Acronym

Unabbreviated Meaning(s)

3G

Third Generation (of mobile phone standards and technology)

3GPP

3rd Generation Partnership Project (to make a globally applicable 3rd generation)

3GPP2

3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (using 2G CDMA standards compatibility)

ACA

Australian Communications Authority [Australia].

ADC

Analogue-to-Digital Converter.

ASR

Automatic Speech Recognition

AST

Applied Speech Technologies

ATA

Analogue Terminal Adapter (see IAD)

CAE

Customer Access Equipment (see CSS)

CAS

Channel Associated Signaling

CC

Customer Cabling {also: Carbon Copy}

CDMA

Code Division Multiple Access

CDR

Call Data Record / Call Detail Recording/Reporting.

CE

Customer Equipment

CNG*

Calling (Tone) / Comfort Noise Generation {also: Carrier to Noise Generator}

CO

Central Office [Central-Office Telephone Line(s)]

COM

(Abbreviation of) Communications Port (RS322 is the standard)

CPE

Customer Premise(s) Equipment {also: Customer Provided Equipment}

CPT

Call Progress Tone {also /Cellular Paging Teleservice}

CSS

(Analogue or Digital) Customer Switching Systems (see CAE)

CTI

Computer Telephony Integration.

CWTS

China Wireless Telecommunication Standards

DAC

Digital-to-Analogue Converter.

DDD

Direct Distance Dialing.

DECT

Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (European cordless phone standard).

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. [automating computer configuration using TCP/IP]

DID

Direct Inward Dialing

DNS

Digital Network Switch / Domain Name Server/Service.

DOM

Digital Optical/Output Module {also: DoM Disk on Module (Flash memory module)}

DSL

Digital Subscriber Line. See below for DSL types.

DSP

Digital Signal Processing/Processor. Digital Sound Processing. Developer Studio Project (Microsoft file extension)

DSS

Direct Station Select (Selection)

DTMF

Dual Tone Multi-Frequency

DVB

Digital Video Broadcast(ing)

DVI

Digital Video Interactive

ECF

External Call Forward.

EMS

Enhanced Messaging Service (wireless) / Electronic Message System / Electronic Mail Service

ENUM

Electronic Number Mapping.

EPROM

Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory

ETS

Electronic Text Services / Electronic Telephone Set / Electronic Tandem Switching.

FCP

Fixed Cellular Phone.

FCT

Fixed Cellular Terminal.

FEO

Foreign Exchange Office.

FSK

Frequency Shift Keying

FTP

File Transfer Protocol.

FTTP

Fiber to the Premise

FXO

Foreign Exchange Office.

FXS

Foreign Exchange Service/Subscriber.

GAP

Generic Access Profile (Bluetooth, DECT).

GSM

Global System for Mobile Communications (cellular phone technology)

GUI

Graphic User Interface

HIPAA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 [USA].

HMM

Hidden Markov Model (developed by Dr. Lee Kai-fu)

HSD

Home Satellite Dish / High Speed Data

HSDPA

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access

HSPA

High Speed Packet Access

HTN (LCD)

High Twisted Nematic (Liquid Crystal Display) 100 to 110º angle (rarely available)

HTTP

Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

IAD

Integrated Access Device (see ATA)

IDD

International Direct Dialing

IEEE

Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (see: WiFi & WLAN)

IETF

Internet Engineering Task Force. Link

IM

Instant Message(ing) [IM Software].

IOS

Internet Over Satellite / Internet Operating System.

IP

Internet Protocol.

IPV4

Internet Protocol Version 4.

IKE

Internet Key Exchange.

ISDN

Integrated Services Digital Network

ISP

Internet Service Provider.

ISR

Integrated Switch Router {also: Integrated SONET Router (Cisco & Nortel)}

ITFS

International Toll Free Services

ITSP

Internet Telephony Services Provider.

ITU

International Telecommunication Union

ITU-T

International Telecommunication Union -Telecommunication Standardization Sector.

IVR

Integrated/Interactive Voice Response/Recognition {also: IV pRocessing}

LAN

Local Area Network.

LBS

Location-Based Services

LCD

Liquid Crystal Display.

LCR

Least Cost Routing.

LED

Light Emitting Diode [Red/Green/Yellow etc. (indicator) light].

MAC

Media Access Control [the MAC-address].

MDI

Medium(/Media) Dependent Interface [IEEE] Link

MDIX

Medium(/Media) Dependent Interface Crossover

MNP

Mobile Number Portability [Australia].

MoH

Music on Hold

MSN

Multiple Subscriber Number (ISDN)

NAS

Network Attached Storage. Network Access Server. Network Administration System

NASD

Network Accessible Storage Device.

NAT

Network Address Translation/Translator. Name Address Translation. Node Allocation Table

NATA

National Association of Testing Authorities

NEXT

Near-End Cross Talk (a line condition/fault)

NIC

Network Interface Card [PC Ethernet network card].

NPA

Numbering Plan Area (Area/STD Code)

NXX

Network Numbering Exchange (North America)

OBM

Own-Brand Manufacturing

OEM

Original Equipment Manufacturer

P2P

Point to Point [IP to IP or PC to PC].

PABX

Private Automatic Branch Exchange [private telephone switchboard]

PAL

Phase Alternating Line [PAL-B/G (625 lines) is Australian, New Zealand TV Standard]

PBX

Private Branch Exchange [private telephone switchboard]

PoE

Power-Over-Ethernet

POP

Point of Presence [ISP Connecting point].

POT

Plain Old Telephone (service) [the 'phone].

POS (PoS)

Point-of-Sale

POTS

Plain Old Telephone System [the System].

PPPoE

Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet.

PROM

Programmable Read-Only Memory

PSTN

Public Switched Telephone Network.

QoS

Quality of Service.

RAM

Random Access Memory

RF

Radio Frequency

RFC

Request for Comment(s) [3261 Link] [3362 Link]

RoHS

Restriction of Hazardous Substances. Information Guide to RoHS Compliance 

ROM

Read-Only Memory

RTA

Recognised Testing Authority

RTCP

Real-time Control Protocol.

RTP

Real-Time Transport Protocol.

SBC

Service Based Costing / Screen Based Console

SDK

Software Development Kit.

SEC

Secure Electronic Commerce.

SHDSL

Symmetric High-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line

SIP

Session Initiation Protocol. [Single Inline Package/PIN]

SIMPLE

SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions.

SIPPING

Session Initiation Proposal Investigation.

SLT

Single Line Telephone

SMS

Short Message Service [cellular/mobile phone text messaging].

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer [web security protocol (Netscape)]

STD

Subscriber Trunk Dialing

STN (LCD)

Super Twisted Nematic (Liquid Crystal Display) 180º view angle

T.38

T.38 is an ITU standard for sending FAX across IP networks in a real-time mode.

TAD

Telephone Answering Device

TAP

Table-driven Aborting Protocol.

TCP

Transmission Control Protocol.

TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

TDD

Time Division Duplex (Transmits Up/Down-Link traffic same frame/different time slot)

TD-SCDMA

Time Division - Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access

TDM

Telephone Directory Monitor / Time Division Multiplexer/Multiplexing.

TDMA

Time Division Multiple Access

TFT

Thin Film Transistor (Liquid Crystal Display, LCD technology)

TFTP

Trivial File Transfer Protocol [TFTP/FTP]

Telnet

Internet's remote login protocol (not an acronym).

TTS

Text-to-Speech

ULL

Unconditioned Local Loop ["private" Copper line from exchange to Customer]

URL

Universal Resource Locator / Uniform Resource Locator [world wide web address].

UMTS

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

USB

Universal Serial Bus [PC port] / Unified S-Band [Satellite technology].

VAD

Voice Activated Dialing /Activity Detection /Detector.

VoB

Voice over Broadband.

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol.

VPN

Virtual Path Number [Telecommunications] / Virtual Private Network.

VUI

voice User Interface

WAN

Wide(/Wireless) Area Network

WCDMA

Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

WEEE

Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment. WEEE  

WiFi

Wireless Fidelity [IEEE 802.11b wireless networking].

WiMAX

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (based on the IEEE 802.16 standard)

WLAN

Wireless Local Area Network