Dictionary

This dictionary has been set up to help you better understand the technical "lingo" associated with voice and data communication. Simply click on a letter below to find a particular word.

Abbreviated Ringing
Sets incoming calls to ring once when the user is already on a call.

ADSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, a technology for transmitting digital information where the downstream data rate is much higher than the upstream data rate. This works well for a typical Internet session where more information is downloaded than uploaded.

ANI
Automatic Number Identification, the process of automatically identifying a caller's billing number and transmitting that number from the caller's local central office to another point on or off the public network.

Answer-Only Mode
A messaging system function set by the user so that callers reaching their mailbox can hear the user's mailbox greeting but are not offered the opportunity to leave a message.

ATM
Asynchronous Transfer Mode, a high speed network technology for transporting mixed data, voice and video traffic over high bandwidth data links.

Automated Attendant
A voice messaging system feature that automatically answers incoming calls and routes them to the appropriate extension or mailbox based on touch-tone responses by the caller to a menu of options.

Automatic System Answer
An optional system feature that causes incoming calls to be answered by the system if the receptionist cannot answer within a specified number of rings.