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Computer Telephony Glossary

Part A to L

Article Number: I015
Article Type: Info
Modified: April 23, 1999


A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z


Select the first letter of the word from the list above to jump to appropriate section of the glossary.


- A -

Abandoned call
A call in which the caller hangs up before the call is answered. Calls in which the caller hangs up almost immediately do not have to be counted as abandoned. When configuring each peripheral, you can specify the minimum length of an abandoned call.
ACD    See Automatic Call Distributor
Agent
A person who can answer incoming phone calls. Each agent is associated with a peripheral and can be a member of one or more skill groups. (Some peripheral types limit each agent to one skill group.)
Agent distribution
The flow of agent data from a specific peripheral to a specific Distributor. You can separately enable and disable each agent distribution.
Agent out call
An outbound call made by an agent.
All Trunks Busy (ATB)
The state of a trunk group when all trunks are in use. The trunk group cannot accept any new inbound or outbound calls in this state. The ICR tracks the amount of time during which all trunks in a trunk group are busy. You can view this information in real-time or historical reports.
Announcement
A recorded verbal message played to a caller.
Answer wait time
The elapsed time from when a call is offered at the peripheral to when it is answered. Answer wait time is the sum of delay time, queue time, and ring time.
Answered call
A call is counted as answered when it reaches an agent or IVR.
Area code
A three-digit prefix used to indicate the destination area for long distance calls. Also known as Numbering Plan Area (NPA). You can use the area code to classify calls into call types. You can also define geographical regions that are collections of area codes.
ATB    See All Trunks Busy.
Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)
A programmable device at a call center that routes incoming calls to targets within that call center. After the Intelligent Call Router determines the target for a call, the call is sent to the ACD associated with that target. The ACD must then complete the routing as determined by the ICR.
Automatic Number Identification (ANI)
A feature that provides the billing phone number of the phone from which a call originated or the phone number itself. See also Calling Line ID (CLID).
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- B -

Basic Rate Interface (BRI)
One of two levels of ISDN service. The BRI provides two bearer channels for voice and data and one channel for signaling (commonly expressed as 2B+D). See also Primary Rate Interface (PRI).
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- C -

Call center
A single site at which incoming phone calls are received and answered. Typically, each call center can provide several services and is staffed by agents from one or more skill groups.
Call control variables
A set of variables used by a peripheral to hold information related to a call.
Call details
Data saved by a PBX about every call it routes and calls that terminate at each peripheral.
Call type
A category of incoming calls.
Caller-Entered Digits(CED)
Digits entered by a caller on a touch-tone phone in response to prompts. Either a peripheral (i.e. PBX) or the carrier network can prompt for CEDs.
Calling Line ID (CLID)
Information about the billing telephone number from which a call originated. The CLID value might be the entire phone number, the area code, or the area code plus local exchange.
Calls abandoned
The number of calls abandoned during an interval. See also Abandoned calls.
Calls answered
The number of answered calls during an interval.  See Answered call.
Calls handled
The number of handled calls during an interval.  See Handled call.
Calls in progress
The total number of calls to a route or service that are on-line, in queue, or being handled at the peripheral now.
Calls in queue
The number of calls to the service or route that are in queue at a peripheral.
Calls in queue now time
The total time spent in queue for all calls currently in queue for a service or route.
Calls incoming
The number of incoming calls during an interval. See Incoming call.
Calls offered
The number of offered calls during an interval. See Offered call.
Calls routed
The total number of calls routed to a service or route during an interval.
Carrier
A company that provides telecommunications circuits. Carriers include the local telephone company and companies like AT&T, MCI, and Sprint.
CCSS7
Common Channel Signaling System 7. The protocol used by the AT&T signaling network.
CED     See Caller-Entered Digits.
Central Office (CO)
The switching office of the local telephone company.
CLID     See Calling Line ID.
Connection
The link between two nodes in a script or between a node and a routing target set. Connections show the flow of control between objects in the script. Within the Script Editor, a connection is represented as a line segment.
CRP   See Customer Routing Point
Customer Routing Point (CRP)
AT&T's terminology for third-party processors that accept routing requests from the CCSS7 network.
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- D -

Dialed Number (DN)
The number that a caller dialed to initiate a call; for example, 800-555-1212.
DID
Direct Inward Dialing/Dialed Number Identification Service (DID/DNIS)
When a call arrives at an ACD or PBX, the carrier sends a digital code on the trunk line. The switch can read this code to determine how it should dispatch the call. Typically, this value is the specific number dialed by the user. By mapping each possible code with an internal extension, the switch can provide direct inward dialing (DID).
DN     See Dialed Number.
DNIS     See Dialed Number Identification Service.
Duplexed
An arrangement in which two duplicate physical devices act as a single logical device. If one of the physical devices fails, the system continues to run normally by using the remaining physical device. See also Simplexed.
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- E -

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- F -

Foreign eXchange (FX)
A trunk type that connects a call center with a central office in a remote exchange. This allows callers in that remote exchange to directly access the call center without using an interexchange carrier.
Foreign eXchange Office (FXO)
Foreign eXchange Station (FXS)
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- G -

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- H -

H.323
The H.323 spec defines packet standards which provide a foundation for audio, video and data communications across IP-based networks, including the Internet. Gateway systems that convert data voice to PCM voice are often termed "H.323 gateways".
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- I -

Incoming call
A call offered to a route or service from an external carrier.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
An international standard for telephone transmission. ISDN provides an end-to-end digital network and provides a standard for out-of-band signaling. It also provides greater bandwidth than older telephone services. The two standard levels of ISDN are the Basic Rate Interface (BRI) and the Primary Rate Interface (PRI).
Interactive Voice Response Unit (IVR)
A telecommunications computer, also called an Voice Response Unit (VRU), that responds to caller entered touch-tone digits.
Interexchange Carrier (IXC)
A long-distance telephone company such as AT&T, MCI, or Sprint.
Internet Protocol (IP)
The connectionless-mode network service protocol of TCP/IP. See also Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).
ISDN     See Integrated Services Digital Network.
IXC     See Interexchange Carrier.
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- J -

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- K -

Key
An entry in a database index. Each key in the index corresponds to a table row and is composed of specific column values from that row.
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- L -

LAN     See Local Area Network.
LEC     See Local Exchange Carrier.
Local Area Network (LAN)
The connection of several computers within a building, usually using dedicated lines.
Local Central Office
The switching office of the local telephone company. The local central office receives calls from within the local area and either routes them locally or passes them to an interexchange carrier (IXC). On the receiving end, the local central office receives calls that originated in other areas from the IXC. A Local CO trunk type connects a call center directly with the local phone company's central office.
Local Exchange Carrier (LEC)
The local phone company that is responsible for delivering calls within a local area.
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Copyright © 1999 Develcon Electronics Ltd.  All Rights Reserved.