TELEPHONY TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Posted on 11. Dec, 2010
Telephony systems, such as Siebel CTI integration, inevitably bring with them many terms and expressions that could be rather impenetrable to those unfamiliar with the industry. Hence we here continue our brief guide to some of the more common forms of telephony related jargon.
Byte – This is the expression used to describe eight contiguous ‘bits’ which are used to represent characters, numbers etc, in computer language.
Cable Modem – This refers to a device used to gain internet access to a cable network at high speed, usually up to around 10 Mbps. An Ethernet connection connects the cable modem to an end device.
CIR – This stands for Committed Information Rate, which basically means the bandwidth amount that has been guaranteed to customers in a Frame Relay network by the service provider in question.
Coax – This is short for coaxial cable, which is a cable that consists of two conductors, one of which usually contains a tiny copper wire which is inside of but insulated from the other, larger conductor, which normally consists of either copper braid or copper tubing.
CODEC – This stands for Coder DECoder, which is used to send information digitally by coding the analog data within.
CPE – This stands for Customer Premise Equipment, which refers to any form of telephony equipment that the customer both owns and keeps up on their own premises, although sometimes it can also refer to telephony equipment that has simply been leased from a service provider for a specific period of time.
CSU – This stands for Channel Service Unit, which is the LEC incoming line circuit termination point. The Channel Service Unit is used keep the incoming line alive, detects any problems and also provides remote loopback for the carrier to help them find the problem in the event of any telephony system malfunctions.
Dark Fiber – This refers to a fiber that has been installed in the system but is not actually being used at present. It has been installed in the system in the event that it may be required in the event of any possible future expansion.
Dial-up – This refers to the most basic form of internet connection via modem, up to a speed of around 56K, significantly slower than other connections, particularly broadband.
Demarc – This is short for demarcation point, which is normally in the form of a jack on the wall where the user’s wiring connects to that of the phone company’s.
There are many other terms and expressions used in the world of telephony communications. These are just a few of them.