Free Tools / Glossary
Telecom Glossary
Business phone and VoIP terms, in plain language. No jargon for the sake of jargon.
- Auto Attendant
- An automated menu that greets callers and routes them ('press 1 for sales…'). Also called an IVR.
- Call Queue
- Holds incoming calls in line and distributes them to available staff during busy periods, so callers wait instead of hitting a busy signal.
- Channel
- One concurrent (simultaneous) call on a SIP trunk. A business that needs to handle eight calls at once needs eight channels.
- Cloud PBX
- A business phone system hosted in the cloud rather than on hardware in your office. Your provider maintains it; you use phones and apps that connect over the internet.
- Codec
- The method used to compress and transmit call audio. Common ones include G.711 (high quality, more bandwidth) and G.729 (compressed, less bandwidth).
- DID
- Direct Inward Dialing — a phone number that rings a specific person, team or queue directly, without going through a receptionist or main menu.
- E911 / 911
- Emergency calling. VoIP 911 works differently from traditional lines and requires a registered service address — an important detail when setting up business VoIP.
- Hosted PBX
- Another term for a phone system hosted and maintained by your provider off-site, rather than equipment you run in your own building.
- IVR
- Interactive Voice Response — the automated menu system that lets callers make choices with their keypad or voice to reach the right place.
- Jitter
- Variation in the timing of voice data packets arriving over the network. High jitter causes choppy or robotic-sounding calls.
- Latency
- The delay between speaking and being heard. High latency causes people to talk over each other. Under ~150 ms one-way is ideal for voice.
- LOA
- Letter of Authorization — the signed document that authorizes your new provider to port your phone numbers from your current carrier.
- Number Porting
- Moving your existing phone number from one provider to another so you keep it when you switch. In Canada it's your right, and a good provider handles the paperwork for you.
- Packet Loss
- Voice data that never arrives across the network, heard as dropouts or gaps in a call. Even small amounts noticeably degrade quality.
- PBX
- Private Branch Exchange — the 'brain' of a business phone system that routes calls, manages extensions, and provides features like transfers and voicemail. Can be on-premise or cloud-hosted.
- Ring Group
- A set of phones that ring together (or in sequence) for an incoming call, so it gets answered faster.
- SIP
- Session Initiation Protocol — the standard language VoIP systems use to start, manage and end calls. Most modern phones and PBXs 'speak' SIP.
- SIP ALG
- SIP Application Layer Gateway — a router feature that inspects and often rewrites SIP traffic. It's meant to help but frequently breaks VoIP calls (one-way audio, dropped calls) and is usually best turned off.
- SIP Trunk
- A virtual phone line delivered over the internet that connects your existing PBX to the outside phone network. Each channel carries one call at a time.
- Softphone
- A phone app that runs on a computer or smartphone, letting staff make and take business calls without a physical desk phone.
- Toll-Free Number
- A 1-800/1-888-style number that's free for customers to call, with the cost paid by your business.
- VoIP
- Voice over Internet Protocol — making phone calls over an internet connection instead of traditional phone lines. It's how modern business phone systems work.
Ready to make the switch?
Get a quote or talk to our team about the right setup for your business.