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 IN or Intelligent Network
• Automated Attendant

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
• Caller
• calling party
• conference call (multi-party call)
• COCOT

D

• Dial peer
• Distribution frame

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
• Hunt Group

I

• infrastructure
• Intelligent Network (IN)
• inside plant
• Intelligent Network Interface Device (iNID) - replaces the Network Interface Device outside a subscriber's house like when customers subscribe to AT&T's U-verse brand of services.
• interactive voice response (IVR)
• ISDN User Part (ISUP)

L

• line
• local loop
• long-distance operator

O

• On-premises wiring
• Operator assistance
• Outside plant

P

• Person-to-person
• Plain old telephone service, or "POTS"
• Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
• Pupinization

R

• 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 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

• Zenith number

Acronyms

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