"Glossary of Telecommunication Words and Terms Simplified"
Analog Line: Is a physical line that transmits voice and comes from a phone company . Often called a POTS line or a PSTN line.
Auto Attendant: These are recorded menus that allow you to present option and selections for users within a phone system.
Bandwidth: The capacity of a line or pipe related to voice or a data connection.
Cloud: A service or solution that is typically hosted off site and has little to no hardware needed locally.
Caller ID: Caller id is a service available to analog or digital phone lines. This service allows users to see or present a number to the public.
Category 3: (Cat3) This is a category of wire used for telephones and analog devices and low voltage devices and features a 10 megabits per second (Mbps) transfer rate, operating at 16 megahertz (MHz). This type of wire has 3 pairs of wire that consist of a 6 total wires. This type of wire is not typically acceptable for data of VOIP but is almost always used for traditional phone connections. Cat5, Cat5e and Cat6 are preferred for any connection that is going to support data or ip connections.
Category 5:(Cat5) offers a 100 Mbps transfer rate, operating at 100 MHz, making it effectively 10 times faster than Cat3. Typically this cable is used for Ethernet networks running at 10 or 100 Mbps.
Category 5e:(Cat5e) Is an enhanced version of Cat5 wire with stricter specifications for Power Sum Equal-Level Far-End Crosstalk (PS-ELFEXT), Near-End Crosstalk (NEXT), Attenuation, and Return Loss (RL) than those for CAT5. Like CAT5, CAT5e is a 100-MHz standard, but it has the capacity to handle bandwidth superior to that of CAT5. CAT5 cable is typically used for Ethernet networks running at 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps.
Category 6: (Cat6) this cable type provides higher performance than Cat5e and CAT6a is a 10-Gigabit Ethernet over copper proposal to the CAT6 standard. The IEEE published a draft standard (Std 802.3an) in October 2004. The draft calls for 10-Gigabit data transmission over a 4-pair twisted-pair copper cable for a distance of 100 meters on Class F or Class E-augmented copper cabling. The draft extends CAT6 electrical specifications from 250 MHz to 500 MHz. It also proposes a new measurement: Power-Sum Alien Crosstalk to 500 MHz. Alien Crosstalk is a coupled signal in a disturbed pair arising from a signal in a neighboring cable.
Digital Line: PRI, ISDN, SIP and BRI are examples of digital lines. Digital lines are complex methods of signaling that can deliver voice or data for internet and telephones.
DID Number: Direct inward dialing numbers are virtual numbers assigned to you by your line provider. These assigned numbers allow you to route specific numbers to destinations of your choice.
Ethernet Cable: This is a cable used to connect voice and data devices to a local network.
Hunt Group: Hunt groups are a calling distribution pattern that typically includes multiple people. Often hunt groups are used when more than one person needs to receive an inbound call. The most common ring pattern for hunt groups would be to ring thru a list one at a time of to ring all users at once.
PRI: Primary Rate Interface is a type of ISDN line.
SIP: Session Initiated Protocol is a TCP/IP based network protocol commonly used for data and voice. This protocol is often described as a container or format for establishing connections between 2 or more devices. SIP can be used for trunks or extensions
Tie Trunk: When you connect a system or site using 2 trunks. Most often tie trunks are SIP or PRI.
Trunks: Physical lines or digital channels coming into a phone system are considered trunks.
UCaaS: Unified communications as a service is a streamlined method of delivering cloud based features and services that are scalable and flexible. These services may include voice messages, video conferencing and messaging services.
