Glossary of VoIP Terms and Definitions


IEEE: Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers. The main standardscertifying body for protocols such as Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), WiFi (IEEE 802.11), and WiMax (IEEE 802.16).
ILEC: Incumbent local exchange carrier. Introduced with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. ILEC is intended to identify the carrier who owns the traditional, regulated cabling infrastructure in any given LATA.
Internet service provider: ISP. A company that provides Internet access to consumers and companies. Larger and more versatile ISPs offer Internet access using a variety of network transport options.
IP: Internet Protocol. One of two major protocols used in the TCP/IP family of protocols. The IP protocol is one of the protocols used to implement the Internet.
IP address: An address comprised of four numbers, each ranging from 0 to 255, and normally expressed with each number separated by a period (such as 192.168.2.100). IP addresses are used to route network traffic from sender to receiver. The IP address is a major component field of a VoIP packet and is used to map the VoIP telephone call to a specific telephone number. In a VoIP telephony call, both source and destination (caller and receiver) addresses are used to establish and maintain the VoIP call.
IP Centrex: A managed VoIP telephony service similar in concept to the traditional Centrex model. Synonymous with VoIP Centrex, hosted VoIP, hosted telephony, and hosted VoIP telephony.
IP soft phone: Software that enables a computer to function as a VoIP telephone, including an on-screen dialing pad for point-and-click dialing.
IP telephony: IPT. A technology that allows traditional voice calls to be carried as data over a local area network. IPT is technically VoIP on a LAN (and VoIP is IPT outside the LAN).
IPT: IP telephony. A technology that allows traditional voice calls to be carried as data over a local area network. IPT is technically VoIP on a LAN (and VoIP is IPT outside the LAN).
ISDN: Integrated services digital network. A group of digital transport services that use the circuit-switched PSTN. ISDN transports are capable of integrating data, voice, and video applications, but run slower than other transports available today.
ISP: Internet service provider. A company that provides Internet access to consumers and companies. Larger and more versatile ISPs offer Internet access using a variety of network transport options.
key telephone system: KTS. An internal phone system typically used by smaller companies so they can take advantage of calling features and minimize the number of POTS lines necessary. A KTS is often referred to as a key station or simply a key system.
local area network: LAN. A data network limited to a small geographic area. A LAN can be as small as a couple of devices connected on the same network or as large as a campuswide installation with numerous buildings and thousands of addressable devices on the same network.

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