VoIP Business Glossary

Here we will try to describe most useful terms in VoIP business trying to avoid all technical slang. Only most useful terms will be described.

A

ANI - (Automated Number Identifier): A fancy way of referring to your telephone number. (Pronounced Ann’EE or Ay-En-I.)

API - application program interface, a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks. A programmer then puts the blocks together.

Asterisk - A very popular open source software allowing a standard Linux server to be converted into a feature rich telephone system, supporting both analog and VoIP calling.

ATA (Analog Telephone Adaptor) - A small device to convert the signal required by your traditional analog phone into a VoIP protocol allowing VoIP provided service to be used. Used to connect a standard telephone to a high-speed modem to facilitate VoIP and/or fax calls over the Internet.

C

CDR (Call Detail Record) - Information regarding a single call collected from the switch and available as an automatically generated downloadable report for a requested time period. The report contains information on the number of calls, call duration, call origination and destination, and billed amount.

Call Queue - A Call Plan feature allowing multiple calls to be placed on hold before being connected to an extension or set of extensions. The call queue can be designed to hold calls until an operator at one of the assigned extensions becomes available or provide the caller with the option to go directly to voicemail.

Calling Cards - Prepaid Calling Cards are useful for making long-distance telephone calls. You pay in advance for the calling service that you can avail anytime. Depending on the cost of the card you receive a specific amount of calling time. As you use the card, the minutes are reduced, until you have used up all the time on the card. You can make long distance or international calls from any telephone using such cards.

Class 5 Switch - The switching hardware used by local phone carriers that provides local phone services such as dial tone, emergency 911 service, 411 information service, and access to toll-free numbers and long distance carriers.

Class 4 Switch - The switching platform used by long-distance carriers geared toward finding the local carrier owing a dialed number, and routing calls to that carrier. They structurally differ from class 5 switches and cannot provide local carrier features.

Codec - Coder-Decoder algorithms for packaging and un-packaging the voice portion of a VoIP call so it can be transmitted over an IP network. Codecs are available using different algorithms, each allowing the call a different level of compression.

D

DID (Direct Inward Dial) - A phone number that can only receive inbound calls and is incapable of dialing outbound. Migrating standard phone numbers from a traditional, local phone carrier essentially converts them to DIDs, as all other service is stripped when the numbers are ported.

DOS Attack (Denial of Service) - A malicious hack whereby a stream of packets is directed at an IP address with the intent to overload the server and crash it and to deny services to a computer or network.

DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency): The sounds you hear when pressing the digits on the keypad of your phone. They are called Dual-Tone because they actually consist of two separate tones to distinguish them from a normal human voice.

E

E.164 - The international public telecommunication numbering plan. An E.164 number uniquely identifies a public network termination point and typically consists of three fields, CC (country code), NDC (national destination code), and SN (subscriber number), up to 15 digits in total.