<s>
Nortel	B-Device
Meridian	I-Device
is	O
a	O
private	B-Device
branch	I-Device
exchange	I-Device
telephone	O
switching	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
provides	O
advanced	O
voice	O
features	O
,	O
data	O
connectivity	O
,	O
LAN	B-General_Concept
communications	O
,	O
computer	O
telephony	O
integration	O
(	O
CTI	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
information	O
services	O
for	O
communication	O
applications	O
ranging	O
from	O
60	O
to	O
80,000	O
lines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Exploratory	O
development	O
on	O
digital	O
technology	O
,	O
common	O
for	O
the	O
SL-1	O
(	O
PBX	B-Device
)	O
and	O
the	O
DMS	B-Protocol
(	O
public	O
switch	O
)	O
product	O
lines	O
,	O
began	O
in	O
1969	O
at	O
Northern	O
Telecom	O
,	O
while	O
R&D	O
activities	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
SL-1	O
started	O
in	O
1971	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
products	O
were	O
developed	O
in	O
a	O
Bell-Northern	O
Research	O
developed	O
proprietary	O
toolset	O
and	O
language	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
Pascal	O
called	O
Protel	B-Language
,	O
and	O
ran	O
without	O
a	O
specific	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
1990s	O
it	O
was	O
evolved	O
onto	O
VxWorks	B-Operating_System
,	O
a	O
commercial	O
real	O
time	O
embedded	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
at	O
which	O
time	O
the	O
model	O
numbers	O
were	O
evolved	O
to	O
add	O
the	O
letter	O
C	O
to	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
option	O
numbers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
introduced	O
by	O
Northern	O
Telecom	O
in	O
December	O
1975	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
original	O
capacity	O
from	O
100	O
to	O
7,600	O
lines	O
,	O
and	O
became	O
the	O
first	O
fully	O
digital	O
PBX	B-Device
announced	O
on	O
the	O
global	O
market	O
aimed	O
at	O
the	O
smaller	O
PBX	B-Device
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
success	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
power	O
the	O
company	O
into	O
a	O
leadership	O
position	O
in	O
the	O
telephony	O
world	O
,	O
and	O
led	O
to	O
expanded	O
designs	O
"	O
up	O
and	O
down	O
"	O
to	O
provide	O
products	O
at	O
all	O
sizes	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
DMS	B-Protocol
series	O
high-end	O
machines	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Meridian	B-Device
Norstar	I-Device
for	O
smaller	O
installations	O
up	O
to	O
200	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Meridian-1	O
has	O
evolved	O
to	O
support	O
IP	B-Application
telephony	I-Application
and	O
other	O
next	O
generation	O
IP	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Meridian	O
has	O
43	O
million	O
installed	O
users	O
worldwide	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
the	O
most	O
widely	O
used	O
PBX	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Meridian	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
few	O
PBXs	O
still	O
available	O
from	O
a	O
major	O
communications	O
supplier	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
configured	O
as	O
non-VOIP	O
PBX	B-Device
and	O
could	O
be	O
upgraded	O
to	O
a	O
hybrid	O
system	O
with	O
VoIP	B-Application
added	O
.	O
</s>
