VoIP-Point

Glossary of Terms

ATA

Analog Telephone Adaptor. A device to allow the use of traditional analog telephones on a VoIP network.

GUI

Graphical Computer Interface. A display on a computer screen of the output and interface to a software program.

Hard Phone

A Hardware Telephone, usually independent of a computer for use with VoIP networks

IP Telephone.

Internet Protocol Telephone. A digital, networked telephone for the purpose of making Voice Over IP calls.

PBX

Private Branch Exchange. A telephone network owned by a business rather than a telco. Often used to interconnect telephones in an office.

POTS

Plain Old Telephone System. Describing traditional land-line based telephone systems.

SIP

Session Initiation Protocol. A signalling protocol for handling telephone calls, conference calls, messaging and events over a computer network.

Soft Phone

A software program running on a computer providing the functionality of a VoIP Telephone.

Sound Card

A device, either internal or external, fitted to a computer and providing microphone inputs and speaker/headphone outputs.

USB

Universal Serial Bus. A system for connecting external devices to computer.

VoIP / Voice over IP

Voice over Internet Protocol. The industry term for any method of transmitting voice audio over a computer network. More commonly to refer to making telephone calls over a computer network.

Wireless Access Point

A device providing a bridge between WiFi radio networks and wired LAN networks.