VoIP Glossary
IP phone service provider
VoIP is extremely confusing and finding the time to learn everything there is to know about IP phone is virtually impossible! However, a familiarity with VoIP terminology will help you understand the services being offered, the technical details and VoIP developments as they emerge. Here's a quick rundown of the IP phone glossary terms you're most likely to encounter.
ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) – “VoIP equipment” that converts the analog signal provided by your regular telephone into a digital signal that can be sent over a broadband network, and vice-versa. In other words, VoIP creates a way to connect calls made on your analog telephone through a digital system. An ATA often comes free upon signup with an IP phone service provider.
Bandwidth - The volume of data capable of being transmitted across a channel of communication line within a set amount of time. Bandwidth for digital devices is expressed as either bits per second (bps) or bytes per second, and bandwidth for analog devices is expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz).
Bluetooth — Personal Area Networks (PANs) which allow for wireless connections over short distances, between such devices as cell phones, smartphones, PDAs, hands-free headsets, printers, digital cameras, and so on. Bluetooth is transmitted on the same frequency as WiFi, but at a lower signal strength, providing connection to devices within a few yards for the Bluetooth signal.
Broadband — In the context of IP phone communication, this refers to methods of data transfer, typically at high-speed. Broadband connections break down data into smaller packets of information and then simultaneously relay them over many different paths, depending on availability and price. Once the data packets reach the desired end-point, they are reassembled for delivery to the end user.
Busy Call Forwarding — A phone feature which forwards your calls to any phone number you designate when you are already on the line being dialed. This prevents callers from reaching a busy signal or voicemail.
Caller ID (Caller Identification) — A phone feature which displays on a small screen the phone number and name (if available) of callers, allowing you to screen all incoming calls. This feature can only be used in conjunction with a caller ID enabled phone.
Call Waiting — A phone feature that enables you to answer incoming calls even when you’re already on the phone line. A light tone will indicate that a second call is coming through, giving you the option of placing your first conversation on hold while you answer the second call.
Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) — Any and all telephone equipment at the customer’s location – phones, modems, ATA’s, etc. - that has been supplied and installed by the IP phone company.
Data — In terms of VoIP and telecommunications, this refers to any information that is passed along one or more of various types of communication lines. Common forms of data are voice data and computer data.
E911 (Enhanced 911) — An emergency service required by law for all IP phoness that provides the operators at 911 Emergency Services with the name and location of the caller. In the case of VoIP, in which a phone line is mobile and can be plugged into any Internet connection, the location given is the address on file with the caller’s VoIP service provider. Because of this, it is essential that IP phone users update the address of their primary calling location with their providers when they travel or move.
H.323 — The minimum security protocol recommended for secure VoIP use. It was established by the International Telecommunication Union as a way of enabling both audio and video communications by creating a standardized protocol for transmitting them safely over all networks.
Internet Protocol (IP) — A set of rules or standards for the manner in which one computer transmits data over the Internet to another computer, each one maintaining its own unique IP address which identifies and locates that computer as distinct from all others.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) — A company in the business of providing others with access to the public Internet.
Local Area Network (LAN) — A group of computers situated within a reasonable geographic range that all share a single connection to the Internet, be it wired or wireless.
Latency — The amount of time an information packet takes to be transmitted from one computer to another computer. The greater the latency, the slower the connection speed; the smaller the latency, the higher the speed.
Modem — Created from the root terms “modulate” and “demodulate”, a modem is a hardware device that, when connected to a computer, converts a digital signal into an analog one and an analog signal into digital, allowing information to be relayed from one computer to another over the telephone lines. A modem is the device that allows your computer to send and receive information over the Internet, much like an ATA is the device that allows your telephone to send and receive information over the same Internet.
Packet — Simply a unit of data small enough to be transmitted over the most economical route possible.
Phone Adapter — A common term for an ATA, or the device that allows you to make and receive voice and video phone calls over the Internet.
Phone Jack — A socket, usually in a wall, that a telephone plugs into in order to be connected to the public phone lines.
Point of Presence (PoP) – Just like your local phone company’s main office, (CO), this is the site where your IP phone service provider terminates your lines right before they are connected to the public phone lines run by the local phone company or, alternatively, to your own direct connection.
Point to Point Protocol (PPP) — A set of rules or standards for connecting and transferring packets of data between two computers that guarantees an accurate and reliable exchange of data. It is used by various services (Cable, DSL, ISDN) to create connections to the Internet.
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) — A telephone that makes use of circuit switching technology in order to communicate with another such device. Its meaning becomes clearer once learning its common tongue-in-cheek nickname – “Plain Old Telephone Network”.
Real Time – Any communication that occurs with imperceptible delays between receiver and sender, negligible enough to be considered tolerable by both parties. Traditional phone calls are real time; P2P faxes are close to real time, but not quite; and voice messaging is most definitely not real time.
Router — A hardware device that divides up a single Internet connection so that it can be used by multiple computers. Though wired routers do exist, most routers these days are wireless.
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) — A set of rules and standards common in secure VoIP activity for creating a session wherein two or more users can interact using various media such as voice, video, IM, and others.
Soft Phone — A hardware device that plugs directly into a computer and uses its broadband Internet connection as a medium for relaying voice signals (aka making phone calls). Sometimes referred to as a “USB phone,” these are ideal tools for being able to use IP phone service to place and receive phone calls while traveling, so long as an Internet connection is available (including WiFi connections).
SoftSwitch — A piece of software that acts like a switchboard; the hardware device your telephone service provider owns that connects two or more phone lines to one another.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) - A set of rules or standards for connecting and transferring packets of data between two computers that guarantees an accurate and reliable exchange of data. It also arranges for the data packets which failed to reach their destination to be retransmitted.
Voicemail — Performs the same functions as an answering machine only without the requirement for owning and operating a physical hardware device other than your telephone. The phone company stores messages on its server until you retrieve them remotely with your telephone, at which point you have the option to save the message or erase it.
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) — The process of transmitting voice data over the Internet. Though they both perform the same essential function, traditional telephone service uses an analog signal and VoIP uses a digital signal. IP phone is a much more cost-effective telecommunications method than traditional telephony. Experts predict that VoIP will eventually overtake land line and cell phone usage in the mainstream market.
VoIP phone (aka Digital Phone, Internet Phone, IP phone, Broadband Phone) — The process in which voice data is transferred over the Internet. It is a more economical and efficient telecommunications method than traditional telephony.
Wide Area Network (WAN) — A network of computers situated across a widespread geographic range. WANs serve to connect multiple LANs together, thereby facilitating the ability to communicate online. The most familiar WAN to most people is the Internet.
Wireless— Methods of connecting devices to one another so that they may communicate and transfer information back and forth without the use of wires. Wireless devices include modems, routers, computer keyboards, mice, digital cameras, printers, cell phones, and IP phones or softphones.
Wifi (Wi-Fi) — The technology that creates Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) to provide different devices with a connection to the Internet without the need to be physically wired to a modem, router, or other device. Information transmitted with WiFi uses a stronger signal than Bluetooth, though they both operate on the same frequency. Many metropolitan areas are in the process of implementing citywide wireless Internet access using Wi-Fi technology.
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