trunk", a connection to the Internet an "SIP trunk". Connections or trunks of the same type are combined to form groups. The trunks of a trunk group then have the same properties (such as the same connection protocol or the same rights parameters). The trunks of a trunk group are thus primarily "capacity expansions" from the user's point of view, with no further differences for their use. A trunk must always be a member of a trunk group.

Different trunk groups can be differently prioritized. The result is e.g. that calls are handled with preference given to a server-server connection. If this is not available, a lower-priority path is chosen, e.g. an ISDN trunk.

For further information please refer to chapter Routing.

ISDN trunks are all ISDN lines, - whether for the S0 Basic Rate Interface Connection or the S2m Primary Rate Interface - with which a Swyx gateway (SwyxGate) is connected via SX2 ISDN cards to the public telephone network or a superior or subordinate telecommunication system.

SIP trunks enable the use of VoIP services that are provided by carriers or service providers. The service provider provides you with a phone number or a number range. Alternatively the SwyxWare users can be assigned SIP addresses (SIP-URIs, e.g. "tom.jones@swyx.com") by the provider, which can be used as an "email address for a telephone". By this means, SwyxWare users can globally reach other SIP-URIs, and be reached themselves. If this service provider also offers gateway services, it will also be possible to reach any phone in the public telephone network via an SIP trunk and the underlying gateway of the provider.

SIP gateway trunks are used for activating gateways which are themselves reached by SwyxServer via an SIP connection. Thus e.g. SwyxConnect is addressed within SwyxWare as a SIP gateway trunk. This allows e.g. telephones in small branch offices to be operated with a local gateway in each case and with a local direct connection to the PSTN. In this way, sophisticated requirements of a company network can also be met when there are numerous small sites (e.g. many shops in a chain of stores).

An ENUM link enables you to make SIP calls with ENUM number resolution via the Internet.

A user of a SIP phone is thus able to investigate the SIP address automatically using only the telephone number of the called party, and to convert the number into the SIP address. The called party can then be reached over the IP network in spite of using a 'normal' phone number. This postulate that the called party is registered at ENUM.

SwyxServers at different sites are interconnected via a SwyxLink trunk via an IP route. The SwyxLinkManager assumes control of the connection.