A

• Advanced Intelligent Network, (AIN), see also IN
  Intelligent network
  The Intelligent Network , is the standard network architecture specified in the . It is intended for fixed as well as mobile telecom networks...
  
   or Intelligent Network)
• Automated Attendant
  Automated attendant
  In telephony, an automated attendant allows callers to be automatically transferred to an extension without the intervention of an operator/receptionist). Many AAs will also offer a simple menu system...
  
  

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
  Call waiting
  Call waiting , in telephony, is a feature on some telephone networks. If a calling party places a call to a called party which is otherwise engaged, and the called party has the call waiting feature enabled, the called party is able to suspend the current telephone call and switch to the new...
  
   - a system that notifies a caller of another incoming telephone call by sounding a sound in the earpiece.
• called party
  Called party
  The called party is a person who answers a telephone call. The person who initiates a telephone call is the calling party....
  
  
• Caller
• calling party
  Calling party
  The calling party is a person who initiates a telephone call over the public switched telephone network, usually by dialing a telephone number....
  
  
• conference call
  Conference call
  A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call. The conference calls may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party...
  
   (multi-party call)
• COCOT
  Payphone
  A payphone or pay phone is a public telephone, often located in a phone booth or a privacy hood, with pre-payment by inserting money , a credit or debit card, or a telephone card....
  
  

F

• fax
  Fax
  Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
  
   - (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
  Distribution frame
  In telecommunications, a distribution frame is a passive device which terminates cables, allowing arbitrary interconnections to be made.For example, the Main Distribution Frame located at a telephone central office terminates the cables leading to subscribers on the one hand, and cables leading to...
  
  , a set of open wiring racks where circuits are cross connected to trunks and equipment

I

• infrastructure
  Infrastructure
  Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
  
  
• Intelligent Network
  Intelligent network
  The Intelligent Network , is the standard network architecture specified in the . It is intended for fixed as well as mobile telecom networks...
  
   (IN)
• inside plant
  Inside plant
  In telecommunication, the term inside plant has the following meanings:*All the cabling and equipment installed in a telecommunications facility, including the main distribution frame and all the equipment extending inward therefrom, such as PABX or central office equipment, MDF heat coil...
  
  
• intelligent Network Interface Device
  Intelligent Network Interface Device
  An Intelligent Network Interface Device, more commonly known as an "iNID", provides Digital Subscriber Line access and advanced TV to customers subscribed to AT&T's U-verse brand of services....
  
   (iNID) - replaces the Network Interface Device
  Network interface device
  In telecommunications, a Network Interface Device is a device that serves as the demarcation point between the carrier's local loop and the customer's premises wiring....
  
   outside a subscriber's house like when customers subscribe to AT&T's
  AT&T
  AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
  
   U-verse
  U-Verse
  AT&T U-verse is a registered service mark under which AT&T offers Internet access, television, and telephone services in various parts of the United States. It began in 2008 to serve mostly residences and small businesses in urban and suburban areas.-Services:...
  
   brand of services.
• interactive voice response
  Interactive voice response
  Interactive voice response is a technology that allows a computer to interact with humans through the use of voice and DTMF keypad inputs....
  
   (IVR)
• ISDN User Part
  ISDN User Part
  The ISDN User Part or ISUP is part of the Signaling System #7 which is used to set up telephone calls in Public Switched Telephone Networks...
  
   (ISUP)

P

• Person-to-person
  Operator assistance
  An operator-assisted call is one in which the calling party places a telephone call which requires an operator to provide some form of assistance in completing the call...
  
  
• Plain old telephone service
  Plain old telephone service
  Plain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world....
  
  , or "POTS"
• Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
• Pupinization
  Loading coil
  In electronics, a loading coil or load coil is a coil that does not provide coupling to any other circuit, but is inserted in a circuit to increase its inductance. The need was discovered by Oliver Heaviside in studying the disappointing slow speed of the Transatlantic telegraph cable...
  
  

R

• red telephone box
  Red telephone box
  The red telephone box, a public telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar, and despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years, red boxes can still be seen in many places and in current or former...
  
  
• Red box
• ringer equivalency number (REN)
• Ringing signal
• rural radio service
  Rural radio service
  In telecommunication in the United States, a rural radio service is a public radio service rendered by fixed stations on frequencies below 1000 MHz used to provide Basic Exchange Telecommunications Radio Service, which is public message communication service between a central office and...
  
  

T

• Tandem switch
• Transaction Capabilities Application Part
  Transaction Capabilities Application Part
  Transaction Capabilities Application Part, from ITU-T recommendations Q.771-Q.775 or ANSI T1.114 is a protocol for Signalling System 7 networks. Its primary purpose is to facilitate multiple concurrent dialogs between the same sub-systems on the same machines, using Transaction IDs to differentiate...
  
   (TCAP)
• telemarketing
  Telemarketing
  Telemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent face to face or Web conferencing appointment scheduled during the call.Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches...
  
  
• telephone
  Telephone
  The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
  
  
• telephone booth
  Telephone booth
  A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box or telephone box is a small structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience. In the USA, Canada and Australia, "telephone booth" is used, while in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth it is a "telephone...
  
  
• telephone call
  Telephone call
  A telephone call is a connection over a telephone network between the calling party and the called party.-Information transmission:A telephone call may carry ordinary voice transmission using a telephone, data transmission when the calling party and called party are using modems, or facsimile...
  
  
• telephone card
  Telephone card
  A telephone card, calling card or phone card for short, is a small plastic card, sized and shaped like a credit card, used to pay for telephone services. It is not necessary to have the physical card except with a stored-value system; knowledge of the access telephone number to dial and the PIN is...
  
  
• telephone directory
  Telephone directory
  A telephone directory is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that publishes the directory...
  
  
• telephone exchange
  Telephone exchange
  In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
  
  
• telephone tapping
  Telephone tapping
  Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
  
  
• Teletraffic engineering
  Teletraffic engineering
  Telecommunications traffic engineering, teletraffic engineering, or traffic engineering is the application of traffic engineering theory to telecommunications...
  
  
• Time Division Multiplexing
  Time-division multiplexing
  Time-division multiplexing is a type of digital multiplexing in which two or more bit streams or signals are transferred apparently simultaneously as sub-channels in one communication channel, but are physically taking turns on the channel. The time domain is divided into several recurrent...
  
   (TDM)
• trap and trace
• TWX

W

• Western Union
  Western Union
  The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
  
  
• Wide Area Telephone Service
  Wide Area Telephone Service
  In U.S. telecommunications, a Wide Area Telephone Service is a long distance service offering for customer dial-type telecommunications between a given customer [user] station and stations within specified geographic rate areas employing a single telephone line between the customer user location...
  
   (WATS)
• WATS line
• wireless network
  Wireless network
  Wireless network refers to any type of computer network that is not connected by cables of any kind. It is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and enterprise installations avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment...
  
  
• Wireless Telephony Applications Interface (wtai)
• Wi-Fi
  Wi-Fi
  Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
  
  

Acronyms