T-Online

To open up the Btx platform to other uses, Deutsche Telekom introduced the Datex-J service, which was renamed T-Online in 1995 and at the same time opened up to the Internet. T-Online is a screen text enhanced with many features.

The main use of T-Online is as a feeder function for the Btx directory assistance and information service, but T-Online can also be used for dialog traffic from one personal computer( PC) to another.

PCs can only communicate via the telephone network if the devices used support the same transmission speed and mode. All modem and protocol variants can be interconnected via T-Online. Another advantage is the uniform telephone access number for the Btx service: 01910. In addition, Datex-P can be accessed via T-Online. Deutsche Telekom even offers the connection of simple ASCII terminals to T-Online. Chip cards can be used to access the T-Online platform for e-commerce.

The T-Online page consists of a data record (transmission frame) that is entered into the system by the system operator, Deutsche Telekom, or by a provider. The data record is identified by the page number (16 digits) and a subsequent sheet identifier (a to z).

The switching systems for T-Online are regional network nodes for handling subscriber dialog and for connecting external computers. For the associated subscribers, the exchanges hold a large proportion of the information pages and the customer records as duplicates; the originals are located at the control center( host) in Ulm and can thus handle most subscriber requests without access to the host. Central functional units are the database computers( DBR) and the access computers(ZGR).