| Access
gateway |
Equipment
used to provide the electronic "bridge" from the public switched
telephone network (PSTN) to an Internet protocol (IP) network. |
| Account
Codes |
Also
known as Project Codes or Bill-Back Codes. Account Codes are
additional digits dialed by the calling party that provide information
about the call. Typically used by hourly professionals (accountants,
lawyers, etc.) to track and bill clients, projects, etc. |
| Agent |
A
person or organization that acts on behalf of another. In the
telecommunications industry, Agents typically are independent
individuals or companies that market the services of a carrier
as if they were employees of that carrier. |
| Alternate
Access |
A
form of local access where the provider is not the LEC, but
is authorized or permitted to provide such service. |
| Alternate
Access Carriers |
Local
exchange carriers in direct competition with the RBOCs. Normally
found only in the larger metropolitan areas. Examples are Teleport
and Metropolitan Fiber Systems. |
| Alternative
Operator Services |
Operator
services provided by a company other than a LECRBOC or AT&T
that is authorized to provide such service. |
| ANI
|
See
Automatic Number Identification. |
| Authentication |
Process
of verifying with certainty the identity of a valid subscriber
or ITSP through the use of a unique user identification number,
password or other method (i.e., verifying that customers are
who they say they are). |
| Authorization |
Process
of allowing a Subscriber or ITSP a certain monetary credit or
time amount of IP Telephony. Authorization is the granting of
permission to provide users the service they are requesting. |
| Authorization
Number |
same
as PIN. |
| Automatic
Number Identification |
Originating
Number
(1) The number associated with the telephone station(s) from
which switched calls are originated (or terminated).
(2) A software feature associated with Feature Group D (and
optional on Feature Group B) circuits. ANI provides the originating
local telephone number of the calling party. This information
is transmitted as part of the digit stream in the signalling
protocol, and included in the Call Detail Record for billing
purposes.
(3) ANI may also be used to refer to any phone number. |
| BAN
- Billing Account Number |
Used
by telephone companies to designate a billing account, i.e.,
a customer or customer location that receives a bill. A customer
may have any number of BANs. |
| Banded
Rates |
Tariffed
rates which may be changed by the carrier within a specified
range. Frequently, state commissions require notice to the commission
prior to each change. Banded rates are being used less frequently
today. |
| Billing
Account Number - BAN |
Used
by telephone companies to designate a customer or customer location
that will be billed. A single customer may have multiple billing
accounts. |
| Bill-To-Room |
A
billing option associated with Operator Assisted calls that
allows the calling party to bill a call to their hotel room.
With this option, the carrier is required to notify the hotel,
upon completion of the call, of the time and charges. |
| Bong |
An
interactive signal that prompts the originating end user to
enter additional information. For example: 1010555 Bong (Enter
Destination) Bong (Enter Billing information)
Also used to denote a sucharge particularly in the calling card
industry. |
| BTN
- Billing Telephone Number |
The
phone number associated, for billing purposes, with the Working
Phone Number. |
| Bypass |
Access
an IEC other than the customer's Equal Access carrier by dialing
10+CIC Code.(e.g. Bypass to WorldCom by dialing "1010555").
See Walkthrough, CIC Code |
| Call
Data Record (CDR) |
Record
of a placed call. A CDR includes the time the call was placed
and the duration of the call. |
| Calling
Cards |
Telecommunication
credit cards with an AuthCode for using a long distance carrier
when the customer is away from their home or office (ANI). |
| Callingcards |
Same
as calling cards or calling cards. |
| Carrier |
A
telecommunications provider which owns switch equipment. |
| Carrier
Identification Code - CIC |
A
three digit number used with Feature Groups B and D to access
a particular IEC's switched services from a local exchange line.
One or more CIC codes are assigned to each carrier. (i.e. there
may be multiple CICs per ACNA). See Bypass |
| Casual
Calling |
Allow
any ANI (including undefined ANIs) to access a given carrier.
For example, if the originator is calling from a non-coin phone,
they may dial 1010555+destination number and have the call routed
through WorldCom and billed to the originating phone |
| Casual
Customer |
Any
person or organization that dials any CIC Code. (Not necessary
to presubscribe to the carrier.) |
| Class
of Service - COS |
A
special limitation on what numbers can and cannot be called.
International, 809, 809 + Canada, 48 contiguous states, etc. |
| Clipping |
Situation
where the system cuts off the first part of the first word in
a sentence. (Not to be confused with choppiness -- which is
a packet loss). |
| COCOT |
Customer
Owned Coin Operated Telephone |
| Coin
Phone |
A
coin-operated pay phone with restricted access to some services
(e.g. International calling). Coin phones have subclasses of
Public, Semi Public, and Private. |
| Collect |
A
call that is paid for by the receiving/destination phone number.
Requires approval/authorization of the person being called. |
| Common
Carrier |
A
carrier that holds itself out as serving the public (or a segment
thereof) indifferently (i.e., without regard to the identity
of the customer and without undue discrimination). Common carriers
may vary rates based on special considerations and may in fact
serve only a small fraction of the general public. |
| Connection
Fee |
A
fee charged on every call that is made. |
| Contract |
A
legally-binding agreement between a vendor and a customer to
provide Products, Services or Features in a specified quantity
and quality, for a specified price, during a specified period
of time. |
| Contract
Tariffs |
Services
and rates based on contracts negotiated with individual customers,
but theoretically available to all customers. AT&T has filed
several hundred contract tariffs. |
| Country
Code |
Two
or three digit codes used for International calls outside of
the North American Numbering Plan area codes. Dial: 011 + country
code + city code + local phone number) (e.g. "011 + 91 + 22
+ 123- 4567" 91 = India, 22 = Bombay) |
| Customizable
PIN |
A
PIN that gives you the ability to choose the specific numbers
or character sequence. |
| Cut-Through
Dialing |
"10"+CIC+"
#" followed by an AuthCode for IntraLATA calls. |
| DA
- Directory Assistance |
Phone
Number Lookup Service |
| DAL
- Dedicated Access Line |
A
non-switched circuit from the customer to a carrier. |
| DDD
- Direct Distance Dialing |
Any
switched telecommunication service (like 1+, 0++, etc.) that
allows a call originator to place long distance calls directly
to telephones outside the local service area without an operator. |
| DDI
- Direct Dial In |
Designates
a private number or direct line which either bypasses the switchboard/PABX
or is available after hours. |
| Deactivation |
A
request to terminate service (or the process of terminating
service) |
| Default
Carrier |
Your
regular Dial-1 carrier. Call 1-700-555-4141 to find your default
carrier. |
| Dial |
To
Place A Call On A Switched Network. The term "dial" is obsolete
- based on rotary dial phones and electromechanical relay switches
(which are nearly non-existent in modern telephone systems.)
Touch Tone service recognizes dual tones that are generated
as each telephone key is pressed. Where Touch Tone service is
not available, telephones and switches electronically "pulse"
signals that emulate the older rotary dial telephones. The terms
"place" a call or "originate" a call are more accurate than
"dial". |
| Dial
Tone |
Ready
To Place/Originate A Call. When the off hook indication is received
at a central office, a dial tone signal is sent to the originating
caller on a switched network to indicate that the switch is
ready to accept a number. |
| Dialer |
Equipment
that pulses out a standard dial protocol signal. |
| Digital |
A
device or method that uses discrete variations in voltage, frequency,
amplitude, location, etc. to encode, process, or carry binary
(zero or one) signals for sound, video, computer data or other
information. For example, a digital clock displays the time
as discrete numeric values, rather than angular displacement
of analog hands. Digital communications technology generally
permits higher speeds of transmission with a lower error rate
than can be achieved with analog technology. When analog signals
are received and amplified at each repeater station, any noise
is also amplified. A digital signal, however, is detected and
regenerated (not amplified). Unlike amplification, any noise
(less than a valid signal) is eliminated by digital regeneration. |
| Directory
Assistance - DA |
An
information service whereby operators assist customers in obtaining
the telephone number(s) they wish to call. |
| Equal
Access |
(AT&T
Divestiture - 1982 Modified Final Judgement) The provision of
one-plus capability to interLATA competitors of AT&T. Customers
should be able to reach the carrier of their choice by dialing
1+ the long-distance number. The MFJ and the FCC require local
exchange carriers to provide equal access (most central offices
now have this capability). Equal Access may also refer to a
more generic concept under which the BOCs must provide access
services to AT&T's competitors that are equivalent to those
provided to AT&T. |
| FCC
- Federal Communications Commission |
Regulates
interstate communications: licenses, rates, tariffs, standards,
limitations, etc. Appointed by U.S. President .Web Site = http://www.fcc.gov |
| Gateway |
Device
that connects two different kinds of networks and performs the
translations required for them to communicate with each other. |
| Global
System for Mobile Communications (GSM) |
European
protocol used for encoding digital cellular phone transmissions. |
| IC |
Interexchange
Carrier - IXC - IEC (IEC is preferred). A company providing
long-distance phone service between LECs and LATAs. |
| IEC
- Interexchange Carrier |
IC
- IXC (IEC is preferred). A company providing long-distance
phone service between LECs and LATAs. |
| Interexchange |
Communication
between two different LATAs. |
| InterLATA |
Communication
between Local Access Transport Areas. 1982 MFJ requires LECs
to use an IEC for InterLATA services. |
| International |
Between
multiple nations. |
| International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) |
Organization
in Geneva that evaluates and approves proposed standards for
making telecommunications products work together. |
| Internet
Protocol (IP) |
Main
protocol (i.e., set of rules that formulates the foundation
of communication) that controls data flow from one point to
the another. It is actually the low-level common denominator
of the Internet. |
| Internet
Service Provider (ISP) |
Company
that offers its customers accesses to the Internet. |
| Internet
Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) |
Company
that offers its customers the ability to make phone calls over
the public Internet. |
| Interstate |
Between
multiple states. Interstate communications are regulated by
the FCC. |
| IntraLATA |
Communication
within a Local Access Transport Area. 1982 MFJ allows LEC to
handle these calls without an IEC. |
| Intrastate |
Communication
within a single state. Intrastate communications are regulated
by each state's PUC. |
| ISDN
(Integrated Services Digital Network) |
Phone
line service whose technology offers more bandwidth more economically;
it is therefore better suited for Internet telephony and video
applications. ISDN uses multiple channels for data and voice. |
| IXC |
1) Interexchange Carrier (IEC is preferred). A company providing
long-distance phone service between LECs and LATAs. 2) Interexchange
Circuit. A circuit that connects PoPs. |
| Jitter |
Difference
in arrival time of packets sent at the same time but traveling
different routes. |
| LATA |
Local
Access Transport Areas (200 in the U.S.). A geographic service
area defined in the AT&T Modified Final Judgement. The RBOCs
(baby Bells) and GTE are restricted to operations within, but
not between, LATAs. Long distance service within a LATA is provided
by the LEC. Service between LATAs is provided by an IEC. LATAs
are represented by a 3-character code, and there are 164 of
them across the country. |
| LEC |
See Local Exchange Carrier |
| LEC
BAN - Billing Account Number |
3-digit
number appended to the billing phone number used as the LEC
customer number. Groups all ANIs for a customer. |
| LEC
Billing |
Arrangement
whereby the Local Exchange Carrier invoices the customer for
some or all telecommunications services. |
| LEC
Card |
The
billing arrangement which enables the caller to bill calls to
an authorized calling card issued by a local exchange carrier. |
| LEC
Charges |
Charges
that are the responsibility of the local exchange carrier. |
| Letter
Of Agency - LOA |
A
document that authorizes changing the service provider. (See
RespOrg, 800 Portability) |
| Local
Access |
Local
Loop. The connection from a subscriber to the Central Office.
The portion of a circuit connecting the LEC's CO with the customer's
premise equipment across the local network. |
| Local
Access Provider |
Any
organization that is authorized to provide local access. (May
or may not be the LEC.) |
| Local
Area Network (LAN) |
Number
of computers connected together to form one network. |
| Local
Exchange Carrier - LEC |
The
local or regional telephone company that owns and operates lines
to customer locations and Class 5 Central Office Switches. LECs
have connections to other COs, Tandem (Class 4 Toll) offices
and may connect directly to IECs like WorldCom, AT&T, MCI,
Sprint, etc. |
| Local
Exchange Service |
Local
phone calls. |
| Long
Distance Carrier |
A
company providing long-distance phone service between LECs and
LATAs. |
| Message
Toll Service - MTS |
Pay-by-the-minute
switched long distance services. Includes conventional long
distance and measured WATS. |
| NPA
- Numbering Plan Areas |
North
American "Area Codes." (3 digits: 2-to-9, 0-or-1, 0-to-9. Middle
digit to expand soon) |
| Operator
Service Call - OSC |
A
call that is placed through a human or automated operator (0+). |
| Operator
Service Provider - OSP - OS Provider |
The
vendor that supplies operator service. |
| Outbound |
Outward
Sending - Call Originating - Dialing Out |
| Payphone |
A
public (or private) telephone that accepts coins or encoded
credit cards. |
| Payphone
Fee |
Additional
charge per call if if call is made using a payphone, normally
collected for the owner of the payphone. |
| Personal
Identification Number (PIN) |
Personal
unique security codes that callers use to access their accounts. |
| Person-to-Person |
Operator
assisted phone call - only billed if the specified person is
available. |
| Phone
card |
Same
as a calling card or telecard. |
| Phonecard |
Same
as a calling card or telecard. |
| PIC
- Primary Interexchange Carrier |
The
IEC that 1+ calls are routed to. Specified by ANI. |
| PIC
Charges |
A
LEC charge for changing the PIC. Often paid by the new IEC.
If a LEC sends a PIC charge to a customer, the new IEC will
typically credit the customer's account. |
| PIC
Freeze |
A
PIC Freeze prevents the long distance from being switched for
the specified ANIs. Useful to prevent slamming, or the unauthorized
switching of long distance services. |
| PIC
Request |
A
request record sent to a LEC asking for an ANI to be activated,
deactivated or changed in some way. |
| PIC
Response |
A
response record sent by a LEC (corresponding to a previous PIC
Request) with response code that indicates whether the request
was performed. (Some LECs return non-standard PIC Response codes.) |
| Point
Of Presence - POP |
The
physical access location interface between a local exchange
carrier and an Interexchange Carrier fiber network. The point
to which the telephone company terminates a subscriber's circuit
for long distance service or leased line communications. |
| Point-To-Point |
Non-switched,
dedicated communication circuit. |
| Point-to-Point
Protocol (PPP) |
Protocol
to access the Internet using dial-up connections. |
| POP |
See Point Of Presence |
| POTS |
Plain Old Telephone Service |
| Prepaid
Phone Card |
A
plastic or paper card that allows a person to pay for long distance/local
phone calls in advance. |
| Primary
Interexchange Carrier |
The
long distance company that is automatically accessed when a
customer dials 1+. |
| Private
Line |
Uses
dedicated circuits to connect customer's equipment at both ends
of the line. Does not provide any switching capability (unless
supported by customer premise equipment). Usually includes two
local loops and an IEC circuit. |
| Provisioning |
The
process by which a requested (ordered) service is designed,
implemented and tracked (providing the subcomponent parts). |
| Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) |
The
regular, "old-fashioned" telephone network. |
| PUC
- Public Utilities Commission |
The
agency regulating intrastate phone service. |
| Rate
Element |
A
recurring fixed charge for IEC or LEC service at the lowest
level. A local loop may have multiple rate elements associated
with it, which make up the fixed portion of the monthly bill.
For example: Local Access, Local Mileage, Entrance facilities,
Channel Termination, Interexchange, etc. |
| Rates
and Tariffs |
Standards
published by AT&T, OCCs,LECs, and IECs that define service
availability, cost and provisioning procedures. |
| Real-Time
Transport Protocol (RTP) |
Protocol
that improves Internet telephone calls by adding special information
to the voice data packets to help programs reassemble them more
efficiently. |
| RBOC
|
Regional Bell Operating Company. Bell operating companies set
up after the AT&T divestiture. |
| Rebiller
|
See Reseller |
| Recharge
Code |
A
set of numbers on a calling card used to add additional funds,
usually the last several digits of a PIN. |
| Rechargeable
Phone Card |
A
calling card used which can be refilled with units by the addition
of funds to the calling card account without the purchase of
a new card or a new PIN. |
| Reuseable
Phone Card |
A
calling card used which can be refilled with units by the addition
of funds to the calling card account without the purchase of
a new card or a new PIN. |
| Regional
Bell Operating Companies - RBOC |
One
of the seven "Baby Bell" Companies created by the 1982 Modified
Final Judgement that specified the terms of the AT&T Divestiture.
The seven RHCs include: NYNEX, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, Southwestern
Bell, U.S. West, Pacific Telesis, and Ameritech. "RBOC" is sometimes
used informally to refer to the Regional Holding Companies defined
in the 1982 MFJ. (See Bell Operating Companies - There are 19
BOCs). |
| Regulators |
FCC,
PUC, Federal Courts (e.g. MFJ), etc. |
| Reseller
- Also known as Rebiller |
A
long-distance carrier (IEC) that does not own a network, but
leases bulk capacity and resells portions of it at a higher
rate. |
| Residential
Customer |
An
individual (non-business) telephone system subscriber. |
| Responsible
Organization - R/O - Resporg |
With
800 Portability, the Number Administration Service Center (NASC)
allows the RespOrg to make changes such as carrier, termination,
800 call routing (by time of day, location.) A Letter Of Agency
(LOA) must be on file to change the RespOrg for each customer/account.
|
| Router |
Switching
device that that directs traffic through the Internet. |
| Secure
Socket Layer (SSL) |
Encrypted
communications path between two computers. Theoretically protects
customer information. |
| Serial
Line Interface Protocol (SLIP) |
Protocol
to access the Internet using dial-up connections. |
| Slam |
An
end user that is PICed without their permission. An RBOC Slam
Fee must be paid for each slam. |
| Smart
Card |
A
plastic phone-card with a stored cash value in a micro-chip
inside the card. |
| SMS
|
Service
Management System
Also Simple Message System
Also Simple Message Service |
| SMS
Customer Record |
All
information related to one 800 number, effective date and time,
etc. |
| Speed
Dialing |
A
service to abbreviate and accelerate frequently dialed numbers. |
| State
Tax |
A
collection of tax types that each state is allowed to charge.
Tax jurisdiction (which state can charge tax for a call) is
based on the two-out-of-three rule: where it originates, where
it terminates, where it is being billed to - if two match, that
state can charge the tax. |
| Surcharge |
An
additional charge on top of a base rate for a specified reason.
A fee charged against the card usually to cover the companies
costs. |
| Switch |
A
device (like a DMS-250 or a PBX) that responds to originator
signals and dynamically connects the caller to the desired communication
destination. |
| Switched
Access |
Nondedicated
local access between the customer's premise and the serving
wire center which is interconnected to the company's point-of-presence
for origination or termination of service. |
| Switched
Access Service |
A
class of LEC services that provides the link from the customer's
premise to the IEC PoP for switched circuits. |
| Switched
Resellers |
Resellers
that utilize their own switching hardware (and sometimes their
own lines) and the lines of other IXCs to provide long-distance
service to its subscribers. They provide their own billing and
service. |
| Switched
Services |
All
dial up long-distance services including conventional residential
and WATS (most have incremental use charges). (See Message Toll
Service) |
| Switching
Fee |
A
per-line fee (usually around 5$) imposed by the LEC to reprogram
their switching system to change your default carrier. Subscribers
must usually pay this fee when switching to a reseller. |
| Switchless
Reseller |
A
reseller of long-distance services that does not utilize any
of its own lines, or (switching) equipment. All actual service
and equipment is handled by the IXC. Billing is usually done,
by the reseller themselves, to the customer. |
| Tariff |
A
public document filed with the FCC or a PUC that outlines services
and rates. Usually, all customers are offered the same rate
for a specific service, based on published constraints. |
| Telecard |
Same
as a calling card or calling card. |
| TDD
|
Telecommunications
Device for the Deaf |
| Telco
- Telephone Company |
The
local or regional telephone company that owns and operates lines
to customer locations and Class 5 Central Office Switches. Telcos
have connections to other COs, Tandem (Class 4 Toll) offices
and may connect directly to IECs like WorldCom, AT&T, MCI,
Sprint, LDDS, etc. |
| Termination
gateway |
The
computer equipment configured with certain hardware and software,
which provides the electronic "bridge" from an IP network to
the PSTN to connect to the destination telephone. |
| Third
Party Billing |
Use
of an outside service bureau for bill processing such as: call
rating, customer invoicing, collections, etc. |
| Time
of Day Routing |
Route
calls based on the time the call originates. (e.g. direct morning
calls to East Coast operators and afternoon calls to West Coast
operators, etc.). SMS/800 supports 15 minute time intervals. |
| Toll |
A
rated call (Contrast CDR - unrated call detail record). Tolls
appear on the Invoice Detail. |
| Toll
Call |
A
call with incremental use (minute-by-minute) charges. (Often
through a Class 4 Toll Office). |
| Toll
Fraud |
A
crime in which a "hacker" obtains telecommunication services
by: breaching computer security, using or selling stolen long-distance
credit-card codes, or, accessing a PBX and using its communication
facilities illegally. Toll Fraud is estimated to cost U.S. companies
$1.2 billion/year. |
| Value
Added Reseller (VAR) |
Company
offering services other than the core service. For example,
a company who sells computers and offers training, service,
and on-going maintenance is considered a VAR. |
| Vanity
Number |
A
specific 800 or 888 number (may spell something). |
| Verified
Account Codes |
See
Account Codes. A finite list of carrier-verified, predefined
Account Codes. |
| Vocoder |
Compresses
a digital signal and then decompresses it. (Also known as coder.) |
| Voice
Mail |
An
automatic answering service with the ability to record a message.
Unlike simple answering machines, Voice mail uses a programmable
computer system with options such as temporary call routing,
monitoring and reporting, etc. |
| Voice
Mail Box |
The
assignment of one user/number on a voice mail system. |
| WATS
- Wide Area Telephone Service |
Flat
rate, or special rate pay-by-the-minute (measured) billing for
a specified calling area. May be outbound or inbound (e.g. 800). |
| Wide
Area Network (WAN) |
Number
of computers connected together to form one network over several
locations. Could be made up of several LANS all connected together
across the world for example. |
| Wireless |
Radio
waves, cellular, satellite, microwave, etc. |
| WNP |
Wireless
Number Portability. |
| WTN
|
Working Telephone Number. |
![Free Cell Phones [Home]](Images/hello%201996.gif)
Wireless Offers