Choosing a Digital or Analogue Phone

When we speak, our voices create an alternating pattern of compression and expansion – otherwise known as a sound wave – in the surrounding air. Analogue technology works by converting the pattern of rising and falling pressure into a pattern of electronic pulses, which can be positive, or negative, in voltage, corresponding to the intensity, and frequency, of the original sound. This fluctuating pattern of electric current is the signal transmitted through the wires by an analogue telephone.

Analogue phones have been around for many years – analogue technology is a simple concept, and inexpensive to implement – but analogue signals are limited in the amount of data that can be carried.

Digital technology, on the other hand, converts the same, analogue, sound wave into a series of discrete numerical, or digital, values – a string of 1s and 0s – which are reassembled into the original signal at the receiving end. Digital telephony makes more efficient use of the available capacity, and uses error-correction techniques to provide superior call quality, free from the crackling and hissing often associated with analogue phones.

Digital versus Analogue Phones

The vast majority of domestic telephones, nowadays, are cordless – that is, they are designed to operate over short distances from a fixed base station, which is located in the same room, or building – and, of these, analogue phones are typically the less expense.

Analogue cordless phones typically offer reasonable sound quality with minimal interference, provided that they are used in fairly close proximity to a base station. Their range is, however, shorter than comparable digital cordless phones and the fact that they operate in the crowded 900MHz radio frequency band means that they are susceptible to interference from domestic appliances, such as microwave ovens, as well as other cordless phones. Analogue phone transmissions are also more easily intercepted than digital transmissions, so security, too, may be an issue.

Digital cordless phones, on the other hand, typically utilise more recent, more sophisticated technologies to provide enhanced call quality, range, and security. DECT, or Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications, for example, is a digital radio access standard, utilising the 1.9GHz radio frequency band. DECT employs advanced techniques to achieve efficient use of the radio spectrum, and delivers high quality audio signals with low risk of interference, or interception, but, nevertheless, requires only low power. This means that a DECT phone handset can provide 16 hours’ talk time, or more, on a single charge. DECT also incorporates many technical components that may be useful, in domestic, or corporate, environments in the future, for integration with ISDN, or GSM, for example.

In terms of call quality, and security, digital cordless phones may also employ another technology known as DSS, or Digital Spread Spectrum. This may be implemented in a number of different ways, but a technique known as frequency hopping, is the most common. Essentially, a DSS enabled digital phone transmits on one frequency, for a short time, before rapidly switching to another, and another, and so on, at random. This means that any interference encountered is minimal, and that interception, or jamming, of the signal is virtually impossible. DSS phones only transmit on any single channel for a fraction, so interference with WiFi devices – those that comply with the IEEE 802.11 family of standards – is unlikely.

Digital phone systems can typically have anything up to 6 individual handsets connected to, or paired with, a single base station – analogue phones, conversely, may be limited to just 2 – so it is easy to distribute handsets throughout your home without requiring a separate telephone extension for each. Mains power is, however, required for each handset.

Many digital phones are GAP, or Generic Access Profile, compatible, which means – in theory, at least – that any handset can be used with any base station, and vice versa. You do need to check the maximum number of handsets that can be supported by a single base station, as this varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and the level of compatibility; it maybe that some of the more advanced functions of a GAP-compatible phone are unavailable if it is used with a base station from a different manufacturer.

Digital phones typically offer a range of up to 150 ft, or so, indoors – depending on the layout and construction of your home, or office, and intervening obstacles – and up to 1000 ft, outdoors, where prevailing weather conditions may influence performance.

Buy DECT Cordless Phones

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