10Base-T: 10mbps Ethernet over twisted pair copper cable

100Base-T: 100mbps Ethernet over twisted pair copper cable

AIN (Advanced Intelligent Network): A means of implementing value-added services in the PSTN using a external service logic and databases similar to the Intelligent Network but following a set of Bellcore standards and deployed in North America.

AP (Access Point): A hardware device, or software used in conjunction with a computer, that serves as a communications "hub" for wireless clients and provides a connection to a wired LAN.

Application software: A software program running on top of the operating system (Windows, UNIX, Mac) that has been created to perform a specific task for a user. Examples include word processing software like Word/Word Perfect, spreadsheets like Excel or Lotus 123, home finance packages like Quicken, etc.

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM): a packet switching method based on fixed length packets called cells having a 5 byte header and a 48 byte payload, giving high bandwidths and low delays required for a multiservice network.

Broadband: A telecommunications service (or Internet access) in which the data relating to multiple services can be transmitted at a "high" rate: high is not quantified but is taken in various contexts to be higher than 56 kbit/s as in voice band modems, or 64 or 128 kbit/s as in ISDN, or in the digital subscriber loop context rates to signify transmission rates in excess of 1.5 or 2 Mbit/s. Because a wide band of frequencies is available, information can be multiplexed and sent on many different frequencies or channels within the band concurrently, allowing more information to be transmitted in a given amount of time (much as more lanes on a highway allow more cars to travel on it at the same time).

CDR (Call Detail Record): A term used to describe log records for calling services. This includes such information as where the call originated, what the start time was, who the call was made to, what time the call ended, etc.

CLECS (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier): A term peculiar to the USA to denote a company that, after 1996, competes with incumbent local exchange carriers by providing its own facilities. See LEC

Client: Any computer connected to a network that requests services (files, print capability) from another member of the network.

CO (Central Office): A local telephone switching system that connects lines to lines and lines to trunks. Sometimes used to refer to the building in which a switching system is located and the associated equipment. Also the physical point where calls enter the long distance network, sometimes referred to as Class 5 office, end office, or Local Dial Office

Codec: Coder-Decoder that transforms analog voice into digital bit stream and vice-versa.

Convergence: The term applied to describe the tendency of traditional telecommunications services, Internet services, other IT applications and broadcasting to come together in various ways and to differing extents: for example finding increasing synergy, to be offered as packages, and ultimately, to be delivered by a multiservice network.

Compression: A process performed on a digitally encoded signal or data file to reduce amount of bits to be transmitted or stored.

CPU (Central Processing Unit): The brains of the computer. CPU is where most calculations take place.

DES (Data Encryption Standard): A cipher developed by the United States Government in the 1970s to be the official encryption algorithm of the U.S.

DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol): A protocol that is used to dynamically allocate and assign IP addresses. DHCP allows you to move network devices from one subnet to another without administrative attention.

Dial-up: Dial-up pertains to a telephone connection in a system of many lines shared by many users. A dial-up connection is established and maintained for a limited time duration. The alternative is a dedicated connection, which is continuously in place. Dial-up lines are sometimes called switched lines and dedicated lines are called nonswitched lines. A dedicated line is often a leased line that is rented from a telephone company. A dial-up connection can be initiated manually or automatically by your computer's modem or other device.

DNS (Domain Naming System): A service that translates domain names into IP addresses.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line): Public network technology that delivers high bandwidth over conventional copper wiring at limited distances. Because most DSL technologies do not use the whole bandwidth of the twisted pair, there is room remaining for a voice channel.

E1: Wide-area digital transmission scheme. E1 is the European equivalent of a T1 line.

Encryption: Encryption is a method to make E-mail messages, data files and electronic-commerce transactions secure. Encoded blocks of data, called keys, are used to lock the message from outside view when it's traveling across the Internet. When it gets to the recipient, that recipient also must use a special key that can unlock the message. Previously, the U.S Government used a 56-bit block of data for its encryption standard, but because computers are getting so much faster and better at breaking codes, 128-bit blocks of data now are being used as the new standard.

End point: SIP or H.323 terminal or gateway. An endpoint can call and be called. It generates and terminates the information stream.

Ethernet: The most widely used LAN access method. Ethernet is normally a shared media LAN meaning all devices on the network segment share total bandwidth.

Firewall: A firewall consists of hardware and/or software that lies between two networks, such as an internal network and an Internet service provider. The firewall protects a network by blocking unwanted users from gaining access and by disallowing messages to specific recipients outside the network, such as competitors.

Firmware: Hardware with software integrated to enable functionality. Software can be updated from time to time.

FXO (Foreign Exchange Office)

FXS (Foreign Exchange Station)

IPsec (Internet Protocol Security): A suite of protocols used for secure private communications over the Internet. The proposed suite of IPsec protocols would create a standard platform for securing IP connections on private networks.

Frame Relay: A Data Link Layer WAN protocol derived from X.25 from which the link-by-link frame-validity checking was removed.

Gateway: The server that connects the VoIP network with PBXs and PSTN devices. A gateway is the point at which a circuit-switched call is encoded and repackaged into IP packets. Analog and digital…

H.323: An International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) standard that describes packet-based video, audio, and data conferencing. H.323 is an umbrella standard that describes the architecture of the conferencing system and refers to a set of other standards (H.245, H.225.0, and Q.931) to describe its actual protocol.

Hot Spots: For users of portable computers equipped for wireless, a hot spot (or hotspot) is a company providing Internet connection and virtual private network (VPN) access from a given location. For example, a business traveler with a laptop equipped for Wi-Fi can look up a local hot spot (access point), contact it, and get connected through its network to reach the Internet and their own company remotely with a secure connection. Locations where Wi-Fi networks are accessible

IAD (Integrated Access Device): An Integrated Access Device is an access node that can simultaneously deliver Class 5 switch voice services, packet voice services, and data services (via LAN ports) over a single WAN link. IADs provide a common platform that enables service providers to deliver voice and data over a single access network reducing the cost of co-located equipment in the Telco central office and allowing service providers to least fewer transport spans

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers): A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists, and students in electronics and allied fields. It has more than 300,000 members and is involved with setting standards for computers and communications.

IEEE 802.11: IEEE 802.xx is a set of specifications for LANs from The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Most wired networks conform to 802.3, the specification for CSMA/CD based Ethernet networks or 802.5, the specification for token ring networks. 802.11 defines the standard for wireless LANs encompassing three incompatible (non-interoperable) technologies: Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS), Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS), and Infrared. WECA's focus is on 802.11b, an 11 Mbps high rate standard for wireless networks

IP (Internet Protocol): A method or protocol by which data in the form of packets is sent from one computer to another on a network, i.e. the Internet. Each computer on the Internet has at least one address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet. Another protocol, the Transmission Control Protocol, (TCP) then reassembles the packets in the right order.

IP Address (Internet Protocol): An IP address is a 32-bit number that identifies each sender or receiver of information that is sent across the Internet.

IP Telephony (Internet Protocol Telephony): Also known as Voice over IP or Internet Telephony and it represents the technology, which uses IP-based data networks to transmit telephone calls.

IPSec (IP Security): A standard that is used to provide security for transmission of sensitive information over unprotected networks such as the Internet. IPSec acts at the network layer, protecting and authenticating IP packets between participating IPSec devices ("peers").

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network): A communications protocol, offered by telephone companies, that permits telephone networks to carry data, voice, and other traffic.

ISP (Internet Service Provider): Company that provides Internet access to other companies and individuals.

IVR (Integrated voice response): Consists of simple voice prompting and digit collection to authenticate user and identify call destination.

Java Database Connectivity (JDBC): An application program interface (API) specification for connecting programs written in Java to the data in popular databases. JDBC is very similar to the SQL Access Group's Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) and, with a small "bridge" program, you can use the JDBC interface to access databases through the ODBC interface. For example, you could write a program designed to access many popular database products on a number of operating system platforms.

LAN (Local Area Network): A communications network that serves users within a defined geographical area. The benefits include the sharing of Internet access, files and equipment like printers and storage devices. Special network cabling (10BaseT) is often used to connect the PCs together. Wireless LANs use wireless communications, in a home or office, to network all PCs together so there is no need to run an extra set of cables.

Last Mile: Last-mile technology is any telecommunications technology, such as wireless radio, that carries signals from the broad telecommunication along the relatively short distance (hence, the "last mile") to and from the home or business. Or to put it another way: the infrastructure at the neighborhood level. In many communities, last-mile technology represents a major remaining challenge to high-bandwidth applications such as on-demand television, fast Internet access, and Web pages full of multimedia effects

LEC (Local Exchange Carrier): is the term peculiar to the USA for a public telephone company (a Bell Operating Company (BOC) or an independent) in the USA that provides local service. Local or regional telephone company that owns and operates a telephone network and the customer lines that connect to it. There are several types of LEC including Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECS),

LINUX: Linux is a UNIX-like operating system that was designed to provide personal computer users a free or very low-cost operating system comparable to traditional and usually more expensive UNIX systems. Linux has a reputation as a very efficient and fast-performing system. Lenox's kernel (the central part of the operating system) was developed by Lines Tornados at the University of Helsinki in Finland. To complete the operating system, Torvalds and other team members made use of system components developed by members of the Free Software Foundation for the GNU project.

Modem: component which, firstly, allows a digital data stream to be modulated on to an analogue signal for transmission through an analogue channel, and secondly demodulates the received analogue signal to recover the received digital data. The modem may implement error detection and correction as well as data compression.

MGCP (Media Gateway Control Protocol): Protocol that helps bridge the gap between circuit-switched and IP networks. MGCP allows external control and management of data communications devices, or "media gateways" at the edge of multiservice packet networks by software programs.

NAT (Network Address Translation): The translation of an Internet Protocol address (IP address) used within one network to a different IP address known within another network. One network is designated the internal network and the other is the external. The internal network then appears as one entity to the outside world. In the case of wireless LANs with an outside Internet connection, the NAT capability of Internet sharing software allows the sharing of one Internet connection among all the wireless PCs connected.

NSA Type One Security: Type 1 cryptographic devices are endorsed by

NSA and contain classified algorithms approved by NSA for securing classified information.

PBX (Private Branch Exchange): Privately-owned telephone "central office."

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC): An open standard application-programming interface (API) for accessing a database. By using ODBC statements in a program, you can access files in a number of different databases, including Access, dBase, DB2, Excel, and Text. In addition to the ODBC software, a separate module or driver is needed for each database to be accessed. The main proponent and supplier of ODBC programming support is Microsoft.

PCI: A local bus standard for connecting peripherals to a personal computer. Within a computer, the bus is the transmission path on which signals and data transfers occur between the CPU, system memory, and attached devices such as a network card, sound card, or CD-ROM drive.

POTS (Plain old telephone service): Basic telephone service supplying standard single line telephones, telephone lines, and access to the PSTN.

Proxy server: An intermediate device that receives SIP requests from a client and then initiates requests on the client's behalf.

PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network): General term referring to the variety of telephone networks and services in place worldwide. Sometimes called plain old telephone service (POTS).

QoS (Quality of Service): Quality of service is a measure of the ability to control and assign network bandwidth to specific traffic so as to provide predictable levels of IP-based data throughput based on the importance of the business process associated with that traffic.

Real-time service: A class of telecommunications service requiring information to be transmitted and delivered within stated limits of time delay and jitter.

Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP): provides end-to-end network transport functions suitable for real-time data such as IP telephony and video conferencing over unicast and multicast network.

Router: A router is a physical device that joins multiple networks together as specialized computers that send your messages and those of every other Internet user speeding to their destinations along thousands of pathways. It is a networking device that operates at the Networking Layer linking LANs and WANs

Scalability: A property of a technology or solution which allows increased service demands, for example higher bit-rates or larger numbers of users, to be fulfilled with low relative increase in complexity of equipment and software and without inherent degradation of performance.

Signaling: Process of sending a transmission signal over a physical medium for purposes of communication.

SIP (Session Initialization Protocol): SIP equips platforms to signal the setup of voice and multimedia calls over IP networks. It offers many of the same architectural features as H.323, but relies on IP-specific technologies, such as DNS. It also incorporates the concept of fixed port numbers for all devices and allows for the use of proxy servers.

Softswitch: A computing architecture in a telecommunications network which hosts call control, connection control and service logic, while providing a secure open interface to other service providers. The implication of control by softswitch is that switches or routers in the network have no built-in intelligence.

SS7 (Signaling System 7): The SS7 protocol is used to set up and tear down phone calls as well as to enable "intelligent" services. The SS7 network is a physically separate network from the phone network used to transmit voice data.

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol): An Internet application layer protocol for transferring network management information in a network.

T1: Digital WAN carrier facility. T1 transmits formatted data through the telephone-switching network. T1 is the North American equivalent of an E1 line.

Time Division Multiplexing (TDM): A method of multiplexing dividing the available time for transmission of a signal sample into time slots that are allocated to individual connections.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol): Connection-oriented transport layer protocol that provides reliable full-duplex data transmission. TCP is part of the TCP/IP protocol stack.

TOS: Type Of Service

TripleDES (Triple Digital Encryption Standard): A method of improving the strength of the DES algorithm by using it three times in sequence with different keys.

Trunk: Trunk: a logical concept indicating the ability to carry a specified channel, usually 64 kbit/s, in circuit mode between two points. The trunk is implemented by one or more physical links. In the TDM context, a communication channel serving multiple connections based on time division multiplexing such as E1 between two switching systems, for example between two PSTN switches or a PSTN switch and a Media Gateway.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol): The ability to carry normal telephone-style voice over an IP-based Internet with POTS-like functionality, reliability, and voice quality. Also called IP telephony. It includes any technology that enables voice telephony over IP Networks. If Voice Over IP is used in a private setting such as Intranet or WAN it is generally referred to as VoIP. If it is transported over the public Internet it is referred to as Internet telephony.

WAN (Wide Area Network): A wide area network connects local area networks together. Typical WAN interfaces include plain old telephone (POT) lines, digital subscriber lines (DSL), cable, T1/T3 and ISDN, T1/T3.

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy): WEP data encryption is defined by the 802.11 standard to prevent (i) access to the network by "intruders" using similar wireless LAN equipment and (ii) capture of wireless LAN traffic through eavesdropping. WEP allows the administrator to define a set of respective "Keys" for each wireless network user based on a "Key String" passed through the WEP encryption algorithm. Access is denied by anyone who does not have an assigned key.

Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi (short for "wireless fidelity") is the popular term for a high-frequency wireless local area network (WLAN). The Wi-Fi technology is rapidly gaining acceptance in many companies as an alternative to a wired LAN. It can also be installed for a home network.

Universal Access Device (UAD): A Universal Access Device is an integrated access device that is universally adaptable to work with any broadband network.

UNIX: UNIX is an operating system that originated at Bell Labs in 1969 as an interactive time-sharing system. Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie are considered the inventors of UNIX. UNIX has evolved as a kind of large freeware product, with many extensions and new ideas provided in a variety of versions of UNIX by different companies, universities, and individuals. Partly because it was not a proprietary operating system owned by any one of the leading computer companies and partly because it is written in a standard language and embraced many popular ideas, UNIX became the first open or standard operating system that could be improved or enhanced by anyone.