Telephony Hardware Requirements

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012

To hook up a regular (PSTN) phone line to your local computer, you must have a voice modem. To send and receive faxes in addition to making voice or data calls, you must have a fax modem.

To use IP telephony service providers (available from third-party vendors), your computer must have a sound card, video camera, speakers, and a microphone (or headset).

To support speech and hearing simultaneously, you must have a full-duplex sound card.

To include video communications, you must have a video capture card.

You might need to install other hardware for special telephony programs. For example, to connect trunk lines for a personal computer-based telephony server or cables to connect to a PBX system, you might need expansion cards. For additional information about your telephony hardware requirements, consult your hardware vendor or hardware documentation.

See Also

Concepts

Information about Phone Dialing in Windows
Eliminating Acoustic Echo
Setting Up the PSTN Server and Client
Managing Telephony from the Command Line