A
Abbreviated
Dialing
A
feature that permits the calling party to dial the destination telephone
number in fewer than normal digits. Abbreviated Dialing numbers must be
set up in advance of their use. Speed Dialing is a typical example of
Abbreviated Dialing.
Account
Codes
Also
known as Project Codes or Bill-Back Codes. Account Codes are additional
digits dialed by the calling party that provide information about the
call. Typically used by hourly professionals (accountants, lawyers,
etc.) to track and bill clients, projects, etc.
Agent
A
person or organization that acts on behalf of another. In the
telecommunications industry, Agents typically are independent
individuals or companies that market the services of a carrier as if
they were employees of that carrier.
Aggregator
An
independent entity that brings several subscribers together to form a
group that can obtain long-distance service at a reduced rate.
Subscribers are billed by the original IXC. The aggregator only provides
the initial set-up of the plan. He usually provides no service after
that. Different than a reseller.
Alternate
Access
A
form of local access where the provider is not the LEC, but is
authorized or permitted to provide such service.
Alternate
Access Carriers
Local
exchange carriers in direct competition with the RBOCs. Normally found
only in the larger metropolitan areas. Examples are Teleport and
Metropolitan Fiber Systems.
Alternative
Operator Services
Operator
services provided by a company other than a LECRBOC or AT&T that is
authorized to provide such service.
ANI
- See Automatic Number Identification.
Answer
Supervision
The
off-hook indication sent back to the originating end when the called
station answers.
ARI
Automatic
Room Identification (Hotel/Motel room number)
Automatic
Number Identification
Originating
Number
(1)
The number associated with the telephone station(s) from which switched
calls are originated (or terminated).
(2)
A software feature associated with Feature Group D (and optional on
Feature Group B) circuits. ANI provides the originating local telephone
number of the calling party. This information is transmitted as part of
the digit stream in the signalling protocol, and included in the Call
Detail Record for billing purposes.
(3)
ANI may also be used to refer to any phone number.
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B
Baby
Bells - See RBOC Backbone
Ballot
A
release form that authorizes a customer's long-distance phone service to
be switched to (another) long-distance carrier, or reseller. Also know
as a Letter Of Agency or LOA.
BAN
- Billing Account Number
Used
by telephone companies to designate a billing account, i.e., a customer
or customer location that receives a bill. A customer may have any
number of BANs.
Banded
Rates
Tariffed
rates which may be changed by the carrier within a specified range.
Frequently, state commissions require notice to the commission prior to
each change. Banded rates are being used less frequently today.
Bell
Customer Code
A
three-digit numeric code, appended to the end of the Main Billing
Telephone Number, that is used by Local Exchange Carriers to provide
unique identification of customers.
Bell
Operating Company - BOC
The
local (or regional) telephone company that owns and operates lines to
customer locations and Class 5 Central Office Switches. BOCs have
connections to other COs, Tandem (Class 4 Toll) offices and may connect
directly to IECs like WorldCom, AT&T, MCI, Sprint, etc. BOC may
refer to the nineteen Bell Operating Companies that are owned by the
seven RHCs (Regional Holding Companies) (not including Cincinnati Bell
or Southern New England Telephone). The BOC role was originally defined
by the 1982 Modified Final Judgement that specified the terms of the
AT&T Divestiture). For Example, the three BOCs: Mountain Bell,
Northwestern Bell and Pacific Northwest Bell are owned by the U.S. West
RHC. Each BOC may service more than one LATA, but BOCs are generally
constrained from providing long distance service between LATAs.
Billing
Account Number - BAN
Used
by telephone companies to designate a customer or customer location that
will be billed. A single customer may have multiple billing accounts.
Bill-To-Room
A
billing option associated with Operator Assisted calls that allows the
calling party to bill a call to their hotel room. With this option, the
carrier is required to notify the hotel, upon completion of the call, of
the time and charges.
Block
Calls
Prevent
calls from completing to the requested destination. May be due to
network problems (outage, overload, etc.), or by customer request (e.g.
block calls from-or-to certain NPAs, NXXs, States, LATAs, etc.).
BOC
- See Bell Operating Company
Bong
An
interactive signal that prompts the originating end user to enter
additional information. For example: 1010555 Bong (Enter Destination)
Bong (Enter Billing information)
BTN
- Billing Telephone Number
The
phone number associated, for billing purposes, with the Working Phone
Number.
Bypass
Access
an IEC other than the customer's Equal Access carrier by dialing 10+CIC
Code. (e.g. Bypass to WorldCom by dialing "1010555"). See
Walkthrough, CIC Code
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C
Calling
Card
A
telecommunication credit card with an AuthCode for using a long distance
carrier when the customer is away from their home or office (ANI).
Carrier
A
telecommunications provider which owns switch equipment.
Carrier
Identification Code - CIC
A
three digit number used with Feature Groups B and D to access a
particular IEC's switched services from a local exchange line. One or
more CIC codes are assigned to each carrier. (i.e. there may be multiple
CICs per ACNA). See Bypass
Casual
Calling
Allow
any ANI (including undefined ANIs) to access a given carrier. For
example, if the originator is calling from a non-coin phone, they may
dial 1010555+destination number and have the call routed through
WorldCom and billed to the originating phone number.
Casual
Customer
Any
person or organization that dials any CIC Code. (Not necessary to
presubscribe to the carrier.)
Centrex
A
service that is functionally similar to a customer-premise PBX, but
provided by means of equipment located in a Central Office.
CIC
See
Carrier Identification Code (WorldCom = "555")
Class
of Service - COS
A
special limitation on what numbers can and cannot be called.
International, 809, 809 + Canada, 48 contiguous states, etc.
COCOT
Customer
Owned Coin Operated Telephone
Coin
Phone
A
coin-operated pay phone with restricted access to some services (e.g.
International calling). Coin phones have subclasses of Public, Semi
Public, and Private.
Collect
A
call that is paid for by the receiving/destination phone number.
Requires approval/authorization of the person being called.
Common
Carrier
A
carrier that holds itself out as serving the public (or a segment
thereof) indifferently (i.e., without regard to the identity of the
customer and without undue discrimination). Common carriers may vary
rates based on special considerations and may in fact serve only a small
fraction of the general public.
Contract
A
legally-binding agreement between a vendor and a customer to provide
Products, Services or Features in a specified quantity and quality, for
a specified price, during a specified period of time.
Contract
Tariffs
Services
and rates based on contracts negotiated with individual customers, but
theoretically available to all customers. AT&T has filed several
hundred contract tariffs.
CONUS-CONtiguous
United States
The
48 contiguous U.S. states. Used primarily to designate the operating
range or authorization of a satellite or radio facility.
Country
Code
Two
or three digit codes used for International calls outside of the North
American Numbering Plan area codes. Dial: 011 + country code + city code
+ local phone number) (e.g. "011 + 91 + 22 + 123- 4567" 91 =
India, 22 = Bombay)
Cutover
The
exact date/time that a phone number, circuit, etc. is scheduled to be
(or was) moved from one implementation (carrier, etc.) to another. (e.g.
moving an 800 number from MCI to WorldCom).
Cut-Through
Dialing
"10"+CIC+"
#" followed by an AuthCode for IntraLATA calls.
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D
DA
- Directory Assistance
Phone
Number Lookup Service
DAL
- Dedicated Access Line
A
non-switched circuit from the customer to a carrier.
DDD
- Direct Distance Dialing
Any
switched telecommunication service (like 1+, 0++, etc.) that allows a
call originator to place long distance calls directly to telephones
outside the local service area without an operator.
Deactivation
A
request to terminate service (or the process of terminating service)
Dedicated
Line
A
private line leased from a telecommunications carrier.
Default
Carrier
Your
regular Dial-1 carrier. Call 1-700-555-4141 to find your default
carrier.
Dial
To
Place A Call On A Switched Network. The term "dial" is
obsolete - based on rotary dial phones and electromechanical relay
switches (which are nearly non-existent in modern telephone systems.)
Touch Tone service recognizes dual tones that are generated as each
telephone key is pressed. Where Touch Tone service is not available,
telephones and switches electronically "pulse" signals that
emulate the older rotary dial telephones. The terms "place" a
call or "originate" a call are more accurate than
"dial".
Dial
Tone
Ready
To Place/Originate A Call. When the off hook indication is received at a
central office, a dial tone signal is sent to the originating caller on
a switched network to indicate that the switch is ready to accept a
number.
Dialer
Equipment
that pulses out a standard dial protocol signal.
Digital
A
device or method that uses discrete variations in voltage, frequency,
amplitude, location, etc. to encode, process, or carry binary (zero or
one) signals for sound, video, computer data or other information. For
example, a digital clock displays the time as discrete numeric values,
rather than angular displacement of analog hands. Digital communications
technology generally permits higher speeds of transmission with a lower
error rate than can be achieved with analog technology. When analog
signals are received and amplified at each repeater station, any noise
is also amplified. A digital signal, however, is detected and
regenerated (not amplified). Unlike amplification, any noise (less than
a valid signal) is eliminated by digital regeneration.
Directory
Assistance - DA
An
information service whereby operators assist customers in obtaining the
telephone number(s) they wish to call.
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E
Equal
Access
(AT&T
Divestiture - 1982 Modified Final Judgement) The provision of one-plus
capability to interLATA competitors of AT&T. Customers should be
able to reach the carrier of their choice by dialing 1+ the
long-distance number. The MFJ and the FCC require local exchange
carriers to provide equal access (most central offices now have this
capability). Equal Access may also refer to a more generic concept under
which the BOCs must provide access services to AT&T's competitors
that are equivalent to those provided to AT&T.
F
Facilities-Based
Carrier - FBC
A
carrier that uses its own facilities to provide service, in contrast
with resellers, that purchase the services of other carriers and then
retail the services to customers. (Most facilities-based carriers use
the services of other carriers to some extent.)
FCC
- Federal Communications Commission
Regulates
interstate communications: licenses, rates, tariffs, standards,
limitations, etc. Appointed by U.S. President .
GHI
IC
Interexchange
Carrier - IXC - IEC (IEC is preferred). A company providing
long-distance phone service between LECs and LATAs.
IEC
- Interexchange Carrier
IC
- IXC (IEC is preferred). A company providing long-distance phone
service between LECs and LATAs.
IEC
Miles - Interexchange Carrier (Long Distance) Miles
IXC
Miles
On
a Price Quote, the coordinates of Location A and Location B are used to
calculate mileage-dependent line charges.
Interexchange
Communication
between two different LATAs.
InterLATA
Communication
between Local Access Transport Areas. 1982 MFJ requires LECs to use an
IEC for InterLATA services.
International
Between
multiple nations.
Interstate
Between
multiple states. Interstate communications are regulated by the FCC.
IntraLATA
Communication
within a Local Access Transport Area. 1982 MFJ allows LEC to handle
these calls without an IEC.
Intrastate
Communication
within a single state. Intrastate communications are regulated by each
state's PUC.
IXC
1)
Interexchange Carrier (IEC is preferred). A company providing
long-distance phone service between LECs and LATAs.
2)
Interexchange Circuit. A circuit that connects PoPs.
IXC
Miles - Interexchange Carrier (Long Distance) Miles
On
a Price Quote, the coordinates of Location A and Location B are used to
calculate mileage-dependent line charges.
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