ANALOG In telephone transmission, the signal being transmitted - voice, video or image - is "analogous" or similar to the original signal. The signal is not digital.

ASP Application Service Provider. An ASP provides applications-and all the IT infrastructure and support services needed to deliver them-to customers on a subscription basis. ASPs typically host applications at a remote data center and deliver them to customers via the Internet or a private network.

ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode - Very high speed transmission technology, ATM is a high bandwidth, low-delay, connection-oriented, packet-like switching and multiplexing technique.

BACKBONE The part of the communications network which carries the heaviest traffic. The backbone is also that part of a network which joins LANs together - either inside a building or across a city or county.

BANDWIDTH The width of a communications channel or capacity to move information. In analog communications, bandwidth is typically measured in Hertz - cycles per second. In digital communications, bandwidth is typically measured in bits per second (bps).

BROADBAND A transmission facility providing bandwidth greater than 45 Mbps (T3). Broadband systems are generally fiber optic in nature and support wide area networks.

CATV CAble TeleVision A broadband transmission facility; generally, it uses 75 ohm coaxial cable carrying many TV channels divided by frequency, each separated by guard channels.

CHANNEL BANK A device which puts many slow-speed voice or data conversations onto one high-speed link and controls the flow of those "conversations." A channel bank is typically the device that sits between a digital circuit - say a T1 - and a couple of dozen voice grade lines coming out of a PBX.

CLEC Competitive Local Exchange Carrier A term coined for the deregulated, competitive telecommunications environment envisioned by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. A CLEC competes on a selective basis for local exchange service, as well as other services such as long distance, international, Internet access and video. CLECs build or rebuild their own local loops, wired or wireless. They may also lease local loops from ILECs at wholesale rates for resale to end users.

CO Central Office. A telephone company facility within which all local telephone lines terminate and which contains the equipment required to switch customer telecommunications traffic. DSL service works up to 18,000 feet from the CO.

COLOCATION Placement of switching equipment within another carrier's central office. CLECs typically colocate within an incumbent local exchange company's central office. Customers may collocate within OneEighty Communications' central office.

CPE Customer Premises Equipment A telecommunications term that refers to any equipment located at the customer's premises. DSL modems and routers are CPE, as are PCs, telephones, TVs, scanners, and much more. These devices or terminating equipment--such as terminals, telephones, and modems--are generally supplied by the telephone company, installed at customer sites, and connected to the telephone company network.

DARK FIBER Unused fiber through which no light is transmitted or installed fiber optic cable not carrying a signal. Sometimes dark fiber is sold by a carrier without the accompanying transmission service and the customer "lights" the fiber with their own electronics and signals on the fiber.

Data CLEC A Competitive Local Exchange Carrier focusing on IP (Internet Protocol) data communications links and not providing traditional voice telecommunications.

DEMARC The demarcation point between the wiring that comes from your local telephone company and the wiring you install to hook up your telephone system - your customer provided equipment wiring.

DIGITAL In telecommunications, in recording or in computing, digital is the use of a binary code to represent information. Analog signals - like voice or music - are encoded digitally by sampling the voice or music analog signal many times a second and assigning a number to each sample. Digital transmission has two benefits. First, the signal can be reproduced precisely and is much "cleaner" than analog transmission. The second major benefit of digital is that the electronic circuitry to handle digital is becoming less expensive and more powerful. It's the stuff of computers.

DID Direct Inward Dial The ability for a caller outside a company to call an internal extension without having to pass through an operator or attendant.

ELEC Enterprise Local Exchange Carrier Generally, a larger corporation or organization (e.g., a university) that operates as its own local exchange carrier (LEC) as a means of obtaining better carrier rates for itself, possibly selling services to others for a profit. ELECs could be considered a subset of CLECs. See also LEC, ILEC, ELEC, and enterprise network. A term for a widely dispersed, multifaceted telecommunications network for a particular purpose or organization; a term for an organization's telecommunications networking services and equipment.

ETHERNET A local area network used for connecting computers, printers, workstations, terminals, servers, etc. within the same building or campus. Ethernet operates over twisted wire and over coaxial cable at speeds up to 10 million bits per second (Mbps).

EXTRANET An internet-like network which a company operates to conduct business with its employees, its customers and/or it suppliers. Extranet is typically accessed from a web site.

FACILITIES-BASED CARRIER A telecommunications carrier that owns most of its own facilities, such as switching equipment and transmission lines. Non-facilities based carriers are known as resellers.

FCC Federal Communications Commission The federal agency authorized by the Communications Act of 1934 to regulate all interstate and international communications; responsible for radio, television, wire, satellite and cable transmissions.

FIBER A shortened term for "fiber optic," fiber is made of very pure glass. Digital signals, in form of modulated light, travel on strands of fiber for long distances. Fiber can carry far, far more information over much, much longer distances than traditional copper. Low data loss, high-speed transmission, large bandwidth, small physical size, light weight and freedom from electromagnetic interference and grounding problems are some of the advantages of fiber optic cable. There are five common types: single, dual, quad, stranded and ribbon.

FRAME RELAY Frame relay services, as delivered by telecommunications carriers, employ a form of packet switching in a protocol independent environment. Not only can any set of data be accepted, switched and transported across the network, but the specific control data associated with the payload is undisturbed in the process of encapsulation.

GIGABIT In transmission terms, exactly one billion bits, or one thousand million bits. One Gbps is one billion bits per second.

GIGABIT ETHERNET Formally approved in 1998, gigabit Ethernet addresses the bandwidth problem in 10/100 Mbps Ethernet networks, which are beginning to max out due to bandwidth-intensive, multimedia-based Internet and Intranet applications. Physical transmission is over fiber optic cable. Gigabit Ethernet is primarily applied in a backbone, for interconnecting lesser Ethernet hubs.

ICP Integrated Communications Provider A fancy name for a CLEC that has passed beyond being an "ordinary" CLEC, which tends to rent ILEC circuits, into one that builds its own circuits and has a more comprehensive sales and marketing strategy.

ILEC Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier A traditional, old, incumbent Local Exchange Carrier which was never part of the Bell System. The CLECs directly compete with ILECs.

INP Interim Number Portability The ability of an end user to keep an established phone number despite changing carrier, location or type of service; used until LNP (Local Number Portability) is available.

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network Essentially a totally new concept of what the world's telephone system should be. ISDN's "vision" is to overcome the deficiencies of today's public switched phone network. Features include call waiting, credit card calling and caller identification (to name just a few). ISDN comes in two basic flavors: BRI which is 144,000 bits per second and designed for the desktop and in North America, PRI, which is 1,544,000 bits per second.

IP Internet Protocol is the most important of the protocols (languages) on which the Internet is based. The IP Protocol is a standard describing software that keeps track of the Internet's addresses for different nodes, routes outgoing messages and recognizes incoming messages. It allows a packet to traverse multiple networks on the way to its final destination.

ISP Internet Service Provider A vendor who provides access for customers to the Internet and World Wide Web. An ISP typically provides a core group of internet services such e-mail. The user typically reaches his ISP by either dialing-up with their own computer, modem and phone line, or over a dedicated line installed by the ISP or local phone company.

INTRANET A private network that uses Internet software and standards. In essence, an Intranet is a private Internet reserved for use by people who have been given the authority and passwords necessary to use that network.

IXC Inter-Exchange Carrier AT&T, MCI, Sprint, and all the long-distance carriers are called inter-exchange carriers, in contrast to a local exchange carrier (LEC).

LAN Local Area Network A geographically localized network consisting of both hardware and software. LANs link personal computers, workstations, printers, file servers and other peripherals. Devices on a LAN typically transmit data inside buildings or between buildings located near each other.

LAST MILE An imprecise term that typically means the link - usually twisted pair - between an end-user and the telephone company central office - local, long distance or Internet. Generally provisioned with twisted-pair cable intended to support voice-grade analog service, the "last mile" is the source of much difficulty for high-speed data services.

LATA Local Access and Transport Areas Sometimes called Service Areas; a local geographic area, designated by area code, within which a local telecommunications company may offer its services, be they local or long distance.

LEC Local Exchange Carrier The telephone company that provides local telephone service. Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the term LEC has been replaced by ILEC.

LINE In traditional telecommunications, a line is an electrical path (two wires) between a phone company central office and a subscriber. In carrier systems, a line is the portion of a transmission system that extends between two terminal locations. A great deal of confusion surrounds the term.

LNP Local Number Portability Offers subscribers the ability to change telephone company and still keep their phone number. The system works for voice, data and video lines, residential and business lines. LNP facilitates fair and open market competition in the local telecommunications industry.

LOCAL LOOP The physical connection from the subscriber's premise to the carrier's Point of Presence. The local loop can be provided over any suitable transmission medium, including twisted pair, fiber optic, coax or microwave. The local loop typically goes from the demarc in the phone room closet to the central office. The subscriber is responsible for extending the connection from the demarc to the phone or other device.

MAN Metropolitan Area Network A high-speed data intracity network that links multiple locations within a campus, city, or LATA (Local Area Transport Area). It typically extends as far as 50 kilometers, operates at speeds from 1 Mbit/s to 200 Mbps and provides an integrated set of services for real-time data, voice and image transmission.

OC Optical Carrier A carrier is a signal of a continuous frequency that is capable of being modified in a pattern that conveys information; an optical carrier conveys digital signals in the form of modulated light.

OSI Open System Interconnection Those standards allowing free and open sharing of data between any computer systems on any network; developed by ISO (International Standards Organization).

OSS Operational Support Systems Those procedures supporting the day-to-day operation of a telecommunications infrastructure; these include the automatic systems which support order placement, equipment assessment, line testing, billing, and customer tracking.

PACKET Generic term for a bundle of data, usually in binary form, organized in a specific way for transmission.

PBX Private Branch Exchange A small version of the phone company's larger central switching office. APBX is far more flexible than a central-office based Centrex. APBX has more features and can change them more easily and quickly.

PCLEC Packet Competitive Exchange Carrier A LEC coined this term to align itself with the rapid innovation and service deployment in the PC industry, and strives to provide new services at speeds and customer satisfaction levels not found in the current telecommunications industry.

PLATFORM A loosely-defined word for a software operating system and/or open hardware, which an outsider could write software for. Windows 98 is a platform.

POP Point of Presence A physical place where a carrier has a presence for network access, a POP generally is in the form of a switch or router.

POTS Plain Old Telephone Service A historical term for basic telephone service over two-wire copper loop and out to the PSTN.

PRI Primary Rate Interface The ISDN equivalent of a T-1 circuit.

PBX Private Branch Exchange A private telephone switching system, usually located on a customer's premises with an attendant console. It is connected to a common group of lines from one or more central offices to provide service to a number of individual phones.

PROVISIONING The act of supplying telecommunications service to a user, including all associated transmission, wiring and equipment.

PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network The normal dial-up telephone system that is available for use by the general public. PSTN is the general term referring to the variety of voice telephone networks and services in place worldwide. In the U.S., it is sometimes called basic telephone service, or POTS.

PTO Public Telecommunications Operator Frequently called PTT (Post, Telephone, and Telegraph) in the past. These are the "telephone companies" in many countries outside of North America. Historically government-owned, many have been or are in the process of being sold to private investors.

RBOC Regional Bell Operating Company Local or regional telephone company that owns and operates telephone lines and switches in one of seven U.S. regions. The RBOC was created by the divestiture of AT&T. Also called BOC.

REDUNDANCY Having one or more "back up" systems available in case of failure of the main system.

RESELLER A company which rents or leases most circuits or buys bulk time from a carrier and then resells the services to customers under their own name. A reseller does not own facilities.

ROUTER In the strictest terms, a router is an interface between two networks. Routers are highly intelligent devices which connect like and unlike LANs, Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) and WANs. Routers send their traffic based on a high level of intelligent inside themselves. This intelligence allows them to consider the network as a whole. The main provider of routers in the world is Cisco Systems.

SCALABILITY Refers to technology applications that can be made greater or smaller without quantum leaps in cost.

SMDS Switched Multimegabit Data Service A public, connectionless, switched data service, offering access rates from sub-T1 through DS3. Generally used for LAN-to-LAN interconnections, SMDS provides reasonable security, multicast capability, network management through SNMP, and can meet a variety of needs.

SONET Synchronous Optical Network A family of fiber optic transmission rates from 51.84 million bits per second (Mbps) to 13.27 gigabits (thousand million) per second, created to provide the flexibility needed to transport many digital signals with different capacities and to provide a design standard for manufacturers. SONET is an optical interface standard that allows internetworking of transmission products from multiple vendors. SONET transmission systems are ideally laid out in a physical ring for purposes of redundancy.

SP Service Provider A company that offers a variety of connections to the Internet. These connections may include corporate virtual private dialup network (VPDN) home gateways, wholesale dial for ISPs, leased-line access to corporations, and individual dial access. See also ISP.

SWITCH A mechanical, electrical or electronic device which opens or closes circuits, completes or breaks an electrical path, or selects paths or circuits. A switch looks at incoming data (voice data or data data) to determine the destination address. Based on that address, a transmission path is set up through the switching matrix between the incoming and outgoing physical communication ports and links. Switches are less intelligent routers, but they are faster and less expensive.

T1 LINE A digital transmission link with a total signaling speed of 1,544,000 Mbps. T-1, which stands for "trunk level 1" is a standard for digital transmission in North America. T-1 is often delivered on fiber optic transmission systems by local telephone companies, where fiber is available.

TRUNK A communication line between two switching systems. The term switching systems typically includes equipment in a central office (the telephone company) and PBXs. A tie trunk connects PBXs. Central office trunks connect a PBX to the switching system at the central office. A trunk group is a group of essentially like trunks that go between the same two geographical points. With a trunk group, you can carry multiple conversations.

VLAN Virtual Local Area Network A means by which LAN users on different physical LAN segments are afforded priority access privileges across the LAN backbone in order that they appear to be on the same physical segment. Although users are not on the same physical, it appears as if they are.

VOIP Voice Over IP Voice over Internet protocol is the technology used to transmit voice conversations over a data network using the Internet Protocol. Such data network may be the Internet or a corporate Intranet.

VPN Virtual Private Network A way that private data can safely pass over a public network, such as the Internet. The data traveling between the two hosts are encrypted for privacy using both hardware and software solutions.

WAN Wide Area Network A data network typically extending over a data communications link to another network in another location. A WAN typically uses common carrier lines. The jump between a LAN and a WAN is made through a bridge or a router.

WWW World Wide Web That world of information that one can get to by accessing the Internet; also, the protocols and conventions by which we get at this information.

Beginning Internet Terms

Attachment: A digital file sent via e-mail. Any file type can be sent as an attachment. Recommended file size is 1 MB or less.

Backbones: A high-speed line or series of connections that form a major pathway within a network. The term is relative, as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone lines in a large network.

Bandwidth: How much info you can send through a connection. Usually measured in "bits per second." A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can move about 15,000 bits in one second. Full-motion, full-screen video would require roughly 10,000,000 bits per second, depending on compression. When sending or receiving information over the Internet the bandwidth of the backbones, the modem speed and the compression of data are key determinants of speed.

Bookmark/Favorites: Frequently visited sites marked in your web browser to be easily accessed at another time.

Browser: Software that allows users to view pages. You tell the Browser what you want to look at by calling a URL. Browsers are similar to television broadcast affiliates, like ABC, CBS or CNN. The two most popular Browsers on the Internet are Netscape and Internet Explorer.

AOL has its own browser interface but is considered an ISP (Internet Service Provider) because it allows access to the Internet and rents space for e-mail with a monthly fee.

Chat Room: A web site offering open forums of discussion on different subjects. A search engine can be used to find chat rooms.

Cookie: A file sent to a browser by a web server that is used to record one's activities on a web site.

Dial-Up: A dial-up account through an Internet Service Provider that allows you to use your modem to make a connection to your provider's system, providing you with access to the Internet and use of email.

Domain Name: The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain names always have two or more parts separated by dots. The domain name suffix is assigned based on the type of organization. For U.S. domains, the suffixes are:

.com = corporations
.mil = military organization
.edu = educational institutions
.net = network provider
.org = non-profit organizations
.gov = government institution

Download: The method by which users access or "pull down" or copy software or other files from the Internet, usually via a modem.

Emoticon: Another name for a smiley--a sequence of keyboard characters used to punctuate a message or posting by expressing the writer's emotional state. For example: a smile :-) sadness :-( a wink ;-)

Encryption: A way of coding the information in a file or email message so that if it is intercepted by a third party as it travels over a network it cannot be read. If ordering online with a credit card make sure the site provides encryption.

FTP: File transfer protocol. It allows a user to log in to a site, examine file directories, and send or receive files. Most ftp sites permit anonymous logins. This means that you give the user name "anonymous" and use your mail address as a password.

Hits: In relation to sites on the Internet, refers to a request for information or a graphic. When a site has a lot of graphics, each graphic will count as a hit. As a business site, you will want a lot of hits on your site. Hits indicate visitors or traffic. As with every form of advertising, the more exposure you receive the greater the chance for sales. Registering your web site increases the chances of getting traffic.

Home Page: The starting point of a web site and a sort of navigational chart for what is at the web site, offering direct links to the different parts of the site.

HTML: HyperText Markup Language. The computer language used to create hypertext documents or web pages.

HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The set of standards used by computers to communicate and share files with each other.

Internet: An electronic communications network that connects computer networks worldwide. Also referred to as "the Net."

Internet Service Providers: Also called ISPs. The remote computer system to which you connect your personal computer and through which you connect to the Internet. ISPs that you access by modem and telephone line are often called dial-up services.

IP Number: Internet Protocol Number, sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots. For example: 165.113.245.2. Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number, or it is not really connected to the Internet.

ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network. ISDN is a way to move more data over existing regular phone lines. ISDN is rapidly becoming available to much of the USA (hookup is available through OneEighty Communications) and in most markets it is priced very comparably to standard analog phone circuits. It can provide speeds of roughly 128K bits per second over regular phone lines. In practice most people will be limited to 56K or 64K bits per second.

Links/Hypertext: A way of presenting information in which text, sounds, images and actions are linked together in a way that allows you to jump around between them. Your cursor will become a hand when you mouse over an active link.

Modems: (MOdulator - DEModulator); a device that you connect to your computer and to a phone line which allows the computer to talk to other computers through the phone system.

Basically, modems do for computers what a telephone does for humans. The speed of communication to and from your computer is governed on the higher end by the speed that your modem can send and receive data. In other words, you can only go as fast as your modem can relay or receive in bits per second. The speed your data is relayed to and from your modem is determined by your phone line, your server's connection to the backbone, and your server router's capacity.

Newsgroup: Electronic discussion groups consisting of collections of related postings (also called articles) on a particular topic that are posted to a news server. There are thousands of newsgroups covering a wide range of subjects.

Node: Any single computer connected to a network.

Online: Internet access through an ISP. Obtained through dial-up with your modem and computer.

Packet Switching: How data is moved around on the Internet. All the data coming out of a computer is broken up into chunks, each chunk has an address telling where it came from and where it is going. This enables the chunks of data from any different source to commingle on the same phone lines and be sorted and directed to different routes by special machines along the way (routers). This allows many messages to travel along the phone lines at the same time. The more traffic there is at any one time the smaller chunks the data is broken into and the greater distance between packets, causing slowdowns in transfer of information. If the traffic is very high and the packets are very spread out, your connection may be dropped. This is similar to a busy signal. The larger the backbone you are connected to, the faster your messages can travel.

Protocols: Standards which determine how information will be transferred or translated. HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Hypertext refers to any text that is linked to other text or documents. FTP refers to File Transfer Protocal and is a special log-in format to access repositories of files and transfer files from one Internet site to another. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the evolving suite of protocols that define the Internet. Your computer must have TCP/IP software to be a part of the Internet.

Search Engine: A search engine has an interface that allows you to type what you're looking for into a blank field. It then gives you a list of the results of the search which are links you can go directly to. Examples of search engines are:

www.yahoo.com
www.infoseek.com
www.snap.com
www.excite.com
www.webcrawler.com
www.altavista.com

Spamming: The practice of blindly posting messages or advertisements to a large number of unrelated and uninterested newsgroups.

Telnet: The protocol which allows a user at one computer to connect to a program running on another computer.

URL: An acronym for Uniform Resource Locator. URL is the address for a resource or site (usually a directory or file) on the Internet. The most typically used URL is indicated by "http://" or "www"; however, there are variations for newsgroups, download directories, etc. Here are a couple of other important things to remember about URLs:

1. A URL has no spaces and always uses forward slashes;

2. If you enter a URL incorrectly, your browser will not be able to locate the site or resource you want;

3. You can find the URL behind any link by passing your mouse pointer over the link. The pointer will turn into a hand and the URL will appear in the browser's status bar.

Username: Your unique name at an ISP. The first part of your email address before the "@" is your username. Example: username@isp.net.

Web Site: A collection of HTML documents or web pages that represents a company or individual. A web site may be one page that acts simply as an advertising tool, or a large site presenting a company's product line and services with online ordering and more. A homepage refers to a personal site or the "front door" of any web site.

WWW or World Wide Web: You can think of the Web as a worldwide collection of text and multimedia files and other network services interconnected via a system of hypertext documents. The basic elements of the World Wide Web are: HTTP, URL's and HTML. This term has widely been replaced by the term "Internet."