Here are some buzz words and TLA (Three Letter Acronyms) of
the computer and telephone industry.
Have incoming callers automatically answered by a recorded message prompting the caller to enter the persons extension number or prompting the caller to a group for assistance. The caller may dial digits and be prompted through menus. This feature is often used in place of a dedicated receptionist or as a backup receptionist and after regular business hours.
Have several incoming callers on hold listening to a message until the first person in a group is available to help the caller.
the use of variations in frequency or electricity to transmit an electrical signal, does not use digital on off signaling.
displays the number of the telephone line the originating
caller is calling from, also called CID or CLID
this is a digital service from the LEC Telephone company providing two 64 Kbps channels that can be used as voice lines with individual directory numbers or as digital data communications channels for computer equipment. Also known as 2B plus D for 2 bearer channels 64 Kbps each plus 1 Digital Data signaling channel of 16 Kbps. The amazing thing is that these two lines are physically delivered on a single pair of copper wire using ISDN technology.
This happens when you pick up the phone to dial out and at the same time someone is trying to call you. You are both confused at how you were connected by mistake. What has happened is that for less than a second you seized the trunk to call out before the incoming call began ringing. This can happen on loop start trunks and is eliminated when using ground start trunks.
This is the name for a service where you use the Telco as your telephone system. Allowing you to transfer calls between phone users in your group. It works well if there are small groups of people in multiple locations, but is more expensive for a large group in one location as each person needs a dedicated telephone line and monthly charges apply for voice mail and other enhanced features. There are two varieties Analog and Digital Centrex. Standard plain old telephones and telephone systems can be used with Analog Centrex. Digital Centrex requires special digital sets proprietary to the CO equipment.
displays the number of the telephone line the originating caller is calling from, also called CID or ANI
the local telephone company LEC has many central offices that the switching systems reside in to services thousands of telephone subscribers. The first three digits of your local seven digit telephone number are associated with a CO. Your telephone is connected by a physical pair of wires to the switching system in the central office.
this is a physical wire connecting your telephone equipment to your local telephone company's Central Office switching system which in turn connects you to the nationwide public switched telephone network PSTN. Most standard Co lines are Loop Start. Also called a phone line or local dial tone.
use your computer as a phone, exchange information from telephones, dial a number from your computer, pass the CLID info to a computer application program to display a customer file from a database or route phone calls based upon the CLID info.
This is a service from the LEC that assigns many telephone directory numbers and directs them all to a target trunk or group of trunks. This service allows outside callers to dial a unique 7 digit telephone number to ring the persons phone directly without receptionist intervention to route the call to the persons extension phone. This allows a business to assign individuals unique 7 digit telephone directory numbers without paying for an individual CO line for each person. example a company has 100 people with numbers assigned from 555-6000 to 555-6099 the company pays only $280/month for all these 100 numbers and has them routed to a bank of 8 DID trunks that they pay $400/month for a total cost is $680/month verses 100 individual Centrex lines at $35/month would cost $3,500/month. You will have the added convenience of a unique personal number while retaining all of your telephone systems features at a greatly reduced cost. Most DID trunks only allow incoming calls and can not be used for placing outgoing calls you must still have CO lines for outgoing calls. Calling Line Identification is not available on most DID trunks as well.
the use of binary code, on off, signals to represent information.
uses digital communications with the telephone system to control call handling, display information and activate features. May even convert voice calls into digital format for transmission this reduces the pairs of copper wire needed to connect the phone to the phone system.
This is your unique 7 digit telephone number as listed by the local Telephone company or LEC and does not include your Area Code
Also referred to as a phone set. In your home an additional telephone device connected to a CO line. In a business telephone system it refers to the persons telephone at their desk, this phone will have an extension number from 2 to 4 digits for transferring callers from Co lines and interoffice intercom calls.
This is a special type of CO line that is used by a PBX to eliminate call collision or glare. This is done by momentarily grounding the tip conductor to signal the CO that you want dial tone. The CO will not allow an incoming call to ring on that line.
This is a term used for telephone systems that can function like a PBX or a Key Telephone System. That means you can have some phones with a button to select each CO line (reception phone) or any phone can dial 9 to connect to a CO line. Most hybrids also allow the use of single line analog phones.
The worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers, consisting of thousands of commercial, government, educational, and other computer systems, that route data and messages. One or more Internet nodes can go off line without endangering the Internet as a whole or causing communications on the Internet to stop, because no single computer or network controls it. The genesis of the Internet was a decentralized network called ARPANET created by the Department of Defense in 1969. Eventually other networks, including BITNET, Usenet, UUCP, and NSFnet, were connected to ARPANET. Currently, the Internet offers a range of services to users, such as FTP, e-mail, the World Wide Web, Usenet news, Gopher, IRC, telnet, and others. Also called Net.
This is digital technology intended to integrate voice and data communications using one type of LEC Telephone company phone lines. There are two common types of ISDN service BRI and PRI. The objective is that you can use this service for higher speed computer communications and also use it for voice communications. The equipment you have installed will provide the signaling to the phone company which channels to use for voice or data and where to connect them.
a telephone system in which the telephones have multiple buttons to directly select individual CO lines. You can visually see if a CO line is in use or ringing. You do not have to dial 9 to get a CO line as with a PBX. You must use proprietary keysets made for that system, usually you can not connect single line analog phones.
connect multiple PCs to share information and peripheral devices like printers, Hard Disks, CDROM, tape backup etc. You may also run an application program that resides on another computers hard disk like a multiuser accounting program. Send and recieve messages, electronic mail (Email) within the office. Components include a network interface card NIC and LAN server or client software in each PC and a communication cable connected to a central hub.
this is another term for your local telephone company. The company your telephone line is connected within your city. In Alberta Canada we currently have many LECs, AT&T, Group Telecom and Telus providing local dial tone. Other companies like Bell, and Sprint offer local telephone services but only resell services from the existing Telcos including the long distance.
this is the most common type of phone line. It is a standard analog telephone line or trunk connected to the local telephone company. The call is initiated by the telephone going off hook ( lifting the handset receiver) closing the two wires, this signals the CO that you want dial tone.
A privately owned telephone switching system connected to the LECs
CO.
Usually associated with older phone systems purchased by large private
companies sharing multiple trunks with more internal single line analog
phone sets. Over the years the functions of PBXs and Key
Telephone Systems have become identical. Usually PBXs are
larger and you must dial 9 to call outside of the company.
a micro computer originally named by IBM in 1981 using Intel 8086 based CPU. Any computer using an Intel 8086 based processor.
The ISDN
service in North America provides 23 bearer channels at 64 Kbps (23
voice lines) plus 1 Data channel for signaling to the LEC. Bearer
channels can be used for either voice or data communications depending
upon the equipment connected to them. This is similar to the T1
service and can have even more features like CLID
and DID
. NFAS allows 8 PRI lines to be controlled by one Data Channel.
worldwide voice telephone network accessible to all with a telephone and long distance privileges. Local phone companies LEC and long distance providers route calls between each other around the world.
term used for a telephone device connected to a telephone system, also known as an extension.
this is like your phone at home it connects to a standard CO line and uses analog electrical signals provided by the LEC Telephone company to ring, dial and converse.
Telephone systems can record the progress and routing information of every call. Information includes the extension number the outside CO line, the digits dialed, the time and duration of connection, time on hold, account codes, etc. This is valuable information for companies that want to bill time and long distance charges associated with a client file.
A telephone system is usually installed by a business to
reduce LEC
telephone company charges by sharing multiple telephone lines with many
people, manage telephone call handling and enhance communications
functions for the company.
Also called a PBX,
PABX, Key
Telephone System, Hybrid Key System. This is the equipment
that switches calls from CO lines
to extensions
and executes features and functions for the people using telephones
connected on the system. Included are telephones, a switching
unit, cable connections, wire cables, electronic hardware and system
software. The switching unit is a central unit that all telephones and
equipment connect to called a Switch, Key Service Unit KSU, Central
Switching Unit CSU, Computer Switching Unit CSU, control module or main
cabinet. This is the central part that controls everything connected to
it; the CO lines and the phones. Telephones connect by wire cables to
the switching unit. Most telephone systems require proprietary digital
telephone keysets be used to provide display information and advanced
features. Usually single line analog telephone sets can also be used
but may require interface cards or adapters and not all features can be
used. There are several manufacturers of telephone systems and all have
similar features. Picking the best one for your needs is an
ominous time consuming task because the cheapest or most expensive may
not do what you really need. You must first clearly define your current
and future needs then select from your list of criteria what best fits
your needs and budget.
this is a digital service by the LEC which delivers 24 channels at 64Kbps that can be used for voice or data communications depending upon the equipment connected to it. The service is delivered using only 1 pair of copper wire. The service also has the ability to combine several services using this digital interface like CLID and DID. The newer version of this service is called PRI.
a communications line between two switching systems typically between a PBX (your phone system) and the Central Office your Telephone company.
A unified dial plan allows a company with many locations to only dial 3 or 4 digits to reach a person at another location within the company. For example 9 to place an outside call; 8xxx dials a Houston extension; 7xxx dials a warehouse extension and 6xxx calls a person in your office.
Have several incoming callers on hold listening to a message in a queue until the first person in a group is available to help the caller. This is similar to ACD
Personal telephone voice messages are recorded for each telephone user and can be retrieved by telephone. Voice Mail can be added to most telephone systems and can have advanced features like Auto Attendant ACD, Fax, and unified Messaging
VOIP Voice Over Internet Protocol
This is a new technology that uses the Internet to carry voice calls to other VOIP devices. Currently there are a few issues to be resolved because the speed and load of the IP connection affect the sound quality of the voice call. VOIP is most often used to link multiple offices with existing private network connections (WAN) or VPN Virtual Private Network Internet connection. It allows voice calls and data to use the same communications link between offices. You can dial the extension number of a colleague in another city. In the future you will be able to use your existing Local Area Network LAN as the common wiring and your computer as your phone or connect a separate IP Telephone set using the Computer LAN data connections.
A set of nodes on a public network such as the Internet that communicate among themselves using encryption technology so that their messages are as safe from being intercepted and understood by unauthorized users as if the nodes were connected by private lines. 2. A wide area network formed of permanent virtual circuits (PVCs) on another network, especially a network using technologies such as ATM or frame relay.
The data communications connection from your LAN Local Area Network to another office. This can be a Private network using dedicated communications lines provided by a LEC or a VPN Virtual Private Network using a high speed Internet connection.