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Glossary of VoIP Terms

ATA (Analogue Telephone Adapter)
ATA stands for Analogue Telephone Adapter, a device which allows a user to use the Localphone service with their regular analogue phone.
Bandwidth
Measured in bits per second, it is the amount of data that can be sent from one computer to another through a particular connection in a certain amount of time. The higher the bandwidth available, the more information you are able to access in a given time.
Broadband
It is a general term for any Internet connection which receives and transmits at a bit rate of 100kbps or greater. Thus, frame relay, T-line connections, cable, DSL, and bonded or multi-channel ISDN are all considered broadband. Single channel ISDN and dialup modem connections are thus "narrow band".
Caller ID
Allows a person receiving a phone call to see who is calling before answering the phone. The caller’s telephone number and/or name is displayed either on your phone (if your phone has this feature). Localphone provides it's users with suite of features to act upon Caller ID. Visit the features section for more...
Codec (Coder / Decoder)
A Codec converts analogue signals to a digital bitstream, and another identical codec at the far end of the communication converts the digital bit-stream back into an analogue signal. In the world of VoIP, codec's are used to encode voice for transmission across IP networks.
Data Packet
Data transmitted over the Internet occurs in blocks of digital data referred to as packets. Although there are many different types of data-audio, e-mail, video, downloads, web pages etc; all use this same basic technology to transmit data. Packet switching, using Ethernet technology is much more efficient than circuit switching, and it is one of the reasons that VoIP is cheaper than traditional telephony.
Digital
Information encoded into a stream of ones and zeroes. Digitally encoded signals usually take up less space than comparable analogue signals. In a digital transmission, the ones and zeroes can be sent very quickly. Additionally, you can send multiple digital signals down a digital line simultaneously: something that is impossible with analogue systems.
Download
The process of transferring data from the Internet to your local computer.
Downstream
The rate of data travelling from the server towards the user.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
DSL is a type of broadband Internet connection. It transmits data over the copper wires of the phone system, but bypasses circuit-switching allowing faster transmission than dial-up but slower than ADSL.
Ethernet
A digital networking system that is packet-based. Each client "broadcasts" their requests into the network and "hubs" or "switches" route the requests to their correct destinations. This process is called "packet switching". Ethernet is the dominant technology used in computer network connections.
Firewall
A security system designed to protect a computer network from unauthorised access, especially via the Internet.
Hardware
All the physical parts of a computer system or network.
Hub
The hub is the common connection point for devices in a network-it has multiple ports to allow for those connections.
Internet
A global network connecting many millions of computers. The single largest and most popular computer network in existence, used the world over.
IP Address (Internet Protocol Address)
The numeric address for a computer or device that is connected to the Internet. Generally seen for example as "68.178.254.18".
ISP (Internet Service Provider)
A company that provides Internet access to consumers. When you connect to the Internet, you do so by connecting to your ISP, who is directly connected to the Internet.
KBPS (Kilobits per second)
A measure of the speed of an Internet connection, giving a maximum figure for how much data it can send or receive in a given time period. Most connections are asynchronous, with a higher download rate than upload.
LAN (Local Area Network)
A small computer network that connects together a small number of computers. Like all the machines in a single office or a home. If your home computer set-up includes a computer and a router, it qualifies as a LAN, even if it only has those two components.
Laptop
A small portable computer. Laptops are lighter and smaller than desktop computers and rely on battery power when in the field.
Modem
A device that allows a computer to transmit and receive data over telephone or cable lines. Computer information is stored digitally, however information transmitted over telephone lines is transmitted in analogue waves. A modem converts between analog and digital, and vice versa,
Network
A group of computers that are connected to each other, with or without wires.
Notebook
(see Laptop)
Packets
A piece of a message transmitted over a packet switching network, it contains a block of data, often compressed, the destination address it is being sent to and a sequence number, to allow the receiving computer to recompile it in the correct place. Packets are transmitted individually, and often follow different routes from source to destination, routing around bottlenecks or disruptions.
Protocol
A communications protocol is the set of standard rules for data representation, signalling, authentication, and error detection which is required to send information over a communications channel.
PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)
This is the traditional phone system, using circuit switching to make and maintain connections for the duration of a phone call. Also referred to as the 'landline' network, it uses a copper wire network to carry analogue voice data. It is also used for dial-up Internet and fax transmission.
Router
A device that connects two or more networks of computers together in Ethernet networks. Routers, unlike most modems, allow the connection of multiple computers at each end. There is such a thing as a combined modem/router.
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signalling protocol used for establishing sessions in an IP network. A session could be a simple two-way telephone call or it could be a collaborative multi-media conference session. It is an RFC standard (RFC 3261) from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the body responsible for administering and developing the mechanisms that comprise the Internet.
Softphone
A soft phone is a general term for a piece of software which allows you to make VoIP calls, such as the Localphone Softphone.
Software
Intangible instructions, composed entirely of data. Software includes all computer programs, applications, instructions or operating systems that tell a computer what to do.
Upload
The process of transmitting a file or data from your home system to a remote destination via the Internet.
Upstream
The rate of data travelling from the user towards the server.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
VoIP is an IP telephony term for a set of facilities used to manage the delivery of voice information over the Internet. VoIP involves sending voice information in digital form in discrete packets rather than by using the traditional circuit-committed protocols of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). In short, VoIP allows us to offer you low cost calling, much lower than traditional phone services such as BT.
Wi-Fi
A wireless ethernet technology that allows people with laptop computers to connect to the internet while out and about at "hot spots". It is also used to connect cordless phones with VoIP.