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Explore simplified explanations for common business communications and
VoIP terms. Decode terminology used by high-performing IT teams.
You’re a total VoIP expert. Or, you will be once you browse through these ridiculously simple definitions of all things VoIP.
A basic understanding of networking is crucial for anyone managing a business phone system. Here are some common networking terms and acronyms in the context of VoIP.
Your VoIP phone system and call center is packed with useful features like auto attendants, IVR, voicemail, and conference calls. Discover more VoIP features and what they do, below.
This is a list of equipment that you might typically see in a VoIP phone setup. Scroll down for quick definitions on the most used VoIP hardware and accessories.
If you’re a newcomer to the remote work world, some industry-unique terms might look confusing. We’ve got you. Talk the talk in no time with these common definitions.
VoIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol, is the ability to send audio to another device using the internet as a medium, ra... more
IP, or Internet Protocol, is a method that computers use to send data between them. It describes the way that this data ... more
SIP, or Session Initiation Protocol, is a method that computers use to open, maintain, and close active connections betw... more
SIP ALG, or Session Initiation Protocol Application Layer Gateway, is a tool that some networks use to speed along SIP r... more
An SBC is a Session Border Controller, a network device used to protect SIP-based VoIP networks. The SBC provides call c... more
RTP, or Real-time Transport Protocol is a method that computers use to send data that is to be implemented in real-time.... more
TCP stands for Transmission Control Protocol. TCP is a process by which computers and other networking devices send data... more
UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol. UDP is a process by which computers and other networked devices send data and is ... more
An ISP is an internet service provider that connects subscribers to the internet. ISPs are responsible for the infrastru... more
LOA stands for Letter of Authorization, or a Letter of Agency. An LOA is a legal document allowing a new service provide... more
FOC stands for Firm Order Commitment. An FOC is the date on which the losing carrier has stated it will release a phone ... more
CSR stands for Customer Service Record. A CSR is a document detailing all the legal ownership attributes of a phone numb... more
BLF stands for Busy Lamp Field. BLF is a feature in which unused line keys on your desk phone monitor the status of othe... more
AD, or Active Directory, is a series of processes and services that are available on Windows Server Operating Systems. I... more
SSO, or Single Sign-On, is a process that links a user’s accounts in one or more distinct programs so that logging int... more
PTT stands for Push to Talk. Push to Talk is an intercom feature included in Nextiva's VoIP services. It allows a user t... more
GP stands for Group Paging. Group Paging is a broadcast feature included in many VoIP services. It allows a user to broa... more
CG stands for Call Group. A Call Group is a collection of phones that receive calls directed to a single phone number or... more
AA stands for Auto Attendant. An Auto Attendant is an audible menu of options where a caller can use their dial pad to d... more
CC stands for Call Center. A Call Center is a telephony term that describes a mechanism or process by which callers can ... more
QoS stands for Quality of Service. QoS determines the order that data enters or leaves a network. It allows for VIP proc... more
PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. A PBX is a software or hardware solution to route calls within a private network... more
A DID, or Direct Inward Dialing number is used to designate direct calling lines. In the US, it is a ten-digit number br... more
A PCAP, or Packet Capture, is a method by which network technicians and VoIP technicians can view the packets of data se... more
EWT stands for Estimated Wait Time. EWT is a call center metric that predicts how long a new caller in a queue will wait... more
AHT stands for Average Handle Time and is the average length of one customer interaction. This duration starts from the... more
ASA, or Average Speed of Answer, is a call center metric that reports how long (on average) callers have waited in a que... more
ACD stands for Automatic Call Distribution. ACD is the process by which a call center selects which agent is going to re... more
NAT stands for Network Address Translation. NAT translates data coming from inside a network, into a form that can be un... more
CNAM stands for Caller ID Name. The CNAM is the name information that is tied to a phone number and may display on devic... more
LEC stands for Local Exchange Carrier. An LEC is a regulatory term for companies that provide phone service or transport... more
ILEC stands for Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier. An ILEC is a company that provided LEC services before the Telecommuni... more
A CLEC or Competitive Local Exchange Carrier, is a company that provides LEC services as a competitor to incumbent carri... more
CNI or Carrier Network Infrastructure, is the totality of physical media by which data can be passed from one location t... more
IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response. An IVR is an automated menu that callers navigate with their voice or keypad... more
PoE stands for Power over Ethernet. PoE devices receive an electrical current over the same line that they use to connec... more
DND stands for Do Not Disturb. DND is a status in which all available lines are marked as “busy”. This forces your v... more
A toll-free number is a phone number that is free for callers to reach by any phone (including pay phones). This is beca... more
A ringback is an audio file that plays in place of ringing. It only persists while the phone is ringing but remains unan... more
A call announcement or pre-alerting announcement is an audio file that plays before the called phone begins ringing.... more
A key system is reminiscent oflandline phone structures. All phones share the same lines, so a call on line 1 was a call... more
Call forwarding is a feature in which a phone, or phone number, redirects incoming calls. A new phone number then answer... more
Caller ID is a feature by which a phone displays its phone number on the phone it calls. It can also include the name as... more
Calling line ID is another term for Caller ID, and is a feature by which the phone number that is calling displays on th... more
A service provider is a company that supplies a dial tone to a customer’s local network. It provides access to make an... more
A carrier is a company that manages the infrastructure for phones and the internet. They provide a connection between cu... more
Porting is the process to transfer phone numbers between carriers and service providers. A new provider will have to por... more
Rejection is the denial of a port request issued by the losing provider or carrier. There are specific reasons to reject... more
A local call is a call made while accessing a single switching center. It usually represents calls made within one area ... more
Long-distance calling requires multiple switching centers to connect. Landline providers typically charged for these cal... more
A rate center is, within the North American calling plan, a geographical area that determines local calls vs. long-dista... more
Ping is a measurement of the time (in milliseconds) it takes for data to get from one device across the internet to a ta... more
Jitter is a measure of the average difference in ping times. It is the average derivation from the mean transmission del... more
A network packet is a collection of data sent over the internet from one computer to another. Packets are useful because... more
A modem is a device whose sole purpose is to establish a connection to the internet and provide that connection to anoth... more
Packet loss is a measurement of the percentage of data packets sent from one host to another that do not arrive at their... more
A router is a device whose purpose is to route information between devices on an internal network. It also routes inform... more
A gateway is a device that contains the functions of a modem and a router. It acts as a “gateway” between dissimilar... more
A switch is a piece of network hardware that extends the functionality of a router. In networking terms, a switch is a l... more
NID or Network Interface Device is the separation between a carrier’s local cabling and a customer’s on-premise wiri... more
The default gateway is an IP address. A device on a network sends data it intends to exit its network to this address wh... more
A line key is one of the physical or touch-screen buttons used to designate individual lines on a phone.... more
A soft key is one of contextually adaptive physical or touch-screen buttons designed to perform a function on a physical... more
Choppy audio is when both parties are connected, but one party or the other is having a difficult time understanding. Th... more
Command Prompt is a Windows console command program. It is built into Windows computers of every era.... more
Network bandwidth is the amount of data that can be sent from one point to another within a certain timeframe. It is mea... more
A queue is one line of callers who are waiting for an agent to receive the call. A call can only be in one queue at a ti... more
DTMF stands for Dial Tone Multi-Frequency. DTMF is the standard by which telephone providers translate the individual bu... more
Latency is another name for ping. Latency is a measure of the time it takes a computer message to reach its destination ... more
MOS stands for Mean Opinion Score, and is a process by which the quality of a phone call is measured and scored between ... more
A VoIP adapter, otherwise known as an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) is a hardware device that converts phone signals fr... more
PABX stands for Private Automatic Branch Exchange. A PABX is the same as a PBX although it precludes manual switching. M... more
Agent availability is a measure of the percentage of time an agent was marked as 'Available'. This is measured during th... more
A hosted PBX is a service that provides PBX features via an internet connection. This connection goes from a customer si... more
A cloud PBX is a service that provides all the features of a PBX seamlessly through the internet instead of hardware loc... more
Hosted VoIP is a telephony business model. A service provider houses the equipment and servers, and manages call routing... more
A VoIP switchboard is used to describe a PBX or VoIP telephony. It can also be used to describe a program by which a rec... more
SIP Trunking is a specific type of VoIP service. A service provider lends access credentials to a PBX located on site vi... more
A trunk line is one specific connection or set of connections to a PBX. This may also reflect the number of phone calls ... more
A channel has multiple definitions depending on the context. Usually, it refers, in VoIP, to a unit of measurement denot... more
A call path is one call that can be handled on a hosted service. In many services, this equals the number of users/exten... more
An phone extension is a unique identifier of a phone or feature on a VoIP network. Some features may require an extensio... more
Authentication details are credentials for a service provider. They prove that a device is allowed to place and receive ... more
SIP registration is the connection between a desk phone, softphone, or PBX, and a service provider's network.... more
Voicemail to Email is a process by which voicemail messages are converted digitally into a '.WAV' file. That file is sen... more
Voicemail transcription is a process to turn voicemails into text. A voice-to-text translator listens to a voicemail. It... more
A Double NAT is a networking situation where two devices are performing Network Address Translation. This situation can ... more
Skill based routing is a call center specific routing system in which you define the skills necessary to take calls and ... more
Regular routing is a call distribution process where calls are routed to specified agents in the specified order every t... more
Circular call routing is a call distribution process where calls are routed to agents in the order specified, but when a... more
Weighted call distribution is a process where agents are designated to receive a specific percentage of incoming calls f... more
Uniform routing is a call distribution process where calls route to agents that have been idle the longest.... more
A voicemail greeting is an audio file that callers hear before they leave a voicemail. It typically includes an apology ... more
Softphone is a portmanteau of “Software phone”. A softphone is an application that can establish a connection to a s... more
HD voice is any VoIP call that utilizes a “High Definition” codec. It is characterized by having more clear and accu... more
Codec is a portmanteau of “Compression Decompression” and is a process by which audio is compressed, encoded, transf... more
A conference call is when three or more people are able to hear each other on a call at the same time. Conference calls ... more
A call bridge is a phone number where conference participants can reach each other. It may be a virtual meeting where ca... more
A conference ID or conference PIN is a unique identifier within a conference bridge that puts all participants for a sch... more
DECT stands for Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications, and is a method to allow wireless communications. A base s... more
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