3G network: also UMTS network - "Universal Mobile Telecommunications System", UMTS represents an evolution in terms of capacity, data speeds and new service capabilities from second generation mobile networks enabling many extraordinary applications.
ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line: Modems attached to twisted pair copper wiring that transmit from 1.5 Mbps to 9 Mbps downstream (to the subscriber) and from 16 kbps to 800 kbps upstream, depending on line distance.
Antenna combiner - Also known as antenna splitter. Connects antenna outputs from a GSM device into one antenna (in order to reduce the number of antennas for one device). It is used primarily for rack sets to reduce the number of cables leading to the server rooms.
Auto Clip Routing - GSM Gateway automatically stores information about outgoing calls. If somebody calls back, they are automatically routed to the extension that the previous call was made from.
B-Channel - Bearer Channel. The fundamental component of an ISDN circuit, the bearer channel carries either voice or data at 64000 bits per second (64 kbps) in either direction.
BabyCall function - Automatic call without dialing the number. Intended especially for elderly or disabled in case of the emergency.
Bit - The elementary constituent of digital information, the value of which can take only the forms 0 or 1. Bits are often measured by adding prefixes to signify a value.
BRI - Basic Rate Interface. An ISDN subscriber line, consisting of two 64kbps B channels (bearer channels) and one 16kbps D channel (used for signaling and synchronization purposes) - often referred to as 2 B's and a D.
Broadband - Digital signals delivered (along with analog signals) over a copper medium to businesses and households. Typically refers to an Internet connection via a cable modem or DSL line with speeds of 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps. Broadcast Transmission of data to everybody on the network or network segment.
Byte - A word made up of eight bits of information. One byte is the amount of information required to represent one character.
CallBack - Function for reducing call costs (particularly when roaming): when an employee of a given company calls his firm's PBX from abroad, the call is not connected and the PBX calls him back - the employee can then dial any number and it is as if he called from his company (when roaming, an incoming call is always cheaper than an outgoing call).
CDR or Call Detail Record - Information in a simple text format that can be used as input to third party billing programs or other software for billing purposes.
Channel - A signal path of specified bandwidth for conveying information such as voice, data and video.
D-Channel - The data signaling channel of an ISDN line. This channel is used to carry call control messages between the ISDN terminal and the public switch.
DECT - A digital wireless technology which originated in Europe, but is now being adopted increasingly worldwide, for cordless telephones, wireless offices and even wireless telephone lines to the home. The younger brother of GSM - Global System for Mobile - it is by contrast a radio access technology, rather than a comprehensive system architecture; DECT has been designed and specified to interwork with many other types of network, such as the PSTN (conventional telephone networks), ISDN (new digital and data phone networks), GSM (mobile phone networks) and more.
DialThrough - If a GSM Gateway has two ports it is possible to connect it between a PBX and the network without the need to program the PBX (change settings).
DTMF or Dual Tone Multi-Frequency signals - Also called touch-tone dialing. The tones that are heard when you press the buttons on a touch-tone telephone. DTMF assigns a specific frequency (consisting of two separate tones) to each key.
E1 - the basic European multiplex rate which packs thirty voice channels into a 256 bit frame and transmits at 2.048 Mbps.
Gateway - A network element that performs conversions between different coding and transmission formats. The gateway does this by having many types of commonly used transmission equipment and / or circuits from different carriers to provide a means of interconnection.
H.323 - A suite of standards for multimedia conferences on traditional packet-switched LANs.
HDLC - is a bit-oriented, link layer protocol for data transmission over synchronous networks. It is an ISO standard, but a superset of IBM's SDLC (Synchronous Data Link Control) protocol.
Intercom - An intercom (door phone, door entry, entry systems) is an electronic communications system within a building or group of buildings. Intercoms are generally composed of fixed microphone/speaker units which connect to a central control panel. (see also lift intercom)
Internal Voicemail - Internal function of a PBX which enables the recording of voice messages for the called person during his absence.
IP - Internet Protocol. A packet-based protocol for delivering data across networks.
IP Address - The unique address of a computer attached to the TCP/IP network. IP addresses are 32 bits long. Each octet is represented in the decimal format and separated by dots.
IP PBX - IP PBX is a customer premises telephone system that manages telephones in the enterprise and acts as the gateway to external networks. Unlike a conventional PBX that requires two separate networks, one each for data and voice, an IP PBX is based on converged networks that enable true one-wire to the desktop connection. An IP PBX can be used with IP phones, softphones and traditional phones connected to Ethernet adapters (ATA) or PCs.
IP telephony - (Internet Protocol telephony, also known as Voice over IP Telephony) A general term for the technologies that use the Internet Protocol's packet-switched connections to exchange voice, fax, and other forms of information that have traditionally been carried over the dedicated circuit-switched connections of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The basic steps involved in originating an IP Telephony call are conversion of the analog voice signal to digital format and compression/translation of the signal into Internet protocol (IP) packets for transmission over the Internet or other packet-switched networks; the process is reversed at the receiving end. The terms IP Telephony and Internet Telephony are often used to mean the same; however, they are not 100 per cent interchangeable, since Internet is only a subcase of packet-switched networks. For users who have free or fixed-price Internet access, IP Telephony software essentially provides free telephone calls anywhere in the world. However, the challenge of IP Telephony is maintaining the quality of service expected by subscribers. Session border controllers resolve this issue by providing quality assurance comparable to legacy telephone systems.
ISDN or Integrated Services Digital Network - A set of standards that provide a common architecture for the development and deployment of digitally integrated communications services. A set of standardized customer interfaces and signaling protocols for delivering digital circuit-switched voice / data / video and packet-switched data services.
IVR - Interactive Voice Response is a software application that accepts a combination of voice telephone input and touch-tone keypad selection and provides appropriate responses in the form of voice, fax, callback, e-mail and perhaps other media. IVR is usually part of a larger application that includes database access. Common IVR applications include: bank and stock account balances and transfers, surveys and polls, caller authorization centers
ISDN GSM Gateway - ISDN GSM Gateway (GSM router) connected to a PBX ISDN port (BRI, So) transmits GSM services to ISDN user terminals. In addition to cost-efficient calls, it provides the following services: calling line identification presentation (CLIP), connection status displaying, advice of charging (AOC), SMS send/receive using the ISDN telephone set, and billing data recording.
LAN or Local Area Network - A network of computers in a confined area, such as a room or building. A LAN accessed with Internet technologies can be considered an Intranet. Typically, LANs operate at what is considered to be a high bandwidth speed.
LCD - LCD: Liquid Crystal Display. A display that consists of two polarizing transparent panels and a liquid crystal surface sandwiched in between. Voltage is applied to certain areas, causing the crystal to turn dark. A light source behind the panel transmits through transparent crystals and is mostly blocked by dark crystals.
Least Cost Routing - LCR is a function of a gateway/PBX, which selects the cheapest possible route for calls (e.g. a call from a landline to a mobile phone is sent via the GSM network to avoid the higher call charges of using the landline network).
Mobile Extender - the redirecting of an office line to a mobile, which also allows the user to use all the PBX functions from a mobile! It is used especially when away from the office, and unlike DECT it is not limited to a certain range and the user does not need another phone, just his standard mobile.
Modularity - Attribute of a product which enables expanding or changing the product depending on the growth of the company (number of users, functional requirements).
Packet - A block of data used for transmission in packet-switched systems.
PBX - Private Branch Exchange An in-house telephone switching system that interconnects telephone extensions to each other as well as to the outside telephone network.
Point to Multipoint - A session between one location and many points.
Point to Point - A session between two points only.
PRI or Primary Rate Interface - An ISDN subscriber line, consisting of 32 64kbps B bearer or user channels and one 64kbps D channel used for signaling and synchronization.
PSTN or Public Switched Telephone Network - A worldwide voice telephone network. Once only an analog system, the heart of most telephone networks today is all digital.
S/NR or Signal to Noise Ratio - Final relationship between the video or audio signal level and the noise level. Ratio of the signal power to the noise power in a specified bandwidth.
SIP or Session Initiation Protocol - An IP telephony signaling protocol developed by the IETF. SIP is a text-based protocol suitable for integrated voice-data applications. SIP is designed for voice transmission and uses fewer resources and is considerably less complex than H.323.
SMS - transmission of short text messages to and from a mobile phone, fax machine and/or IP address. The messages may not be longer than 160 alpha-numeric characters and contain any images or graphics.
SNMP monitoring - Online monitoring of a telecommunication device via the TCP/IP protocol (LAN/Internet).
Softswitch -(Also referred to as media gateway controller or call agent). The generic name for a new approach to telephony switching that has evolved to enable transporting voice traffic over packet-switched networks. At the most basic level, a softswitch is defined as media gateway controller software that provides call control and resource management for a media gateway. Call control relates to the setup and termination of calls, including call routing. A softswitch also provides call authentication and authorization, and accounting services by accessing information available in an existing Signaling System 7 (SS7) network.
STUN services - Helps a VoIP device determine a change in the IP address of the router connecting the VoIP device to the internet (if the internet provider in the given country uses dynamic IP addresses)
Switch - A mechanical or solid state device that opens and closes circuits, changes operating parameters or selects paths for circuits on a space or time division basis.
T1 - A digital transmission link with the capacity of 1.544Mbps, used in North America. Typically channeled in 24 DSO's, each capable of carrying a single voice conversation or data stream. Uses two pairs of twisted pair wires.
UMTS Networks: "Universal Mobile Telecommunications System", UMTS represents an evolution in terms of capacity, data speeds and new service capabilities from second generation mobile networks enabling many extraordinary applications.
VoIP - Voice over IP. The capability to carry normal telephony-style voice over an IP-based Internet or data links with POTS-like functionality, reliability, and voice quality. VoIP enables a router to carry voice traffic (for example, telephone calls and faxes) over an IP network. In VoIP, the DSP segments the voice signal into frames, which then are coupled in groups of two and stored in voice packets. These voice packets are transported using IP in compliance with ITU-T specification - H.323, SIP, MGCP.
VoIP card in ISDN PRI GSM Gateway - PrimaGate expansion by VoIP cards and there is no need for any external VoIP Gateway.
WAN or Wide Area Network - A data network typically extending a LAN outside a building or beyond a campus, over IXC or LEC lines to link other LANs at remote sites. Typically created using bridges or routers to connect geographically separated LANs.
Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) - Wi-Fi 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. Wi-Fi is specified in the 802.11b specification from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is part of a series of wireless specifications together with 802.11, 802.11a, and 802.11g.
BRI: Basic Rate Interface
CDR: Call Detail Record
CSV: Coma Separated Values
DHTP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
FTP: File Transfer Protocol
IP: Internet Protocol
IP PABX: IP-based Private Automatic Branch Exchange
IP PBX: IP-based Private Branch Exchange
LCD: Liquid Crystal Display
MVTS: MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch
MGSP: Media Gateway Control Protocol
NAT: Network Address Translation
PBX: Private Branch Exchange
PRI: Primary Rate Interface
PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network
QoS: Quality of Service
RAS: Registration, Admission, and Status protocol.
RTCP: Real-time Transport Control Protocol
RTP: Real-time Transport Protocol
SCP: Secure Copy
SIP: SIP Session Initiation Protocol
SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol
TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
VoIP: Voice Over Internet Protocol
VPN: Virtual Private Network
Wi-Fi: Wireless Fidelity