What is ISDN, anyway?
ISDN cards and TA’s are like modems, but 5 times faster. They require special telephone lines, which cost a little (or a lot, depending on your phone company) more than normal phone lines. ISDN calls are usually (in USA) charged by the minute, even for local calls, but this varies from state to state. In California, it’s free for home use during off-peak hours, and $0.01 or so per minute during business hours. If you’re quite nearby to someone you connect to constantly, you can sometimes order Centrex service, and get free calling always. Businesses seeking fulltime connection are often better served by 56Kb/sec Frame Relay instead of ISDN, as it’s flat rate. Consult Steve Neil’s excellent page of Frame Relay Resources for more info.
