If you are confused, (you are not the first and certainly
wont be the last !) by the various acronyms and terms
used by the telecommunications industry when talking
about telephone systems, then read on. The following
chart lists the most commonly used terms and their meaning.
If you require further help please feel free to call
us
AA - Automated Attendant
A device which answers callers with a recording,
and allows the caller to route themselves through
the telephone system to an extension. |
ACD - Automatic Call Distribution
An automated system for answering, queuing and
distributing incoming telephone calls to a number
of agents |
AMIS - Audio Messaging Interchange Specifications
A series of standards aimed at addressing the
problem of how voice messaging systems produced
by different vendors can network or inter-network |
ANI - Automatic Number Identification
The service used to deliver the telephone number
of the calling party. |
ARS - Automatic Route Selection
System software that analyzes the telephone
number dialed and automatically selects the
“Least Expensive” or “Best Route” for the call
and then places the call accordingly. (also
see “LCR”) |
ASDL - Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line
A broadband technology that delivers very high
data transfer speeds (potentially over 10 times
faster than ISDN) over existing phone lines. |
ASR - Automatic Speech Recognition
The ability of a machine to understand human
speech as opposed to voice recognition, which
needs training and only recognises one user. |
BRI - Basic Rate ISDN2
Provides one ‘D’ channel and 2 ‘B’ channels,
each of which is equivalent to one telephone
line. These can be used for two voice calls,
two data calls, one voice call and one data
call; or one data call using 2 channels (e.g.
a video conference). This service is frequently
called a 2B+D circuit. |
Call Forwarding
A feature of ISDN channels (as opposed to analogue
lines). Call forwarding enables incoming telephone
calls to be diverted automatically to a different
phone number e.g. home phone, or mobile |
CAT 5, 5e, 6 - Category 5, 5e, 6
Data wiring standards used to define the level
of certification and data handling characteristics
of data cable infrastructure. CAT 6 is the newest
and latest standard designed to support up to
Gigabyte Ethernet versus CAT 5e which has been
the standard for the last several years, and
capable of supporting up to (100) Megabyte speeds. |
CLI - Calling Line Identity
One of the key ISDN features, CLI displays the
phone number of the caller on the answering
phone’s display. |
CPE - Customer Premise Equipment
Any phone equipment (key systems, PBX’s, answering
machines, etc.) which reside on the customers
premises. |
CTI - Computer Telephony Integration
The term used to describe the linking of the
telephone system with a computer network. The
classic CTI application is ‘screen popping’,
which uses CLI to identify the caller and displays
his/her database records on-screen before the
call is answered. |
DDI - Direct Dial Inwards
A key ISDN feature is the ability to assign
individual phone numbers (DDI numbers) to extensions,
faxes, computers and departments, enabling callers
to dial them directly and automatically through
the switch (switchboard) without going through
a receptionist. |
DECT – Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephony
DECT cordless telephone handsets provide wireless
communications within an office, a building
or a site.
It can be fully integrated into the company
telephone system. |
DHCP - Dynamic Host Control Protocol
A protocol enabled on a server designed to automatically
allocate a unique IP address to each device
connected to the data network, and manage the
use and “licensing” of each of these IP addresses.
This is a very common method used on data networks,
and is opposed to using dedicate IP addressing
within the network. |
DID - Direct Inward Dial
This feature allows one to dial directly into
a company without going through the attendant. |
DNIS - Dialed Number Identification Service
Utilized mostly by 800 and 900 lines, informs
you of the telephone number the incoming caller
dialed (do not confuse this feature with ANI,
which is the number the caller called from). |
DTMF - Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency
A technical term referring to push button or
touchtone dialling. |
FTP - File Transfer Protocol
A method used to transfer data files from one
computer to another. |
H.323 or H323 - Host 323 Standard Language
A protocol used for control of multimedia communications
across an IP network. |
HTTP - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
This is the scripting language used on the World
Wide Web for accessing web pages. |
IMAP - Internet Messaging Application Protocol
An email protocol that allows users to create
and manage mail folders over the WAN, scan message
headers and then download only selected messages,
and search for keywords. |
IMAPTSE - Transparent Storage Engine
This gateway is used to provide a single data
store for both email messages and voice mail
messages. By unifying these stores, it gives
the user a single access point to retrieve,
send, and manage their messages. |
IM - Integrated Messaging
Also called basic UM provides a consolidated
view of all messages (voice/fax/email) from
an email client (PC desktop) |
IP - Internet Protocol
Part of the TCP/IP family of protocols describing
software that tracks the Internet address of
nodes, routes outgoing messages, and recognizes
incoming messages. |
|
IP Telephony
The use of IP signalling methods to send voice
traffic across a data network. It eliminates
the need for separate voice and data networks
by converging all traffic on one network.
|
IP Gateway / VOIP Gateway
A gateway for an existing telephone system,
which converts normal circuit-switched telephony
traffic into IP for transmission over a data
network. |
ISDN – Integrated Services Digital Network
A ‘dial up’ digital public network for voice
and data communications with charges based on
line rental and usage. This term defines the
specialized voice and data communications services
combined and delivered via either a BRI (Base
rate) or PRI (Primary rate) circuit. |
IVR - Interactive Voice
Response
Think of IVR as a voice computer. Where a computer
has a keyboard for entering information, IVR
uses remote touchtone telephones. Where a computer
has a screen for showing the results, IVR uses
snippets of a recorded human voice or a synthesized
voice to “read” the screen to the distant caller.
IVR Systems automate routine transactions, such
as literature requests or information lines,
using voice recognition or phone keypad operations. |
LAN - Local Area Network
A short distance data communications network
(typically within a building or campus) used
to link together computers and peripheral devices
(such as printers) under some form of standard
control, such as TCP/IP. (also see “VLAN”) The
convergence of voice and data on a LAN (local
area network) eliminating the need for separate
voice and data networks within an organisation.
Normally people use structured cabling (e.g.
Category 5 cabling) to transmit data and voice
traffic over a LAN. |
LAN Interconnection
Using ISDN an organisation can connect local
area networks at different locations in a WAN
(wide area network) on a dial up basis, without
the need for a permanent, expensive leased data
link. |
LCR - Least Cost Routing
System software that analyzes the telephone
number dialled and automatically selects the
“Least Expensive Route” for the call based on
the anticipated cost of the call and available
paths at the time, and then places the call
accordingly. This feature is similar to ARS
except that in its purest form it technically
calculates the “cost per minute” of the call
based on the destination, whereas ARS simply
follows a pre-defined order. |
LDAP - Lightweight Directory
Application Protocol
LDAP defines both a standard manner of organizing
directory hierarchies and a standard interface
for clients to access directory servers. For
example, when using Enterprise TOL you will
receive message notification on your phone,
Outlook inbox, PDA, etc. When you delete the
message from one of these devices, LDAP provides
the synchronization necessary to delete the
message from all directories. |
MIME - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
This application protocol is designed for transmitting
mixed-media files across TCP/IP networks. |
MMC - Microsoft Management Console
A Windows-based multiple document interface
(MDI) application that uses Internet technologies
heavily. Both Microsoft and ISVs extend the
console by writing MMC snap-ins, which perform
management tasks. |
MWI - Message Waiting Indicator
An indication (such as a blinking light) that
there is a new message. |
MOS Score - Mean Opinion Score
A number between (1) and (5) that is derived
as a result of a “Network Assessment”, which
is an analysis and study conducted on a given
data network to evaluate its capability to provide
an adequate level of quality for the use of
Voice over IP (VoIP) communications. The resulting
score should be at least (4) in order to guarantee
an adequate call quality. MOS Scores in the
truest sense are a numerical representation
of the opinion of the listener to a VoIP call,
ranking the call quality from (1) for Bad; (2)
for Poor; (3) for Fair; (4) for Good, and; (5)
for Excellent. The MOS is the resulting arithmetic
mean of all of the scores. |
OCR - Optical Character Recognition
Reading data using a machine that visually scans
the characters in a document and converts that
data into standard form which can be stored
on conventional medium, e.g. floppy or hard
disk. |
PBX - Private Branch Exchange
A private (i.e. you, as opposed to the phone
company owns it), smaller version of the phone
company’s larger central switching office. |
PDA - Personal Digital Assistant
A consumer electronics gadget that acts much
like a personal computer. |
PIM - Personal Information Manager
A specialized form of software used by individuals
and groups for keeping track of contacts (including
addresses and phone numbers), appointments,
project schedules, to-do lists, reminder notes,
anniversaries, etc. |
POP3 - Post Office Protocol
A protocol widely used on the Internet and other
IP-based networks to retrieve electronic mail
from a (typically distant) email server. You
use POP3 to get your mail from the server it
is sitting on and to download it to your PC. |
POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service
A term used to describe an analogue copper trunk
telephone line that may be used on a single
line telephone, key telephone system, or PBX
system, and is capable of handling one phone
call at a time. |
PRI - Primary Rate Interface
A digital signalling protocol used on a T1 circuit,
designed to deliver (23) voice communications
paths, referred to as “B Channels, or Bearer
Channels”, and (1) “D Channel, or Data Channel”
which is used for signalling and control. |
PSTN - Public Switching Telephone Network
A public switched telephone network. Traditionally
that was analogue, then it was digital
(ISDN). In future it will be based on a WAN. |
Predictive Dialling
A third party CTI application, predictive
dialling removes all ‘dialling’ responsibilities
from an
agent. Once a call has been completed the software
automatically dials the next number on the
agent’s list. It is used by telesales organisations. |
QoS - Quality of Service
The process used to insure that all data packets
(especially voice) are sent across an IP network
and delivered in the appropriate “priority”
and in the proper sequence. Typically in a Voice
over IP (VoIP) environment voice IP packets
are given the highest priority level allowing
VoIP calls the highest level of quality attainable
under the given circumstances, which includes
numerous elements such as the Data Routers and
Switches, as well as the physical network itself
and all of its associated connections, and the
other data traffic inherent on the network at
the time. A “Network Assessment” is generally
required to ascertain the impact of all of these
factors on the resulting expected QoS. |
QSIG
A protocol for networking telecoms systems from
different manufacturers. |
SIP - Session Initiation Protocol
A standard Internet signalling protocol used
for the initiation and communications of VoIP
calls, Conferencing, and Instant Messaging. |
SMDI - Simplified Message Desk Interface
The SMDI is the data link from the central office
that gives you your stutter dial tone or message
waiting light. In essence, SMDI is a data line
from the central office containing information
and instructions to your on premises voice mail
box. With SMDI, the calling person is not required
to re-enter the called phone number once the
call terminates on the messaging system. |
SMS - Short Message Service
A means to send or receive, short alphanumeric
messages to or from mobile telephones. |
SMTP - Simplified Mail Transport Protocol
A TCP/IP protocol for sending e-mail between
servers. |
S0-BUS
A device within a switch used to connect data
terminals. E.g. it is used to bond two or more
ISDN channels for videoconferencing. The more
channels used, the greater the bandwidth and
hence the better the picture quality. |
Soft PBX
The term used to describe a software application
that provides server-based telephony. It offers
a range of PBX functions, voice mail and integration
with other server-based applications such as
unified massaging and contact management information.
E.g. a homeworker might use a softphone on his
PC or laptop computer. |
T1 or T-1
A transmission protocol designed to deliver
voice and/or data communications between locations
on a dedicated point-to-point basis for private
networking, or used by the phone company to
deliver dial-tone, long distance access, or
Internet connectivity. A T1 represents 1.544
Megabytes of data capacity and is generally
converted to (24) logical connections when used
to deliver voice communications. (Sometimes
referred to as a DS1, for Digital Service.) |
TAPI - Telephone Application Programming
Interface
Developed by Microsoft, 1st and 3rd party TAPI
are the standard interfaces for computer
telephony integration applications. A changing
(i.e. improving) set of functions supported
by Windows that allow Windows applications to
program telephone-line-base devices such as
single and multi-line phones (both digital and
analog), modems and fax machines in a device-independent
manner. TAPI essentially does to telephony devices
what the Windows printer system did to printers
– make them easy to install, and allow many
application programs to work with many telephony
devices, irrespective of who made the devices. |
TCP - Transmission Control Protocol
A standard protocol used for the management
of connection oriented data communications with
error correction. |
TDM - Time Division Multiplex
Digitization of voice signals into a “time divided
slot” on the system communications highway.
Each voice call is sampled at a high rate of
speed, such (64,000) times per second, and converted
to a “digital signal” which is then “switched”
across the communications highway to the remote
end where it is then reconstructed into a voice
signal. |
TTS - Text to Speech
Technologies for converting textual information
onto synthetic speech output. |
UC - Unified Communications
Unified messaging plus the ability to manage
messages in real time and includes personal
productivity options such as speech, personal
assistant services and CTI applications. |
UM - Unified Messaging
The integration of email, fax and
voice messages in a single mailbox or message
store accessible by PC, browser, or telephone. |
UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply
A power backup system designed to supply electrical
power in the event of commercial power failure.
Generally, the UPS is equipped with one or more
built-in batteries depending on the required
backup time. The internal inverter of the UPS
converts the battery power to 120 Volts AC output. |
VLAN - Virtual LAN
A “Virtual” Local Area Network co-exits within
a physical Local Area Network structure as a
segregated series of IP addresses and priorities
that collectively operate as a unique LAN even
though the physical connections are the same.
The use of a VLAN is frequently designed to
separate the traffic on a physical LAN connection
giving different priorities and capabilities
to the VLAN for such capabilities as Voice over
IP (VoIP) to insure the best Quality of Service
(QoS) available within the network. (also see
“LAN”) |
VM - Voicemail
Voicemail allows you to receive and forward
messages to one or more voicemail boxes in your
company or in your universe of friends. Messages
can be retrieved remotely |
VOIP – Voice over Internet Protocal
A standard protocol used to carry voice communications
via small IP packets over data networks, including
LANs, WANs, and the Internet. The transmission
of voice traffic over a wide area network or
the internet using the IP signalling standard. |
VPIM - Voice Profile for Internet Mail
An Internet messaging protocol that allows disparate
voice messaging systems to automatically exchange
voicemail over the Internet. |
VPN – Virtual Private Network
Organisations with offices in more than one
location can link phone systems and data networks
(LANs) together using the internet to form a
Virtual Private Network. |
VXML - Voice Extensible Markup Language
VXML is software designed to let you talk to
web sites and have them answer you. It is a
Web-based markup language much like HTML and
XML, but designed for voice-based, rather than
typing, graphical or textual interaction. |
WAN - Wide Area Network
A series of Local Area Networks (LAN) joined
together over geographically diverse areas.
Connectivity is most often provided by third
party carriers, such as the phone company. |
WAP - Wireless Application Protocol
A carrier-independent, transaction-oriented
protocol for wireless data networks such as
cell phones and PDAs. The protocol contains
security, transaction handling, byte coding,
and encryption, making it secure |
XML - Extensible Markup Language
A software programming language used to develop
interactive applications requiring minimum amounts
of bandwidth. |
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