List of telephony terminology
A
- Advanced Intelligent Network, (AIN), see also IN or Intelligent Network)
- Automated Attendant
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 - a system that notifies a caller of another incoming telephone call by sounding a sound in the earpiece.
- called party
- Caller
- calling party
- conference call (multi-party call)
- COCOT
D
E
F
- fax - (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, a set of open wiring racks where circuits are cross connected to trunks and equipment
H
I
- infrastructure
- Intelligent Network (IN)
- inside plant
- intelligent Network Interface Device (iNID) - replaces the Network Interface Device outside a subscriber's house like when customers subscribe to AT&T's U-verse brand of services.
- interactive voice response (IVR)
- ISDN User Part (ISUP)
L
O
P
- Person-to-person
- Plain old telephone service, or "POTS"
- Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
- Pupinization
R
S
T
- Tandem switch
- Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP)
- telemarketing
- telephone
- telephone booth
- telephone call
- telephone card
- telephone directory
- telephone exchange
- telephone tapping
- Teletraffic engineering
- Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
- trap and trace
- TWX
V
W
- Western Union
- Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS)
- WATS line
- wireless network
- Wireless Telephony Applications Interface (wtai)
- Wi-Fi