Telephone and Data Networks The corporate main office is in Ohio. The office at this location uses Avaya Digital Phone System and is connected to a Cisco 10 MB Hub. All equipments in this location get access to the Avaya Digital Phone System through the 10 MB Hub. The plant at the Ohio location has set up different workstations; each workstation has a wireless bar code, scanner, shipper, and telephone. The office in California is currently using Private Branch eXchange System PBX system as communication system, routing incoming calls to the appropriate extension in the office. The California office uses The Plain Old Telephone Service POTS, with and intercom. The current POTS does not have caller ID nor does Voice Mail. All the connection phones in California’s office are connected to the PBX. The plant in California uses a different phone system than the California office. The California Plant uses the Nortel Digital Phone System. The phone system is Voice-over-IP, which is VOIP; basically this phone system is connected to an Ethernet connection. The office in Missouri is currently using Avaya Digital Phone System; this system is connected to a Cisco 10MB Hub. The Avaya Digital Phone System connects all the phones and faxes in the location. The plant at the Missouri location has set up different workstations. Each workstation has a wireless bar code scanner, printer, shipper, and a telephone. All the workstations are connected to the Cisco 10 MB Hub. The office at the New Jersey locations also uses PBX Telephone system with an intercom (POTS). The New Jersey office’s telephone system does not have caller ID nor does have Voice Mail, and only count with one fax machine. New Jersey’s plant uses the same telephone system that it uses in its office, which is the PBX telephone System (POTS). New Jersey’s has their plant set up to where they have three dumb terminals and there is a telephone at each dumb terminal. All three dumb terminals are connected to the Patch Panel, which is connected to the PBX telephone system. All the other equipment in the plant is also connected to the Patch Panel. The Ohio and Missouri offices use the Avaya Digital Phone System. According to Carroll Communications Inc, Digital Phone System is an ultimate type of system that is use for small and mid-sized organizations. The biggest advantages of Avaya VoIP solution is the lower call cost. Avaya offers: voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, call transfer, call forwarding, and three-way calls. Network Protocols Huffman Trucking uses various and different Network Protocols to send and receive data. Ohio office uses IPX/SPX and Apple-Talk while the Ohio plant uses TCP/IP. The California office and the plant use TCP/IP protocols. The Missouri office use IPX/SPX and Apple-Talk while the Missouri plant uses TCP/IP. New Jersey office and plant uses TCP/IP. Network Topologies Huffman Trucking ideal network would be to establish a Star-Ring topology. Star-Ring Topology, due to the dual ring set-up this would allow the system to continue to function without down time. Because this hybrid network would be utilizing Token Ring technology, it would provide Huffman Trucking increased communication capabilities throughout the company. Switching Huffman Trucking current switching configurations are different for their different locations. The California plant use an operation network through an Ethernet configuration, while the office at the California location is not using any switches or routers. The New Jersey location is not using any switches or routers either. In the other hand, the Ohio and Missouri locations are currently using a Cisco based switch that is feed from a 10Mb hub with a Token Ring configuration. Network Security Restructuring certain areas of Huffman Trucking is important. Updates and new programs should be conducted regularly. Also backing up your data is critical for the business. "Backup" copying all important data, and have an additional copy in the event that the original is damaged or lost. Data can be recovered if needed from the copied data, the use of video monitoring and biometrics can provide additional physical security. References Carroll Communications Inc. (2008).Avaya Business Telephone Systems. Retrieved on June 22, 2008, from http://www.carrollcommunications.com/. Network Topology Overview, Retrieved June 15, 2008, from http://www.networkdictionary.com/networking/networking/networkTopologiesOverview.php Vicomsoft. (2007). Firewall Q&A. Retrieved June 23, 2008, from http://www.vicomsoft.com/knowledge/reference/firewalls1.html#2