What do all these strange words and terms mean?

Throughout the telephony renewal project you're likely to encounter words and terms that you're not familiar with. We've tried to provide a glossary of all the terms we can think of here, and we'll add to the list as we go.

ATA

Analogue Telephony Adapter — a device that allows a traditional POTS telephone to connect to an IP-based PBX.

extension

Your telephone number, and sometimes everything that's required to make it work.

F&GP

The Finance & General Purposes committee, a sub-committee of Council that, among other things, provides financial oversight for large projects like this.

handset

The telephone instrument that's on your desk.

IP

Internet Protocol — the most widely used protocol for carry data on computer networks. All other protocols (such as SIP, e-mail, file sharing, etc) run on top of an IP-based network.

IPT

IP Telephony — a generic term for telephones that make use of the existing computer network rather than dedicated copper cables. Also sometimes referred to as VoIP (voice over IP). IPT may be implemented using SIP or some other protocol.

ITSC

The Information Technology Steering Committee, a sub-committee of Senate that provides oversight for information and communications technology issues on campus.

life-line

people you need to be able to contact in potentially life-threatening situations, typically the police, ambulance service and fire brigade. Within Rhodes, we usually include the Campus Protection Unit in our definition.

node

An independent part of the PBX system that is responsible for providing telephone services to a specific geographic area. A number of nodes may linked together to provide a larger, campus-wide PBX system.

outdoor extension

A service from Telkom that provides a point-to-point copper cable between two different buildings. Telkom appears to be trying to phase this service out, and has been escalating the monthly rental presumably to encourage people to discontinue using it.

PBX

Private Branch Exchange — the equipment that is responsible for routing your telephone calls from one extension to another, and for handling outgoing and incoming phone calls.

PoE

Power over Ethernet — a way of powering an IP telephone using the network patch cord rather than a separate power cable. Depends on a PoE-enabled network switch at the other end.

POTS

Plain Old Telephone Service — the old fashioned telephone, that uses a pair of copper wires and can do nothing but make and receive calls.

SIP

Session Initiation Protocol — a common, standards-based protocol for carrying voice traffic (i.e. telephone calls) over a computer network. Many PBX vendors also use their own proprietary protocols to do this, but we've tried to avoid these.

TDM

Time Division Multiplexing — the protocol used by a PBX or exchange for carrying POTS services. Usually used as a synonym for POTS.

TMS

Telephone Management System — the system that's responsible for keep track of calls you make and producing monthly bills.

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol — See IPT.