Glossary
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Glossary of Telecommunications Terms
A
Abandoned Call
An abandoned call is a call that is disconnected by the caller...
Abandonment Rate
By dividing NCA by NCO, abandonment rate is the percentage of callers...
ACD (Automatic Call Distributor)
A device used to route calls to the appropriate location...
ACS (Automatic Call Sequencer)
Used to manage incoming calls...
Agent Turnover
A calculation that determines the percentage of agents who left during a given year...
Activity Codes
The code an agent enters to indicate the type of contact...
Adherence to Schedule
Refers to how well agents stick to their schedules...
Advanced 800 Services
Originally named by AT&T, advanced 800 services include long distance calls...
Agent
An agent is an individual that answers inbound calls...
Agent Group
A group of agents that operate within a particular skill set...
Agent Out Call
When an agent makes an outbound call...
All Trunks Busy
If all trunks in a specified trunk group are busy...
Announcement
A recorded verbal message played to a caller...
Answering Machine
An answering machine, also known as an answer machine...
Application Based Routing and Reporting
The capability of the ACD to route and track calls...
Area Code
Phone area codes are used in the North American telephone system...
Area Code Overlay
Used when an existing area code is near depletion...
Area Code Split
When an area code is divided into two or more separate regions...
Architecture
Auto Available
A feature that automatically puts agents in an available state...
Auto Greeting
Allows an agent to record an automatically played greeting...
Auto Wrap Up
A feature of ACD that puts agents automatically into after-call work...
Automated Attendant
An automated phone attendant that answers calls with a recorded message...
Automatic Call Distributor
An Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) is a programmable phone system...
Automatic Number Identification (ANI)
The number of the phone the caller is using is passed to the call center...
Auxiliary Work State
Occurs when an operator is doing work other than handling calls...
Average Attendance Percent
A calculation of the number of absences that have been approved...
Average Handle Time
Average handle time is the total time it takes to a manage a call...
Average Holding Time on Trunks
The average time inbound transaction occupy the trunks...
Average Percent Occupancy Factor
Used to determine how much time an agent is ready to take calls...
Average Sale Value per Sale
The average value of each sale agents take when handling orders...
Average Speed of Answer
The duration of time that calls wait to be answered...
Average Time in Queue
Based on the length of time a caller waits before an agent is found ...
B
Base Staff
The minimum amount of workers required to provide service during a given period...
Benchmark
Benchmarking involves testing devices against each other...
Bit Rate
Bit rate is used to define digital signals by the number of bits per second...
Blocked Call
Caused by either a lack of circuits available when the call arrives...
BOC (Bell-operating Company)
Caused by either a lack of circuits available when the call arrives...
Bridge Clip
An apparatus used on a split block to join a phone line from one connection to another...
Busy Hour
The average of a one hour period that carries the most traffic...
C
Callback Messaging
Used when a caller prefers to be called back rather than being put on hold...
Call Blending
Using a single group of operators to take both inbound and outbound calls...
Call Center
A call center is a location where inbound and outbound calls are handled...
Call Detail Recording
Data stored by the ACD that details each call...
Call Forcing
A feature of ACD that finds agents who are available to take calls...
Call Forward - Don't Answer
Call forward don't answer can be used as an alternative to regular call forwarding...
Call Forwarding
Call forwarding is a method of directing one telephone number to another one...
Caller ID
A local phone network feature that passes information...
Calls In Queue
Calls in queue are calls that enter the call center...
Centi Call Seconds (CCS)
CCS measures the intensity of calls during a given timeframe through a facility...
CENTRal EXchange (Centrex)
Centrex is a switching service used by businesses for facilitating station-to-station dialing...
Central Office (CO)
Refers to a telephone switching center or a type of switch used there...
CLEC (Competitive Local Exchanged Carrier)
A CLEC is a new and completive local carrier that opposes the traditional carrier...
Common Causes
Deviations that occur to a particular procedure over a period of time...
Computer Telephony Integration
The practice of integrating telephony functions with computers...
Cost Per Call
An equation of the sum of costs for operating a call center...
Customer Value Segment
Attribute customers to a particular segment based on their financial value...
CRM
A broad term that encompasses the entire range of enhancing customer interactions...
Cross-sell
When an operator sells a product to a customer that is in a different product line...
CSMA/CD
CSMA is a protocol that makes communication devices listen to the network...
D
Database Call Handling
Uses computer telephony integration in sync with automatic call routing...
Data Directed Call Routing
The ability of an ACD to use a separate database to route a call...
Data Service Units (DSU)
Data Service Units are CSIs and DSUs that are needed to connect...
Day of Week Routing
Used to route calls to a different destination on different days of the week...
Delay Announcement
A recording that asks callers to wait for the next available operator...
Delay or Queue Time
How much time a caller has to wait for the next agent to be free ...
Delivery Method
Delivery methods are the means by which messages can be relayed...
Dialer
The Dialer is the primary mechanism of the modern outbound telemarketer...
DID (Direct-Inward-Dial)
Dual-Tone Multifrequency (DTM)
Dynamic Answer
Automatically changes the amount of rings in the ACD...
E
E&M Leads Signaling
E&M leads signaling is an interface that can be used to connect switches...
Envelope Strategy
To use agents for more than just taking calls...
Erlang B
One of two traffic models developed by A.K. Erlang...
Erlang C
One of two traffic models developed by A.K. Erlang...
Exception
An exception explains why an operator is not answering phones...
F
Fax / Fax on Demand
A transmission process where a document is scanned...
Frame
A frame is a series of time slots, repeated at regular intervals...
Frequency
A frequency is made up of acoustic or electrical signals that represent a single tone...
G
Grade of Service
The probability of encountering a busy signal in a trunk...
H
Handled Call
A handled call is a call that has come into the call center that an operator...
Handling Time
The total amount of time it takes for an agent to handle a call...
Help Desk
A help desk acts as a place for callers to get assistance...
Historical Reports
Used to track the performance of call center operators...
Home Agent
Home agents are operators that work offsite...
Hub
A Hub is equipment that that is used as a wiring concentrator...
I
Immutable Law
A fundamental law of nature...
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
ISDN defines a telephone transmission standard that is used internationally...
Interflow
Interflow refers to sending calls to another site outside of the AC...
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
Internal metrics are numbers that refer to statistics generated by internal systems...
Internal Metrics
Internal metrics are numbers that refer to statistics generated by internal systems...
J
K
Key Telephone System (KTS)
A key telephone system is typically the type of system used by most small offices...
Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes (KSA)
KSA defines the entire scope of an employees skills from a "life skills" perspective...
L
Last Mile
The last mile is a term to describe the final part of hooking...
LATA (Local Access and Transport Area)
LATA is the area where local calls are handled by the phone company...
Live
Live is an obvious term used to refer to a call that is handled by a real person...
Longest Delay in Queue (LDQ)
LDQ, or Longest Delay in Queue, represents the worst case hold time for a caller...
M
Make Busy
Make busy is a rather cheap way of handling calls...
Manned Over Paid
Manned Over Paid represents how much time is spent on phones...
Multiline Telephone
A multiline telephone is a phone that is essentially used in a Key Telephone System...
Multilingual Agent
Multilingual agents are representatives that are fluent in more than one language...
Multiplexing
Multiplexing is a way of combining multiple channels for communications...
N
Next Available Agent
Next Available Agent (NAA) is the method used for call distribution...
Noise Canceling Headset
Noise canceling headsets are used to help reduce background noise...
Number of Calls Handled (NCH)
Number of Calls Handled is the amount of calls handled by agents...
Number of Calls Offered (NCO)
The absolute total number of all calls that enter into a call center...
Number of Outbound Calls (NOC)
The calls made by agents out of the call center or internally...
O
Occupancy Rate
Occupancy rate measures how much time an agent is on a call...
Optical Fiber
Optical fibers, quite simply, are used to send infrared and visible light rays...
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is when someone contracts with an outside company...
P
Pacing Algorithm
A pacing algorithm governs how many calls an outbound dialer will attempt...
Peer Group
Call centers that have a similar business profile...
Percent Abandoned
Percent abandoned is the amount of calls that callers have disconnected voluntarily...
Personal Communications
Personal communications refer to any device used by an individual...
Photophone
The photophone was originally invented jointly...
Premises Distribution System (PDS)
PDS is a building network or a network between groups of buildings...
Protocols
Protocols are the syntax used to define a procedure for maintaining...
Q
Queue
A queue is a telephone system where calls wait until the next...
Queue Time
Queue time measure how much time on average caller waits for a TSR...
R
Real-Time Adherence
Real-time adherence is a statistic given by the ACD...
Recorded Announcement
What a caller hears when they are waiting in a queue...
Remote Agent
When an agent is working outside the physical traditional call center...
S
Satellite Communications
Satellite communications involve a number of different methods of sending a signal...
Satellite Phone
A satellite telephone, satellite phone, or satphone...
Script
Scripts are call-handling instructions for agents to follow...
Speech Recognition
Scripts are call-handling instructions for agents to follow...
SS7 (Signaling System 7)
SS7 is a method used by phone companies to ring the party being called...
Switchboard
A switchboard (also called a manual branch exchange)...
Switched 800 Service
Switched 800 service is a newer way for phone companies to handle lower volume 800 numbers...
T
T-1
T-1 refers to high speed connections used for both telecommunications and internet...
Talk Time
Talk time is the length of time that a call center representative spends...
Telephone
The telephone or phone is a device which is used to send and receive sound across distance...
TSF (Telephone Service Factor)
Measures how many calls are answered during a given amount of time in seconds...
U
UCD (Uniform Call Distributor)
A less expensive call routing device that send calls among a group more uniformly...
UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)
UPS is an uninterrupted power supply that uses batteries charged with commercial power...
V
Voicemail
Voicemail is a system used for electronic messaging...
Voice Logging
Voice logging is a hardware or software based system used to record calls in a call center...
Voice Response Unit (VRU)
A computer that responds to touch-tone digits entered by a caller...