Even experts need occasional help with telecom terms. We have combined glossaries from several sources to simplify finding the definitions you need.
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The D channel is a packet-switched channel that carries signaling and control for B channels. In Basic Rate ISDN (BRI) applications, it can also support customer packet data traffic at speeds up to 9.6 kilobits per second.
Data Center Colocation provides a secure, dedicated, carrier-grade environment in which customers can colocate their Internet servers, data networking or voice equipment in a Verizon Business Data Center. Customers are required to purchase bandwidth in the datacenter from Verizon Business. Learn more.
Devices and connections, such as printers or modems, of a communications network; connect the communication circuit between the data source and destination.
A carrier that primarily transports data with no voice grade services.
Device that connects data terminal equipment (such as a personal computer or a LAN) to a digital telephone line to allow fully digital communications; in effect, the digital equivalent of a modem.
Refers to devices such as personal computers or data terminals, as opposed to Data Communications Equipment (DCE) such as printers or modems.
See decibel.
A unit used to express power level in decibels relative to one milliwatt.
A unit used to express power level referred to, or measured at, a zero transmission level point (0TLP).
A unit used to express noise power relative to one picowatt measured with C-message weighting.
A unit used to express noise power relative to one picowatt measured with C-message weighting.
A unit used to express noise power in dBrnC referred to, or measured at, a zero transmission level point (0TLP).
See Data Communication Equipment.
See Digital Cross-Connect System Functionality.
The logarithmic unit of signal power ratio most commonly used in telephony. It is used to express the relationship between two signal powers, usually between two acoustic, electric, or optical signals.
Network segment allocated to a single device. Used in LAN switched network topologies.
A private dedicated fiber-based optical ring service. Learn more.
Entry in a routing table that can redirect any frames for which the table has no definitive listing for the next hop.
Amount of time a call spends waiting to be processed.
The part of a routing label that identifies where an SS7 signaling message should be sent.
A type of switched access line address signaling that uses rapid loop open and loop closure signals (pulses) to indicate the digit being dialed. The digits, 1 through 9, are represented by a defined number of pulses; the digit zero is represented by ten pulses.
A type of communication that is established by a switched-circuit connection using the telephone network.
A property of a dialing plan under which all end users dial the same number of digits regardless of which competing carrier is selected to provide transport. Under a plan that provides dialing parity, end users do not have to dial extra digits to use the service of a non-dominant carrier. For example, if a Verizon end user must dial 11 digits (10 +1) to make an intraLATA toll call from community A to community B, a competing carrier's intraLATA toll end user must also be able to make the call by dialing 11 digits.
See Direct Inward Dial.
Any type of information that can be output, transmitted and interpreted as individual bits of binary information (the use of the numbers 0 and 1), using electrical or electromagnetic signals that can be modulated to convey their specific content.
An electronic identifier that ensures a Certification Authority, such as Verizon, that a computer requesting access to specific applications has been verified, registered and secured via message encryption, by Verizon Security.
Functionality that provides electronic cross connection for individual constituent digital signals within a high-speed digital line. There are two unbundled types of DCS available: Narrowband and Wideband. In both cases, the DCS functions are: demultiplexing an incoming higher-rate, electronic digital line into its constituent signals and switching those signals via the matrix to a different time slot on an outgoing higher-rate line. The combination of these functions allows for aggregation, grooming and redistribution of traffic in order to increase network use and efficiency.
Low-cost, digital connections for transmitting simultaneous two-way synchronous data at speeds of 2.4, 4.8, 9.6, 19.2, 56 and 64 Kbps.
A Special Access Service offering a 64 Kbps high-bandwidth dedicated circuit that delivers quality that typically can't be duplicated with unconditioned analog circuits.
A Special Access Service that provides virtually error-free voice, video and data transmission at speeds up to 1.544 Mbps.
A Special Access Service comparable to having 672 voice-grade channels capable of handling multiple data streams in high volume at speeds up to 44.736 Mbps (commonly referred to as a 45 Megabit channel).
A generic name for a group of enhanced speed digital services provided by telephone service providers. DSL services run on twisted-pair wires; they carry both voice and data. See also Verizon High Speed Internet for Business.
Technology that concentrates traffic in ADSL implementations. Located in the central office.
A computer that electronically switches digitally encoded messages through the telephone network. Operates faster, more efficiently and more flexibly than an analog switch.
A mode of transmission in which all information is transmitted in digital form as a serial stream of pulses. Sound waves and other information are converted into binary computer code (a series of 0s and 1s) and transmitted to the end point. At the end point, binary code is converted back into the original format. Digital transmission provides sharper, clearer, faster transmission than analog transmission.
Provides an enhanced channel equivalent to a two-wire loop less than 18,000 feet with total bridge tap less than 6,000 feet from an end user's premises to a point of interconnection in Verizon's central office.
An element, not bundled with a loop or transport facility, which provides digital access to the functionality of a local switching system.
The uni-directional flow or movement of electric charge carriers (which are usually electrons) through a conducting material such as a metal wire.
Connects incoming calls to a specific PBX extension without the assistance of an attendant. Telephone numbers can be assigned in groups of 20 or 100 in most areas.
Transport of Switched Access Service over facilities dedicated to the use of a single Interexchange Carrier, without switching at the tandem, either between the serving wire center and the end office, or between two Interexchange Carrier designated telephone service provider offices.
A database for end user Directory Listing information. Directories are offered in book form as well as via Web based applications.
A service that provides end user Directory Listing information to customers.
A standard directory listing includes the name, address and telephone number of an organization/firm/individual.
Enables one or more lines in a PBX number group to make direct outgoing calls without an attendant's assistance.
The pre-defined use of alternative network circuits to re-establish communications channels in the event that primary channels are disconnected or malfunctioning.
Refers to the source of a reported trouble on a telephone circuit: Dispatch In signifies the problem is likely within the central office and that an inside technician may be assigned to troubleshoot and fix the problem; Dispatch Out signifies the problem is likely on the loop portion of the circuit and that an outside technician has been assigned the problem.
Lets a user receive calls for two different telephone numbers on the same line. Each telephone number has a unique ring tone to alert you which number has been called.
Lets a user receive calls for three different telephone numbers on the same line. Each telephone number has a unique ring tone to alert you which number has been called.
See Data Local Exchange Carrier.
See Digital Signal 0.
See Digital Signal 1.
See Digital Signal 3.
A two-point digital channel which provides for simultaneous two-way transmission of serial, bipolar, return-to-zero isochronous digital electrical signals at a rate of 44.736 Mbps + 20 ppm.
A digital trunk-side port of a local switching system that operates at 1.544 megabits per second and is channelized to provide twenty-four 64 kilobits per second or 56 kilobits per second for the message telecommunications network.
See Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer.
See Digital Service Unit (DSU).
A bay or panel to which high-speed lines such as T-1 lines are attached. Used in small office applications where only a few digital trunks are installed, a DSX permits cross connections.
See Digital Subscriber Line or Verizon High Speed Internet for Business.
See Digital System Cross-Connect Panel or Frame.
Where a device is connected to the network via two independent access points (points of attachment). One access point is the primary connection; the other is a standby connection that is activated in the event the primary connection fails.
A type of switched access line address signaling that uses two tones transmitted simultaneously to indicate a digit (0 to 9) or character (* or #).
A type of Direct Current (DC) signaling that employs symmetrical and balanced signaling equipment at each end of the loop. One simplex conductor of the 4-wire loop is used for signaling and the other simplex conductor is used for ground potential compensation.
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