IVR and VoIP Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W

A

A&B Bits. These are the signaling bites used in a telephony environment to signal information.

A&B Signaling. Used in a T1 calls to carry dialing and control information.

ACD Automatic Call Distributor. This is another name for PBX.  It does four things: answer calls, look in a database for instructions, will send the call, based on instructions to a recording “Hello, thank you for calling…” or send the call to a hunt group or operator.

Analog. Telephone transmissions that are not digital.  Older POTS style.

Analog / Digital Converter, also called A to D converter.  Converts signals from analog to digital and reverse.  See Multiplexer.

ANI Automatic Number Identification. The number of the calling person.  This is what is displayed on your phone before you answer the call.

API Application Programming Interface. A series of functions supplied by a card vendor to allow interaction with their drivers.  Most vendors have a series of API’s. In VBVoice we use the API to talk to the card.

ASR Automated Speech Recognition.

Asynchronous Mode. When a function call or task is simply called, like playing a wav file, and the process returns to the main thread and waits for notification that the process has completed.  Term is used mainly in database lookups where the main thread is not locked while the system waits for results.

Auto-attendant. The IVR application that answers and directs all incoming calls.

B

B Channel. An ISDN channel used to convey audio or data rather than signaling.  See D channel.

Baby Bell. Local phone companies in the US responsible for local calls.

Battery or UPS. All phone systems run on DC power.  They all have battery power backups and use this to smooth the AC power dips and spikes.  UPS means Uninterrupted Power Supply.

Basic Rate Interface. Uses just one B-channel for audio and one D-channel for data.  (2 channels or lines).  Mainly in Europe, and it’s as cheap as analog.

Busy. A tone to signal line is in use.

Cadence. In voice processing cadence is the pattern of sound and silence generated in an audio signal.  Examples are busy and ring tones.  One second of tone followed by three seconds of silence to signify a ring.

C

Call Center. A business where calls are answered or made.  Can be as small as one person or as big as hundreds of agents.

Call Completion. In telephony this is when two parties are connected.  A complete circuit has been made.  NOT to be confused with call hang-up.

Call Progress Analysis. This is the technology that listens for tones being returned by the network to indicate what is happening during a call.  For example, using Call Progress Analysis is what is used to determine what the results of an outbound call were.

Call Progress Monitoring. Analogous to Call Progress Analysis, but Monitoring may need to be active during the entire call.  Reasons may be that the network isn’t returning a disconnect signal that the board is expecting and it may have to listen for a dial tone in order to recognize a disconnect.

Call Progress Tone. Busy tone, dial tone, ring tone, etc.

Call Supervision. Another term for Call Progress Analysis.

Caller ID. See ANI.

Called ID. See DNIS.

CAS  Channel Associated Signaling. A form of out-of-band signaling used in both T1 and E1.  It’s a type of ISDN protocol.

CO Central Office. Be it Bell, ITT, Qwest, Sprint, etc.

CO Lines. The lines connecting your office to the CO.

CO Simulator. A test unit that acts line a mini CO.  Supplies tones, disconnect signals, simulates on-hook off-hook, etc.

Channel.  A line, a single path of communication.  Not to be confused with ports.

Channel Bank. Also called a T1 Multiplexer or MUX. A Channel Bank is not required.  Typically, the channel bank in a T-1 voice application connects T-1 channels to various kinds of local analog telephone lines that are connected, ultimately, to a telephone. The T1 voicecard replaces the channel bank in this type of configuration and typically terminates the individual channel at a Dialogic voice channel instead of a telephone.

CSU Channel Service Unit. A CSU is required in most cases when connecting directly to the public T-1 network. The CSU provides functions such as loopback capabilities for running diagnostic tests to locate where problem conditions are occurring on the T-1 chain. Some CSU’s have dialing capability for performing remote diagnostics. The CSU is the last point where the signal is regenerated as it leaves the network. It also provides line equalization and voltage protection for Telephone Company and customer premise equipment, monitors the T-1 line for violations, and can generate "keep alive" signals and error condition messages. A "keep alive" signal is a bit stream of all "ones" used to power repeaters in the circuit when there is no activity on the line

Co-articulation. A term used in ASR when some constants are omitted during normal conversation.  Examples being seven nine and test tube.  There pronounced seven-ine and test-ube.  Hard for discrete recognizers.

Codec. A function for converting and compressing audio signals.

Conference. Where three or more talkers can speak or hear each other.

Compression. The changing of information so as to use less space (fewer bits) to transmit data.  Part of different codecs (G723, G729, etc).

Continuous speech. A term used to describe speech that comes in a relatively short period of time.  Can include Co-Articulation.

CTI. Computer Telephony Integration.  General term for PC computers and Phone board configurations used to create IVR’s.

Custom Control. A special interface element, like a button or scroll bar made by a third party.  VBVoice is an example of a series of custom controls.

D

D Channel. Data channel on an ISDN line.  Used to transmit calling information like dialed digits.  This form of out-of-band processing allows for faster responses.

Dial String. The string of characters used to represent a dialing process.  They will either be numbers for DTMF transmission or URL address for VoIP transmission.

Dial Tone. The sound you hear when you pick up the phone.  Provided by either the CO or your PBX.

Digital Trunk. Generic name for the T1/E1 line.  Transmission is digital, not analog.

Disconnect. The signal to indicate that one party has hung up.

DNIS Dialed Number Information Service. This is the called number.  Used to route calls if a business has more than one posted number.

DSP Digital Signal Processor. Specialized chip to do real time processing of audio or video.  DSP’s are found on most phone cards.

DTMF. Dual Tone Multi-Frequency.  Fancy term for the tones generated by pushing buttons.

DTMF Cut-through. Ability to respond immediately to a received DTMF tone even when playing a prompt.

E

E1 – European Digital lines.

Event. Something that happens during a call flow.  Events are where code is placed so that it is tripped at the appropriate time during the call flow.

F

Fax Broadcast. Where one copy of a document is sent to several phone numbers.

Fax-on-demand. Used to provide hard copy of information to a caller.  Typical application is; Doctor calls Insurance Company.  Patient’s policy number is entered, doctors fax number is entered, and hard copy of coverage is faxed back to doctor.

Fax Synthesis. Ability to create a fax document from database information, only.

Fast Busy. A tone generated.  Twice as fast as a busy.

Fiber. The strand of glass wire used in optical cable.

Flash-Hook. A brief on hook period to place a call into a hold.  Produces by depressing the hook switch.  Can be done from a card.

G

Glare. Imagine that you want to make a phone call, at the same time someone is trying to call you,  before it can ring, you pick up the handset and somebody who was calling you is on the line saying “Hello Hello”.    This is glare.

Grunt Detection. A crude form of voice detection that responds to sound or silence.  Doesn’t understand speech.

H

Hunt. The process of a call reaching a group of lines.

Hunt Group. The way several lines are organized so that calls are routed to a free line.  Groups are common in sales, tech support, and most departments where several people do the same job.

I

In-Band Signaling. Signaling that doesn’t need a second channel.  Examples are touch tone digits, they are on the same channel.  T1 Robbed bit is also in-band.

IVR. Interactive Voice Response. This is what answers the phone in an automated system.

ISP.  Internet Service Provider. The portal to Internet access.  Needs to supply features for VoIP transport.

L

Loop Current. Current that flows when there is a live connection through an analog phone line.

M

Mailbox. A folder or file where messages are stored for a single owner.

Menu. A list or selection choice.  Used to refer to choices given in an IVR.  For example Press 1 for … Press 2 for…

Mezzanine Bus. Used to transmit information between multiple cards in the same machine.  Examples are SC Bus, H100 Bus.

Mu-Law Encoding. The encoding used for wav files used by North American phone system phrases.  Also called U-Law.

MVIP Multi Vendor Integration Protocol. Usually refers to Mitel’s voice bus.  Has been adopted by other non-Dialogic vendors.  Term will be used in VBVoice to force MVIP or SCBUS Bridging for conferencing.  MVIPBridging = Yes or No.

O

OCX. The file extension of an Active X control.  VBVoice uses OCX files for most of its controls.

OffHook. When you lift the receiver the line has gone OffHook.  Alerts the PBX or CO that the user will want to do something.

OLE Control. Custom controls use OLE Interfaces to talk to Active X or OCX code.

OnHook. Phone is on its cradle.  Line is not active.

OnHook Dialing. Allows a caller to dial without going off-hook.  Not very common.

Operator Intercept. When invalid numbers are dialed or an error condition occurs an operator intercept may occur.  SIT tones are played followed by the message explaining the problem.

Out-of-band Signaling. The signaling is on a separate channel from the one carrying voice or data.

P

PABX or PBX Private (Automatic) Branch Exchange. Often referred to as a switch.  Does phone switching for a business.

Pay-per-call. Service where a caller is charged for the service provided.  Weather, stock prices, and sports scores are examples.

POTS. Plain Old Telephone System or Service.  Usually an analog service is meant.

PAMD or PVD.   Positive Answering Machine Detection.  Positive Voice Detection. Algorithm used to detect whether a person answered a phone or not.

Power Dialer. See Predictive Dialer.

Predictive Dialer. Automated system that makes outbound calls.  When the call is answered it transfers the call to an agent.

PRI Primary Rate Interface. Is the ISDN equivalent of a T1 circuit.  All ISDN lines are PRI.

PSTN. Public Switched Telephone Network.  Bell, AT&T, Qwest, Sprint, etc.  Worldwide telephone network, run by private companies.

Pulse Dialing. Old rotary dialing system.

Pulse to Tone Converter. A device that recognizes the clicks of a rotary dial and translates it to tone.  Used to be present on older boards but has all but vanished from all boards.

R

Ring. The event that triggers a phone call.  A device receives a voltage charge in analog or a bit switch in T1 and it has been programmed to understand that this is an incoming call.

RJ11. The four wire connector used on most phones.

RJ45. The network connector used to connect T1 lines.  Also network cables.

S

SDK. Software Development Kit.  A set of libraries and documentation needed to create applications using an operating system.

Seize. The process of grabbing a line prior to making a call.

Span Line. A T1 line.

Speech-to-text. Another term for Automated Speech Recognition.

Station Card.  Specialized card that can send a voltage to a handset to cause it to ring.  Used in call centers.

Supervised Transfers. A call transfer made by an automated device, that attempts to determine the results.  Answer, busy so on.

T

T1. Digital transmission line.

TAPI. Telephone Application Programming Language.  Microsoft’s API for telephone.  Mainly used by Mitel to connect IVR to their switch.

Text-to-speech. TTS.  Process of converting text to audio.  Several manufactures.  We are compliant with SAPI protocols.

Time Slot. One channel on a TDM transmission.

Twisted Pair. Two insulated copper wires.  Two wires is what is needed for a single channel in analog.

V

Voice Board. Another name for phone board.  A add in board to allow telephone processing in a PC.

Voice Mail. A system that records messages and stores them for later retrieval.

Voice Recognition. Ability of a machine to understand human speech.  Known as ASR.  Salt and Nuance are examples.

W

Wink. A signal that is sent in a T1 transmission to signal a call is coming.