GPT Communication Systems Ltd, Coventry is trying to promote the humble PABX telephone as a data entry device. Its new Telelink package runs on a personal computer or Unix box next to the switch and redirects numeric codes to applications in the form of an ASCII file. Thankfully the company isn’t suggesting that we should also start hammering our phones for bulk transaction processing work, instead, it is promoting the system for use with time and attendance packages (use your phone to clock in in the mornings) or for relatively simple data collection, where for example an employee needs to record a job or batch number. Another entry in the same family of products is Officelink, which is similar in that it runs on a separate machine alongside the PABX, but this time the codes input by workers are used to convey messages to the switchboard. So, for example, on leaving your desk you might hit code key ‘1’ which has been pre-designated as meaning I’m in a meeting for the rest of the afternoon. This information would then be presented to the switchboard operator when someone tried to reach your extension. The company says that these are the first of a series of similar products and intimates that Telelink and Officelink will probably be supported on other manufacturers’ PABXs. Possibly not a product those that find existing PABX command codes over-complex.
