Telecom Definitions –

A
ATM – (asynchronous transfer mode) is a dedicated-connection switching technology that organizes digital data into 53-byte cell units and transmits them over a physical medium using digital signal technology. Individually, a cell is processed asynchronously relative to other related cells and is queued before being multiplexed over the transmission path.

B
BRI: Basic Rate Interface - ISDN standard interface to serve sources requiring relatively small capacity. It has two "B" Channels of 64 Kbps and one "D" Channel of 16 Kbps, for a total information rate of 144 Kbps. The B stands for "Bearer" and the D stands for Data signaling.

C
Carrier – A common carrier is an organization that transports services and offers its services to the general public under license or authority provided by a regulatory body. A common carrier holds itself out to provide service to the general public without discrimination for the "public convenience and necessity". A common carrier must further demonstrate to the regulator that it is "fit, willing and able" to provide those services for which it is granted authority.
CIC - Each carrier (interexchange or local exchange) is assigned a four-digit identification code, the Carrier Identification Code (CIC). The interexchange carrier to which calls from a subscriber line are routed by default is known as the Primary Interexchange Carrier (PIC). To give telephone users the possibility of opting for a different carrier on a call-by-call basis, Carrier Access Codes (CAC) were devised. These consist of the digits 101 followed by the four-digit CIC. The CAC is dialled as a prefix immediately before dialing a long-distance phone number.
CLEC - Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), in the United States, is a telecommunications provider company (sometimes called a "carrier") that competes with other, already established carriers (generally the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC)).

D
DDD – Desired Due Date – the date the carrier requested the loops to be delivered to the customers’ location.

DID – Dedicated Inward Dial – another way to say the new phone numbers the users will be able to use.
DS-0 ( Digital Signal, Level 0 (zero)) - is a basic digital signaling rate of 64 kbit/s, corresponding to the capacity of one voice-frequency-equivalent channel. There are 24 channels on a DS-1 / T-1.
DS-1 (Digital Signal, Level 1) T-1 or HICAP – A Bell System standard of 1,544 MBPS for the U.S. and Canada. Other standards apply in Europe and Japan. It's essentially twenty-four, 64K channels that can be configured as voice or data.

Dynamic T-1 – The speed of the data will increase if there are no voice services in use. The voice always takes priority over the extra data channels.

E
E-911 (ServiceEnhanced 911 Emergency Services) - is a North American telecommunications based system that automatically associates a physical address with the calling party's telephone number, and routes the call to the most appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for that address. The caller’s address and information is displayed to the PSAP calltaker immediately upon call arrival. This provides emergency responders with the location of the emergency without the person calling for help having to provide it. This is often useful in times of fires, break-ins, kidnapping, and other events where communicating one's location is difficult or impossible.

F
Fast Busy - (or busy tone or engaged tone) in telephony is an audible or visual signal to the calling party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection of that particular telephone call.
Frame Relay - a telecommunication service designed for cost-efficient data transmission for intermittent traffic between local area networks and between end-points in a wide area network. Frame relay puts data in a variable-size unit called a frame and leaves any necessary error correction (retransmission of data) up to the end-points, which speeds up overall data transmission. For most services, the network provides a permanent virtual circuit (PVC), which means that the customer sees a continuous, dedicated connection without having to pay for a full-time leased line, while the service provider figures out the route each frame travels to its destination and can charge based on usage. An enterprise can select a level of service quality - prioritizing some frames and making others less important. Frame relay is offered by a number of service providers

FOC – Firm Order Confirmation – this is the date that the local service provided has committed to deliver the loops. The actual service will be turned up 3-5 days later after the loops have been tested and accepted by the carrier.

G
GPS: Global Positioning System
A constellation of twenty-one US Government satellites orbiting the earth about eleven thousand miles up. With the right receiver, you can find yourself or another target anywhere on the planet with accuracy measured within feet.

I
IP – Internet Protocol - The Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other resources of the World Wide Web (WWW).
IP SEC – (IP security) is a suite of protocols for securing Internet Protocol (IP) communications by authenticating and/or encrypting each IP packet in a data stream. IPsec also includes protocols for cryptographic key establishment.
ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network - A standard for a planned hierarchy of digital switching and transmission systems that would provide totally integrated voice, video, and data.

J

K

L
LAN – Local Area Network – a network of computers in a single building or campus environment.

LEC – Local Exchange Carrier – example Verizon, Fairpoint, etc.
Loopback, Loopback Test; Loopback Plug - A diagnostic test the carrier performs remotely when "turning up" a T-1 circuit or when trouble shooting and existing T-1 circuit. A vendor can assist the loopback test on site with a plug that connects the transmit pairs and the receive pairs (4-wire circuit) together so that test signals can be sent by the circuit provider to measure and test for signal loss and continuity. The vendor is asked to loop back the circuit during vendor meets when there are problems resolving issues.
LNP - Local number portability - for fixed lines refers to the ability to transfer either an existing fixed-line or telephone number assigned by a local exchange carrier (LEC) and reassign it to another carrier. In most cases, there are limitations to transferability with regards to geography, service area coverage and technology.

M
MAN – Metropolitan Area Network – Newer term to refer to hot spots where there is internet service available …..

MPLS – Multi Protocol Label Switching - is a data-carrying mechanism that belongs to the family of packet-switched networks. MPLS was designed to provide a unified data-carrying service for both circuit-based clients and packet-switching clients which provide a datagram service model. It can be used to carry many different kinds of traffic, including IP packets, as well as native ATM, SONET, and Ethernet frames.

MPOE – Minimum Point of Entry – this is the point that the local telephone company will install services to without additional inside wiring charges.
Modem, Modulator, Demodulator
Modems are used to convert digital signals (computer data) into quasi-analog signals for transmission and for reconverting these quasi-analog signals at the other end into digital signals (computer data) in order to transmit computer data over telephone lines.

N
NOC – Network Operations Center - are responsible for monitoring the network for alarms or certain conditions that may require special attention to avoid impact on the networks performance. They are responsible for monitoring for power failures, communication line alarms (such as bit errors, framing errors, line coding errors, and circuits down) and other performance issues that may affect the network.

O
Off Hook: Meaningful slang - When a technician asks you, "What happened when you went off hook"?; they just want to know what happened when you picked up the handset of your telephone. The off-hook term is very old and goes back to the days of candlestick phones when the receiver actually hung on a hook at the side of the phone.
OPX or OPS - Off premise extension; Off premise station. A telephone system extension in a building different than where the main system is located.

P
PTP – Point to Point – a dedicated connection between two locations.

POTs – Plain Old Telephone line
PRI: Primary Rate Interface - In the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), there are two levels of service: the Basic Rate Interface (BRI), intended for the home and small enterprise, and the Primary Rate Interface (PRI), for larger users. Both rates include a number of B-channels and a D-channel. Each B-channel carries data, voice, and other services. A T-1 rate (1.544 Mbps) used in ISDN consisting of 23 "B" Channels plus one "D" Channel, each operating at 64 Kbps. The B stands for "Bearer" and the D stands for "Data" signaling.
PTD – Plant test date. Normally 1-2 days before the FOC date. This is the date that the local service provider may come out to verify available facilities at the customer site.

Q

R
RESPORG – Responsible Organization – This is the term used for the form that needs to be completed to authorize a carrier to take over the responsibility for making changes to and maintaining a customers toll free number.
RNA - Industry shorthand in a trouble report for Ring, No Answer

S
SID – Standard Interval Date – The standard install interval date without an expedite.

SIP – Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signalling protocol, widely used for setting up and tearing down multimedia communication sessions such as voice and video calls over the Internet. Other feasible application examples include video conferencing, streaming multimedia distribution, instant messaging, presence information and online games.
Surges - A sudden rise and lowering of voltage. Generally of a longer duration than a spike. It is not as severe in intensity as a spike.

T
T-Bird; T-Berd - A generic industry term for sophisticated test equipment used to turn up and test T-1 circuits. The Acterna Company headquartered in Germantown, Maryland makes the T-Berd. T-Bird has become the Xerox of the DS Circuit Testing circle.

U
UCD: Uniform Call Distributor - A software feature of many phone systems used to distribute incoming calls to users or agents in some set fashion. Less sophisticated and less expensive than the more intelligent Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) that sends calls to agents based on who has spent the least amount of time on the phone and provides reams of call statistics to call center supervisors.
U.P.S: an uninterruptible power supply also known as a continuous power supply (CPS) or a battery backup is a device which maintains a continuous supply of electric power to connected equipment by supplying power from a separate source when utility power is not available. It differs from an auxiliary power supply or standby generator, which does not provide instant protection from a momentary power interruption. Integrated systems that have UPS and standby generator components are often referred to as emergency power systems.

V
VoIP – Voice over IP - The ultimate goal of VoIP is to offer our customers a single environment for their voice and data services with new features currently unavailable in the traditional telephone network. This enhanced environment will offer such high bandwidth services as:

• Video teleconferencing
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications integrated with voice services
• Unified Voice Mail and E-mail Messaging

VPN - Virtual Private Network – Means different things for both voice and data.

W
WAN – Wide Area Network – a network that connects computers to offices in other towns and/or states.

X

Y

Z