What Are T-1 Phone Lines

It used to be that a T-1 lines were only used by telecoms companies however nowadays T-1 lines are commonly used by all kinds of organizations, and the capacity of one may not be enough for your business.  What is a T-1 phone line?

A T-1 phone line consists of a fibre optic cable that can be connected directly to your company’s voice or data system and can provide ‘roughly up to 60 times more data than a normal residential modem’, meaning just 1.5 megabits per second. This line does not have to carry data traffic – it can also carry voice services.

T-1 Phone Line Uses

T-1 lines are typically used for smaller organisations of up to 50 users however this obviously depends on what volume of traffic the line is used for : clearly a company that uses the web occasionally uses far less traffic than one that regularly downloads large quantities of data.

T-1 lines consist of many channels so it is possible to have one T-1 line used by your business for both voice and data, this does not require separate T-1 lines as long as your usage remains within the capacity of the line.

Although T1 lines have been around for almost 20 years they remain an integral part of modern telecommunications as new ways of communicating and new services such as ‘Voice Over IP’ (VOIP) keep emerging.  If the capacity of a T-1 is not enough for your organization there are many other options available.