Glossary

VoIP Telephony End-User Terminology

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) – the technology that is revolutionizing how we communicate. Voice is broken into packets that travel over Internet Protocol networks instead of over traditional circuit switched telephone networks.

Hosted IP PBX Service – Instead of having to own and maintain an expensive piece of switching equipment yourself, it is possible to gain all the functionality of a traditional PBX by purchasing Hosted IP PBX service. With this service, all the necessary functionality is hosted in a robust and secure data center, and delivered to the user over the network.

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol ) -  This is the technology that delivers traditional telephony features over Internet Protocol networks. SIP is the call control portion of the service, and works in conjunction with RTP to deliver the voice.

VPN (Virtual Private Network) – This is a private network built on top of a public and/or private networks, which is why it’s called a virtual network. Your data and telephony is secure, and your total cost of ownership is lower because you’re sharing network resources with others. As it relates to VoIP telephony, all your offices will be on your VPN – with free “on-net” calling and easy extension dialing across any and all locations, including remote and mobile workers.

Commpilot Portal –  A  web based interface for managing your VoIP telephony service – in real time.  The portal is integrated with Outlook, has point-and-click features, click-to-dial, and is extremely easy-to-use.  Throw out your old telephone cheat sheet with its star codes for 3-way calling, call transfers, etc… and experience online simplicity.

Call logs – records of calls showing pertinent information (number dialed, durations, charge) – all available real time on your dashboard Call Manager.

MACs (Moves Adds Changes) – the costly work that your IT dept/Telecom Manager and/or local phone company performed to maintain your old phone system and lines.  With VoIP Telephony, you can easily, and economically, do MACs yourself.

CPE (customer premise equipment) – any device you need at your location.  VoIP Telephony usually uses either an IAD (Integrated Access Device) or a SIP capable IP phone like a Cisco 7940/7960.

Codec (Coder-Decoder) – Phones and Media Gateways have codecs built into them that change the voice data from traditional format to packet format, and vice versa. There are many different codecs, but the two most common are called G.711 and G.729.

IAD (integrated access device) – A device that acts as a router (for your data traffic) and lets you plug in normal analog phones or PBXs into your data network. Enables a service known as Trunk Replacement, whereby you no longer need separate circuits for your voice traffic and data traffic.

ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) – A device that turns any normal analog telephone into a VoIP phone. The ATA converts the analog signals from your phone into a format that can be transmitted over an IP data network. ATAs are often used for residential applications.

IP Telephone – A telephone that transmits its voice via the Internet Protocol, as opposed to traditional circuit switching.

Unified Messaging – The ability to manage your voice mails using your email application. The service allows you to receive your voice-mails in your email mailbox as WAV files.  Managing voice mail is now as easy as managing email.

Office Mobility – the freedom to use one number regardless of physical location.  At a remote office? Call Forward your line to ring wherever you are – and your team can still use abbreviated dialing to reach you.  Or use Find me / Follow me to have your office number ring a series of numbers to locate you.  Or Simultaneous Ring to have all these numbers ring at the same time until one is answered.

LNP (Local Number Portability) – The ability to keep your existing phone number or range of phone numbers. When you purchase VoIP services, make sure your service provider can support LNP, so that you don’t have to change your phone numbers. Providers that support LNP let you keep your existing phone numbers when you move to VoIP.

RTP (Real Time Protocol) – RTP is the protocol that carries the voice traffic over the network. This specialized protocol is capable of delivering the quality that end users expect from their voice service.

NAT (Network Address Translation) – NAT is a technique for allowing many computers or phones to share a smaller number of real Internet Protocol addresses. NAT can introduce some complexities to IP phone service, but your service provider knows how to make VoIP work even in the most secure network.