Asynchronous
Communication
A data communications method in which bits are sent one after
the other with a start and stop bit used for flow control.
This as opposed to synchronous communication where blocks
of data are transmitted using a synchronizing clock.
Audio Menu
A verbal choice provided by a recording over the phone. Audio
choice menus are common in automated attendant, IVR and fax-on-demand
systems. They are prompts for caller input. Audio menus can
instruct you to speak commands or hit touch-tones as commands.
Audio Response Unit (ARU)
A computer telephony system incorporating voice store and
forward technology. There are both passive and interactive
ARUs. Passive ARUs simply play out messages. Interactive ones
play messages based on input from callers.
Audio Teleconferencing
Or Audio Conferencing. The original technology used for audio
teleconferencing was based on PBX conferencing circuits. Setting
up conference calls through the PBX is cumbersome, voice quality
degrades as the number of people on a call increases and there
are capacity limitations. As a result, specialized conference
bridges were developed to improve capacity and voice quality.
Conference bridges, however, require trained operator intervention
to schedule and invoke most features. As a result, individual
corporations find the cost of ownership prohibitive, and the
market for such products has been concentrated on service
bureau providers. Today, PC-based systems combine the freedom
of conference bridges. By installing a conference server on
your voice networks, you can set up, attend, and manage your
own conferences over any touch-tone telephone. Additionally,
users can schedule meetings using desktop software from their
e-mail systems, or from a Web browser.
Back to Top
Conference Bridge
A device used to connect multiple parties over the phone.
A proctor or operator can man conference bridges, or the can
be supervised. There are both stand-alone conference bridges
and conference bridge functions built in to some PBXs (Private
Branch Exchange). These systems have circuitry for summing
and balancing the energy (noise) on each channel so everyone
can hear each other. More sophisticated conference bridges
have the ability to "idle" the transmit side of channels of
non-speaking parties. Some conference bridges use "clamping"
to idle or reject the input of touch tones or other signals.
Digital Subscriber
Line
A high-sped digital switched service using existing copper
pairs to connect subscriber CPE (Customer Premises Equipment)
to the Central Office. DSL handles more data downstream (data
flowing towards the subscriber) than upstream (towards the
network).
Back to Top
E-1
The designation for the 2.048Mbps. ITU standard for Europe's
30-channel digital telephone service. It is the European version
of T-1 (DS-1). The bandwidth is divided into two signaling
channels (channels 15 and 31 starting from 0) and thirty bearer
(voice channels). A&B bit signaling (robbed bit signaling)
is not used here. E-1 uses one of the control channels for
signaling and the other for clock synchronization.
Fax Server
A computer based fax machine. Fax servers are "shared use"
devices, typically installed on a LAN. Clients on the LAN
can use the fax server from their PCs in much the same way
they share a network-based (shared) printer. Faxes can be
generated by users at their workstations and "printed" to
the fax server for transmission. Likewise, fax servers can
route incoming faxes to printers, file server directories
or to individual users. Fax servers save users from having
to print documents, carry them to the fax machine and subsequently
wait for them to be transmitted after creating a cover page.
Back to Top
Frame Relay
In data communications, a packet switching method that uses
available bandwidth only when it is needed. This fast packet
switching method is efficient enough to transmit voice communications
with the proper network management.
Full Duplex
In telephony and data communications, the ability for both
ends of a communication to simultaneously send and receive
information without degrading the quality or intelligibility
of the content.
Interactive Voice
Response
IVR. In computer telephony, Interactive Voice Response is
a horizontal application wherein computer-based information
is accessed over the phone - with a telephone versus a computer.
An IVR platform uses computer telephony components to translate
callers' touch-tones or voice commands into computer queries
after the callers hear an audio menu. For example: "Please
enter your account number using the touch-tones on your telephone."
These queries are then "fetched" by the IVR platform from
the host computer. In some cases, the information resides
in the same platform (self-hosted). The information is then
converted into voice commands and then spoken over the phone
to the caller. These spoken prompts can be prerecorded, digitized
speech messages that are then concatenated to form whole sentences.
For example: "Your bank balance is five hundred and sixty-three
dollars". The responses to the caller an also take the form
of text-to-speech prompts. IVR systems can also be used for
callers to change the information in a database instead of
just "listen" to the information.
Back to Top
Internet
The current-day public and global computer network or "information
superhighway." The Internet is an outgrowth and combination
of a variety of university and government sponsored computer
networks. Federal and private sector subsidies supported the
DARPA-NET. NSFnet (National Sciences Foundation) and thousands
of other subnetworks, which were used to do interagency research
and communication. Today, the Internet is made up of millions
upon millions of computers and subnetworks - almost entirely
supported by commercial funds except in countries where deregulation
has not occurred. The internet is the substrate and chief
communications backbone for the World Wide Web (WWW), the
"graphical interface" of the Internet.
Internet Telephony
Any means of transmitting the human voice (real time or close
to real time) over the internet. There are several components:
1) On the client side, a multimedia-equipped PC with special
client software will digitize your voice. This can be done
with a voice modem or other voice encoding method; 2) A direct
or dial-up connection to the internet allows your voice to
be transmitted in packet form to its destination; 3) Connection
with the far side is achieved by IP address search, common
servers or beacons to identify the called party (and to "ring"
that person's phone); 4) A similar arrangement on the far
end completes the call and allows both parties to speak. There
are also PSTN/Internet gateways that allow regular telephone
callers to make Phone-to-Internet-to-Phone connections. There
are PC-to-Phone connections and Phone-to-PC connections.
Back to Top
ISP
Internet Service Provider. A business that provides subscriber-based
access to the Internet. Subscribers can be individuals or
businesses. According to Jack Rickard, publisher of Boardwatch
Magazine, ISPs operate at the fourth or lowest level of the
Internet. At the third level, regional providers aggregate
traffic from lower-order ISPs to the second, backbone level.
The highest level in North America is the NAP (Network Access
Point), which act as peer-to-peer interconnection points for
the largest backbones. There are three "official" NAPs located
in San Francisco, Chicago and Pennsauken, New Jersey. ISPs
use both Internet Routers, Servers and Rack-Mounted modems
to provide a variety of services including Web Site hosting,
FTP service, e-mail accounts, unified messaging, audio and
video broadcasting and in some cases - Internet Telephony
and Fax Gateway service.
Back to Top
Messaging
In computer telephony, any means of message store and forward.
This includes fax mail, voice mail and broadcast messaging.
This horizontal application is the most popular of all other
voice solutions. Messaging systems provide for the store and
forward of "non-real time" communication. For example, a recorded
voice message can be stored for later play back either locally
or remotely, or a fax can be received and stored before it
is retransmitted to the ultimate recipient. Messages, then,
can vary in content and media type - the distinction being
that they are recorded or stored for pick up in the future.
The time between original storage and retrieval of a message
can be created and stored by a sales manager for later retrieval
by multiple (worldwide) sales people. The sales staff can
listen to the message at different times over an extended
period. This is due to the nature if random retrieval by the
recipients in their respective time zones. Messaging systems
are a kind of "shared tenant" answering machine, because messages
that were intended for as many as a thousand or more users
can be stored and controlled by the same system. If a community
of users agree on some basic ground rules, messages can be
shared, forwarded, and distributed to multiple recipients
in the same fashion as e-mail.
Back to Top
Modem
Short for Modulator/Demodulator. Equipment that converts digital
signals to analog signals and vice-versa. Modems are used
to send data signals (digital) over the telephone network,
which is usually analog. A modem modulates binary signals
into tones that can be carried over the telephone network.
At the other end, the demodulator part of the modem converts
the tones to binary code.
Packet
A logically grouped unit of data. Packets contain a payload
(the information to be transmitted), originator, destination
and synchronizing information. The idea with packets is to
transmit them over a network so each individual packet can
be sent along the most optimal route to its. Packets are assembled
on one end of the communication and reassembled on the receiving
end based on the header addressing information at the front
of each packet. Routers in the network will store and forward
packets based on network delays, errors and re-transmittal
requests from the receiving end.
Back to Top
Packet Switching
A means of economically sending and receiving data over alternate,
multiple network channels. The premise for packet switching
is the packet, a small bundle of information containing the
payload and routing information. Packet switching takes data,
breaks it down into packets, transmits the packets and does
the reverse on the other end. Packets can be sent in order
and then be received in a different order - only to be put
back in the correct order in seconds. There are slow packet
switching networks, like the old SNA networks - and there
are fast packet networks based on Frame Relay and ATM. Although
traditionally used for data, packet networks, especially well-managed
ones, are becoming suitable for real-time transmission of
voice and video.
PBX
Private Branch Exchange. Or PABX (Private Automatic Branch
Exchange). In telephony, a PBX system behaves as a customer's
premises over trunk lines (thus the term "branch"). At first,
PBXs mimicked a small telephone company switchboard. Users
would use an operator to take and make telephone calls to
and from the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). Over
time, users were able to dial directly, without the use of
an operator. Today, computer telephony platforms such as automated
attendants are able to route incoming calls automatically,
too.
Back to Top
POP
Post Office Protocol. An Internet standard for the storage
and retrieval of e-mail messages.
PSTN
Public Switched Telephone Network.
Real Time
A communication wherein any perceptible delay between the
sender and receiver are minimal and tolerated. Regular telephone
calls are real time. Point-to-point fax transmissions are
"close" to real time. Voice messaging is in non-real time.
RJ-11
The designation for connecting a tip and ring circuit to a
standard, modular, six-position jack. The green and red wires
go in the middle (only) pair, and the outside positions of
the connector are unused.
RJ-45
Eight-position modular connector used for data transmission
over standard twisted or flat pairs.
Back to Top
Service Provider
An addressable entity providing application and administrative
support to the client environment by responding to client
requests and maintaining the operational integrity of the
server.
Signaling System #7
Or SS7. The basis for modern methods to route traffic with
out-of-brand signaling. Its forerunner, CCIS (Common Channel
Interoffice Signaling), used 4.8 Kbps data links to transmit
call set up and tear down messages to switching office adjunct
computers and packet switches. SS7 in itself is not a network
service offering, but rather the underlying infrastructure
with which many existing and proposed offerings are based.
For example, local Basic Rate ISDN (BRI) services can tap
into SS7, so 64 Kbps packetized data can be routed with the
help of the network's out-of-band signaling capability. In
addition, nationwide Primary Rate ISDN (PRI) services can
use the same backbone.
Back to Top
Speech Recognition
Speech recognition describes a group of special technologies
that allow callers to speak words, phrases, or utterances
that are used to control applications. In the case of voice
processing, speech recognition is used to replace touch-tone
input, make for more intuitive menu structures, and ad a level
of simplicity and security to some systems. Speech recognition,
on the other hand, is a technology that uses the spoken word
as input that has an effect on the logic flow and execution
of the program in question.
Store And Forward
As the name implies, the discipline of storing a message or
transmission for later playback or transmission. As opposed
to real time communication, store and forward is the basis
for all messaging systems including e-mail, fax-on-demand,
unified messaging, etc. In data communications, store and
forward applies to momentary buffering of packets or other
data strings.
T-1
North American digital standard for high-capacity transmission
of telephony and data communications. In telephone T-1 provides
a 1.544 Mbps link which is broken down in to 24 discrete,
64 Kbps voice-grade channels. In data communications, T-1
links are used to directly connect CPE (Customer Premises
Equipment) routers to the Internet and for Private Data Network
or VPN circuits.
Back to Top
T-3
Digital standard for high-capacity transmission of at 6.312
Mbps. T2 is the equivalent of four T-1 spans.
TCP
Transmission Control Protocol. The transport layer protocol
developed for the ARPAnet which comprises layers 4 and 5 of
the OSI model. TCP controls sequential data exchange in TCP/IP
for remotely hosts in a peer-to-peer network.
Telephony
Taken from Greek root words meaning "far sound", telephony
is the discipline of converting or transmitting voice or other
signals over a distance, and then reconverting them to an
audible sound at the far end.
UNIX
A multi-user, multitasking operating system originally developed
in 1969 by Ken Thompson of AT&T Bell Laboratories. UNIX is
used in telephone company and mission critical applications.
Back to Top
Voice Messaging
An application of store and forward wherein telephone access
to private messages are retrieved by users for playback. Imagine
a shared tenant answering machine that handles multiple telephone
lines and can record incoming messages for hundreds of people
simultaneously. Imagine the intended parties being able to
retrieve these messages over the phone with simple touch-tone
commands. Imagine full security, so no one can pick up anyone
else's messages without a special, private access code. That's
voice messaging. Voice messaging systems take many forms.
There are CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) versions and Service
Bureau or Telco versions. The basic idea is the non real-time
sending and receiving of private messages. Some systems support
the broadcast of messages to multiple recipients. Some provide
message waiting notification via pager, message waiting light
or "outdial" telephone calls.
Web Browser
Client software used to view information on Web servers. Can
display graphics. Web browsers are also packaged with e-mail
clients, newsreaders and in some cases, IP Telephony clients.
Back to Top
Web-Enabled Call
Center
Any call center whose "callers" can establish a traditional
of Internet-Based phone call with an agent initiated via Web
Browsing Interaction. Imagine this: You cruise to a Web Page
and see a product you'd like to buy. You click on a button
that says "speak to a live agent". A form pops-up and you're
prompted to enter your phone number. A few moments later your
phone rings. It's an agent from the call center associated
with the Web Page you just visited.
Web Server
On the World Wide Web, a server dedicated to storing data
(such as Web pages in HTML format) and distributing it to
Web Browsing users. Web browsers are able to download video,
text, still images and audio from Web Pages. Some servers
support Unified Messaging.
Courtesy of The Official Glossary of Computer Telephony
Terms ©1998 Miller Freeman.
Back to Top
|
