Telephony Glossary - Page 4

Digital Signal Processor (DSP) - Very fast processors used, for example, in speech recognition.

Digital Speech Interpolation (DSI) - An ISV that has developed ASAI-compliant CTI applications, including Mosaix®.

Direct Connection - See PassageWay™ Direct Connection.

Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) - The sounds a touch-tone telephone makes when its keys are pressed.

Dynamic Data Exchange - See DDE.

Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) - A feature that allows two Windows programs to share data. PassageWay™ Telephony Services DDE links the system's telephone features with other Windows applications so users can have programs such as databases and PIMs that mirror AT&TCall's call processing features. (See also OLE.)

Early Cloud - An ISV acquired by IBM in 1996. (Reviewers: Is this correct? More info needed?)

EDGE Telebusiness Software System - An ASAI-compliant UNIX®-based front-end system from IMA that automates Call Center processes by integrating telephony functions with information from existing applications, including information on legacy systems.

EIS - An ISV that has developed ASAI-compliant CTI applications, including Centenium and OCM Gold.

Enterprise data - Data shared throughout an organization, which may be stored on servers, minicomputers, and mainframes, and accessed by users via networks at any location.

Enterprise Information Network (EIN) - Many IT specialists refer to the enterprise network, which refers to the LAN. In recent years, the flow of enterprise information now traverses interconnecting corporate networks, wide-area networks, secure data links between offices and associated companies, public networks (such as the Internet), and the telephone network. I thus use the term EIN to refer to all telecommunications networks used by the enterprise to manage and provide access to information.

Envision Telephony - ISV and developer of SoundByte™, a TAPI- and TSAPI-compliant CTI application. The TSAPI version is a PEC'd ISV.

Ethernet - A network architecture used for local area networks (LANs). It operates over twisted pair wire and coaxial cable at a maximum speed of 10 megabits/second. PassageWay Telephony Services uses this network hardware as well as others. (See also Token Ring.)

European Computer Manufacturers Assocation (ECMA) - Standards body responsible for the development of CSTA.

European Telecommunications Standards Institutue (ETSI) - Replaced the Council of European Postal and Telegraph (CEPT) group as the European standards creating body.

Expert Agent Selection (EAS) - A software application that distributes calls to agents according to agent skill. A DEFINITY feature that matches a caller's needs to an agent's abilities, and uses vectoring to queue calls to appropriate agent groups, or skills.

FastCall - A TAPI- and TSAPI-compliant middleware application from Aurora Systems that runs on PassageWay and enables the customer to implement call processing features such as screen pops, outbound preview dials, and screen based telephony with any off-the-shelf or custom-developed software for the Windows environment.

Fault tolerance/fault tolerant - A system designed with redundancy so that it can continue to function when faults, such as damage to hardware, software, or data, occur.

First Party Call Control - One of ASAI's eight Application Service Elements (ASEs), which allows the application on the host to manage one endpoint (i.e., itself on a call). This function is necessary when the application requires communication with another endpoint or another processor.

First party CTI - See Phone-oriented CTI.

Free-call - A service that enables customers to call a vendor or service-provider without paying for the call. The called party pays for the call. Sometimes called "toll-free."

Front-end system - Any system that stands between the user and an application. For example, a Windows PC can provides a front-end that makes a complicated application on a mainframe or minicomputer easier to use.

Gateway - A label used for a variety of links among computers that allow users to access services, applications, and information from networks other than their own. For example, a gateway may link an Ethernet LAN to an AppleTalk LAN, or link a LAN to a mainframe.

Genesys - An ISV that has developed a suite of ASAI-compliant custom CTI application development tools.

GeoTel - An ISV that has developed ASAI-compliant CTI applications, including Intelligent CallRouter.

GUI - Graphical User Interface. A user interface that allows users to access and run applications by manipulating icons rather than typing commands. Examples are Macintosh and Microsoft Windows.