​This page is designed to familiarize with technical terms commonly used in the telecommunications industry.

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• Automatic Call Distribution – system that distributes incoming calls to a specific pre-defined individual or group of individuals based on criteria selected.

• Auto Attendant – allows callers to be automatically transferred to an extension without the intervention of an operator/receptionist via a menu system.

• Auto Connect – a feature in web conferencing software, which allows the user to type in their email and connect the audio via VoIP without entering a phone number automatically.

• Available Bandwidth – Bandwidth that is not being utilized by another activity.

• IP PBX – An IP (Internet Protocol) PBX (Private branch exchange) is a business telephone system either designed to deliver voice or video over a data network and interoperate with the normal Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

• IP Phone – is a physical phone designed to connect directly to an IP network and utilizes VoIP technologies to allow telephone calls to be made over an IP network such as the Internet instead of the ordinary PSTN system.

• Softphone – is a software program for making telephone calls over the Internet using a general purpose computer, rather than using physical phone. A softphone requires a microphone and speakers to transmit and play the voice.

• Kilobits Per Second (Kbps) – One 1000 bits or bytes per second. Kbps is a measurement of data transfer speed.

• Megabits Per Second (Mbps) – One megabit is equal to 1,000,000 bits. Mbps is a measurement of data transfer speed.

• Gigabits Per Second (Gbps) – One gigabit is equal to 1,000,000,000 bits of data. Gbps is a measurement of data transfer speed.

• Virtual Private Network (VPN) – A private network within a public network (i.e. your carriers network). They are used by large companies to create a network of site-to-site connections to branch office locations and allow moble users access to the company’s local network.

• Incumbant Local Exchange carrier (ILEC) – Any U.S. telephone organization that was providing local service at the time the U.S. Telecommunications Act was enacted in 1996. These companies opened regulatory barriers to entry in the telecommunications field. The California ILECs are Verizon and AT&T

• Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) – A telephone company that competes with established local telephone companies by providing their own services.

• Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) – Public telephone company in the US that provides local service also known as “telco.”