CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

DMS-100

Nortel telecom switch

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ5205637
Source-derived summary

The DMS-100 is a member of the Digital Multiplex System (DMS) product line of telephone exchange switches manufactured by Northern Telecom. Designed during the 1970s and released in 1979, it can serve up to 100,000 telephone lines.

The purpose of the DMS-100 Switch is to provide local telephone service and connections to the PSTN. It is designed to deliver services over subscribers' telephone lines and trunks. It provides plain old telephone service (POTS), mobility management for cellular phone systems, sophisticated business services such as automatic call distribution (ACD), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), and Meridian Digital Centrex (MDC), formerly called Integrated Business Network (IBN). It also provides Intelligent Network functions (AIN, CS1-R, ETSI INAP). It is used in many countries throughout the world.

There are also DMS-200 and DMS-250 variants for tandem switches. Much of the hardware used in the DMS-100, with the possible exception of the line cards, is used in other members of the DMS family, including the DMS-200 toll switch.

Hardware

All power distribution is at -48 VDC (nominal), from which DC to DC converters on every shelf provide other necessary voltages.

Central Control Complex (CCC)

The Central Control Complex comprises the Central Processing Unit (CPU), Program Store (PS), Data Store (DS) and the Central Message Controller (CMC).

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “DMS-100” as nortel telecom switch. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1979—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1979. The account is most persuasive where DMS-100, Nortel and telecom can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as nortel telecom switch. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5205637. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1979.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “DMS-100”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow DMS-100 primary sources, DMS-100 archive and DMS-100 research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “DMS-100”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from DMS-100” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.