List of telephony terminology
This is a list of telephony terminology and acronyms which relate to telephony networks.
A
- Advanced Intelligent Network, (AIN), see also INor Intelligent Network
- Automatic number announcement circuit (ANAC)
- Automated Attendant
- ACD - Automatic Call Distribution
- Articulation score
B
- Blue box- a device that was used to bypass the normal long-distance call switching tones typically used to obtain free calls.
C
- Call originator- (or calling party, caller or A-party) a person or device that initiates a telephone call by dialling a telephone number.
- Call waiting - a system that notifies a caller of another incoming telephone call by sounding a sound in the earpiece.
- Called party - (or callee or B-party)
- Caller
- Calling party
- Conference call (multi-party call)
- COCOT
D
- Dial peer
- Dial tone
- Distribution frame
- Dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF)
E
- Emergency telephone number
- End instrument
- Engset calculation
- Erlang unit
F
- Fax - (contraction of facsimile) a device connected to the telephone network to enable documents to be scanned and sent to a receiving fax machine
- Frame - A distribution frame, a set of open wiring racks where circuits are cross connected to trunks and equipment
H
- Handoff
- Handover
- Help desk
- Howler tone(see ROH tone)
- Hunt Group
I
- Infrastructure
- Intelligent Network (IN)
- Interface functionality
- Inside plant
- U-versebrand of services.
- Interactive voice response (IVR)
- ISDN User Part (ISUP)
L
O
P
- Patch-through access
- Permanent signal
- Person-to-person
- Plain old telephone service, or "POTS"
- Public Switched Telephone Network(PSTN)
- Pupinization
R
- Receiver Off-Hook tone(ROH)
- Red telephone box
- Red box
- Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC)
- Ringer equivalency number(REN)
- Ringing signal
- Rural radio service
S
- Smartphone
- Station-to-station
- Signalling System 7(SS7)
T
- Tandem signaling
- Tandem switch
- Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP)
- Telemarketing
- Telephone
- Telephone booth
- Telephone call
- Telephone card
- Telephone directory
- Telephone exchange
- Telephone tapping
- Teletraffic engineering
- Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
- Trap and trace
- TWX
V
- Vertical service code
- Voicemail
- Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP)
W
- Western Union
- Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS)
- WATS line
- Wireless network
- Wireless Telephony Applications Interface (WTAI)
- Wi-Fi
Z
Acronyms
Acronym | Name | Notes |
---|---|---|
1ESS | Number 1 Electronic Switching System (Alcatel-Lucent) | US |
1FR | Flat rate service | US |
2G | second-generation mobile telephone | |
2.5G | Enhanced 2G mobile telephone |
|
3G | third-generation mobile telephone | |
4ESS | Number 4 Electronic Switching System (Alcatel-Lucent) | |
4WTS | Four-wire termination set | US |
5ESS | Number 5 Electronic Switching System (Alcatel-Lucent) | |
ACD | Automatic Call Distribution /Director |
|
ACTS | Advanced Coin Telephone Service | US |
ADSL | Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line |
|
ANI | Automatic Number Identification |
US |
AMA | Automatic Message Accounting |
US |
BOK | Unblocking | UK |
CCIS | Common Channel Interoffice Signaling |
|
CID | Caller ID | |
CLEC | Competitive Local Exchange Carrier |
US |
CLI | Caller Line Identification | Europe |
CLID | Caller Line ID | UK |
CTI | Computer telephony integration | |
COSMOS | Wire records |
|
DDCO | Direct Dial Central Office (Opposite of DID) | US |
DDD | Direct Distance Dialing |
US |
DDI | Direct Dialing In |
UK |
DECT | Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications |
|
DID | Direct Inward Dialing |
US |
DMS | Digital Multiplex System (e.g. DMS-100) | Can |
DNIS | Dialed Number Identification System |
US |
DSL | Digital subscriber line | |
DTMF | dual-tone multi-frequency |
|
FDM | Frequency-division multiplexing | |
GPRS | General Packet Radio Service | |
GSM | Global system for mobile communications |
|
GST | Ground Start Trunk | US |
IDDD | International Direct Distance Dialing | US |
IDF | Intermediate distribution frame | US |
ILEC | Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier |
US |
ISD | International Subscriber Dialing |
UK and India |
ISDN | Integrated Services Digital Network |
|
IVR | Interactive Voice Response (a.k.a. VRU) | |
KSU | Key Switching/System Unit | US |
LST | Loop Start Trunk | US |
MDF | Main Distribution Frame |
|
MF | Multi-frequency |
US |
PABX | Private Automatic Branch eXchange |
Europe |
PBX | Private Branch eXchange |
US |
PMBX | Private Manual Branch eXchange | UK |
POTS | Plain Old Telephone Service | |
PSTN | Public Switched Telephone Network |
|
RCMAC | Recent Change Memory Administration Center |
US |
REN | ringer equivalency number |
|
SMS | Short Message Service (i.e. text messages) |
|
SF | Single Frequency supervision tone (2600) | US |
SIP | Session Initiation Protocol | US |
SP Lock | Unlocking | UK |
SS7 | Signaling System 7 |
|
STD | Subscriber trunk dialling | UK and India |
T-CXR | T-carrier (e.g. T-1) | US |
TAPI | Telephony Application Programming Interface | |
TR | Tip and ring | US |
TSPS | Traffic Service Position System | |
TXE | Telephone eXchange Electronic | UK |
UAX | Unit Automatic eXchange | UK |
VoIP | Voice over Internet Protocol |
US |
WAP | Wireless Application Protocol | |
WATS | Wide Area Telephone Service | US |
WTAI | Wireless Telephony Applications Interface |