Telecommunications Glossary

A comprehensive and growing list of all things telecommunications.

Written by Anjana Uthayakumaran

Created 2022-11-04

10DLC
10 Digit Long Code, a phone number.
A2P Messaging
Application-to-Person Messaging. Businesses and enterprises send SMS communications through software applications to a customer's device.
AI
Aritifical Intelligence is the simulation/replication of human intelligence processes by machines.
ARPANET
The Advanced Research Project Agency Network is a decentralized phone network created by the US Department Defence so as to not be disrupted by a global war.
Analog technology
Technologies that are analogous to the process occurring behind the technology. Consider, for example, the process of converting a piece of film into a developed photograph. The film negative is used to print a representation of the scene you photographed. The developed photograph, therefore, is an analogy of the image you captured.
CAFC
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre collects information on fraud and identity theft, providing information on past and current scams affecting Canadians.
Circuit switching A form of analog technology.
CITA
Canadian Independent Telecommunication Association. Canada-wide association of companies that provides telecommunication services throughout Canada.
CID
Caller ID is the phone number of an incoming phone call
CNAM
The Caller Name of an incoming phone call.
CRTC
The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission is an independent public authority in charge of regulating and supervising Canadian broadcasting and telecommunications.
CTIA
Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association. Represents the U.S. wireless communications industry and companies throughout the mobile ecosystem.
E-911
Enhanced 911 or E-911 is a system utilized in North America that provides the caller's location to emergency services.
FCC
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the Commission is the federal agency responsible for implementing and enforcing America's communications law and regulations.
Hosted PBX
A Hosted Private Branch Exchange is a telephone switching system hosted in the cloud; it is often managed by a third-party service provider who charges a monthly fee for maintenance and real-time support.
IP
The Internet Protocol is the Internet's addressing system.
LPC
Linear Predictive Coding was invented in 1996 by two Japanese researchers as a way to convert speech into a digital signal so that it could be stored and played back on computers.
Local Numbers
Local numbers are telephone numbers which are assigned to a specific geographic region. These numbers are typically used by individuals and local businesses.
ML
Machine Learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that uses data and algorithms to continuously improve its accuracy.
MMS
Multimedia Messaging Service. A message that includes multimedia content from a mobile phone to another.
National Numbers
National numbers are telephone numbers which are not region-specific, and were designed to be reachable from an entire country at the same cost.
P2P Messaging
Person-to-Person messaging is defined as a two-way conversation between two mobile devices sent by humans without any applications.
Packet switching
Packet switching works by breaking up data into tiny pieces or packets. To transfer voice over a data network, the human voice is packetized and each piece is marked with the destination it's supposed to reach.
PBX
The Private Branch Exchange connects all the stations (physical phones, fax machines, printers, credit card terminals, and modems) within a private organization to each other, and to the PSTN network.
PSTN
Public Switched Telephone Network, is a network of physical copper and fibre-optic cables that carry electric signals across vast distances for landlines.
Rate Limit
A policy that affects the frequency with which an API can be called. They are put in place to protect server infrastructure from being abused or misused.
SIP
The Session Initiaion Protocol, designed by Henning Schulzrinne in 1996 outlines a set of protocols through which two or more devices on the internet can initiate an audio or video session.
Short Codes A five/six digit telephone number that allows high-throughput, and two-way messaging.
SMS
Short Messaging Service. A text message of up to 160 characters sent from one mobile device to another.
STIR/SHAKEN
Secure Telephony Identity Revisited and Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs. They are two separate initiatives that work to verify the identity of an inbound call in efforts to deter illegal caller ID spoofing.
TCP
The Transmission Control Protocol sorts out how packets of data move back and forth between one computer and another.
TCR
The Campaign Registry is the governing authority for A2P 10DLC.
Toll-free Numbers
Toll-free numbers are telephone numbers that are free of charge for the calling party, and are typically used by businesses when they prefer to fully take on the cost of calls for their users.
TSP
Telephone Service Providers
VoIP
Voice Over Internet Protocol is the capability to transmit voice signals in real time over the internet and telephone network.
WWW
The World Wide Web is an information system that can be accessed on the internet.