Our telecommunications glossary can help you become more familiar with the most important terms, services, and abbreviations in the industry.
Abbreviations
General
- CI – Connectivity Integrator
- USF – Universal Service Fund
Data Center
- CDN – Content Delivery Network
- CRAC – Computer Room Air Conditioner
- DCIM – Data Center Infrastructure Management
- LAN – Local Area Network
- LEED – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
- MSP – Managed Service Provider
- PUE – Power Usage Effectiveness
- RFID – Radio Frequency Identification
- UPS – Un-interruptible Power Supplies
- WUE – Water Usage Efficiency
Networking
- CoS – Class-of-service
- DDOS – Distributed Denial of Service
- DIA – Dedicated Internet Access
- EPL – Ethernet Private Line
- IPV6 – Internet Protocol version 6
- HFT – High Frequency Trading
- MPLS – Multi-Protocol Label Switching
- NAT – Network Address Translation
- NFV – Network Function Virtualization
- NID – Network Interface Device
- NOC – Network Operations Center
- RTD – Round Trip Delay
- RTT – Round Trip Time
- SDN – Software Defined Networking
- SD-WAN – Software Defined Wide Area Network
- SLA – Service Level Agreement
- VDI – Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
- VPN – Virtual Private Network
- WAN – Wide Area Network
Cloud Computing
- DaaS – Desktop as a Service
- DRaaS – Disaster Recovery as a Service
- IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service
- PaaS – Platform as a Service
- SaaS – Software as a Service
Voice
- CSP – Communications Service Provider
- Hosted PBX – Hosted Phone System
- POTS – Plain Old Telephone Service
- PRI – Primary Rate Interface
- SIP – Session Initiated Protocol
- UCaaS – Unified Communications as a Service
- VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol
Definitions of terms
General
Connectivity Integrator
Connectivity Integrators (CIs) are provider-neutral technology experts who help customers research, price, design, obtain, implement, and offer support for integrated cloud, data center, networking, and telecom solutions. CIs often source these solutions from multiple service providers.
Universal Service Fund
The FCC manages a system of programs and policies in order to implement the principle of Universal Service. According to this principle, all people living in the United States should have access to communications services, including phone and high-speed Internet services. The Universal Service Fund refers to the subsidies and fees (paid for by telecommunications providers) that allow the FCC to promote Universal Service.
Data Center
Colocation
Service that allows businesses to place their network, server, storage and other ancillary gear in specifically designed facilities, and interconnect them to a variety of telecommunications and other network service provider(s)
Content Delivery Network
Large system of data center-deployed servers that make digital media available to end users
Dark fiber
Unused network infrastructure, which can be useful to businesses that anticipate high levels of growth and change in their high bandwidth data connections
Power Usage Effectiveness
A measure of data center efficiency determined by dividing total facility power by total IT equipment power
Networking
DIA (Dedicated Internet Access)
Business-focused Internet solution that is delivered via a fiber network and that allows customers to use a specific amount of bandwidth designated solely for their use
Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks
An attempt to make a web service unavailable by flooding its bandwidth or resources with multiple traffic sources
Ethernet
A networking solution that allows businesses to easily extend their LAN environment to seamlessly serve other locations, resulting in greater operational efficiency
IP Transit
The transmission of network traffic over a computer network, thereby granting end users access to the Internet
IPv6
The latest Internet Protocol version (a replacement of IPv4) that provides a much larger address pool than IPv4
MPLS Network
Multi-protocol label switching, which carries data over short path labels instead of long network addresses
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Simply put, a Service Level Agreement (or SLA) is a contract that outlines the level of service and performance standards that a customer can expect from a service provider.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A network that uses a public system (such as the Internet) to deliver information over a private network, such as a business’s internal network
Wavelength
A fully managed, private, point-to-point service delivered over a state-of-the-art dense wave division, multiplexing network
Cloud Computing
Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
The outsourcing of a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to a third party service provider
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)
A cloud-based data protection service that allows businesses to use applications and tools that are delivered from a geographically diverse, hardened and secure data center with built-in redundancy
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Roughly speaking, the physical part of the cloud, such as the applications, software, hardware, and storage that third parties host for their customers
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
A cloud computing service that offers end users a platform or operating system with which they can develop, run, and manage applications
Software as a Service (SaaS)
A software delivery model in which software and associated data are centrally hosted in the Cloud
Voice
Hosted PBX
SIP Trunking
Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) enables the digital streaming of voice and data, thereby using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology for telephony services
Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS)
A solution that offers simplified message management that keeps messages organized into a single interface, accessible from a variety of different devices
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
A digital telephony service that uses the Internet to deliver dial tone and voice transmissions
Voice PRI
A 24 channel voice T1 with a channel dedicated to data