Glossary
ACD Automated Call Distributor. The part of a switch which deals out calls to agents. ACD's usually distribute calls to the longest idle agent, but more complex systems are now common which route calls based upon the skill set of available agents (Skill based routing). An ACD system will be able to queue calls if no agents are available, and most systems will provide ways of playing messages and music to queuing callers. An ACD will provide some kind of service level reporting.
AHT Average handling time
Analogue line An "old fashioned" telephone line. The signal is usually sent over a pair of copper wires all the way from the exchange to your site.
ASP Application Service Provider - see hosted solution.
BRI Basic rate interface - see ISDN.
Call blending The ability for a team to take either inbound or outbound calls. Outbound calls are usually used to keep agents occupied when no incoming calls are available.
Carrier A telecoms supplier who provides either circuits to your site, or call routing services such as LCR.
Carrier pre-select A type of least cost routing where no configuration is required on site. Your line provider (usually BT) is notified of your wish to route calls a cheaper way and this is managed at the exchange. CPS doesn't allow you to switch between suppliers as quickly as standard LCR.
Cat 5 Category 5 is a network cabling standard that uses 4 pairs of twisted wire. It's most likely that your network is Cat 5. Cat 5 patch cables usually use RJ45 plugs that are connected to network points on the wall.
CCA Call Centre Association (see links page).
Channel blending Presenting agents with a mixture of paper based, telephone, email, webchat and SMS enquires to deal with.
CLI Caller Line Identity. This is the telephone number of the person who initiated the call. This can be withheld by the caller. Outbound calls from a call centre should display CLI to enable consumers to be confident of the callers source. Inbound calls to a call centre can use CLI in conjunction with a customer database to screen pop. CLI is often lost when calls are routed between different networks (especially in international transit).
CPS See carrier pre-select.
CT Computer telephony. This is where a telecoms system is provided by software on PC hardware. Special hardware is used to ensure minimal interference and maximum availability. The hardware will include interface cards to connect the system to the telephone exchange (trunk cards) and telephones to the system.
CTI Computer Telephony Integration is a whole host of technologies where information gathered from the switch is used for call treatment. The most common form of CTI is screen popping - where the correct data capture screen is automatically presented to the agent at the same time as the call.
CTPS Corporate TPS. Under recent legislation a second TPS list is now run for companies who do not wish to receive sales and marketing calls. Same rules apply as for the TPS.
Darryl Beckford An independent call centre consultant who specialises in making technology work for business.
DASS2 See ISDN signalling.
DDI Direct Dialling Inwards. A number that can be accessed from the public telephone network.
DDI range A group of concurrent DDI’s.
Dialogic Now owned by Intel, Dialogic manufacture interface cards for CT systems.
DMA Direct Marketing Association (see links page).
DNIS Dialled Number Identification Service. A system used to detect what the telephone number the caller dialled. This is commonly used within a switch to ensure the call goes to the correct destination. This can be helpful for CTI.
DTMF Dual Tone Multi Frequency - Those funny noises that touch tone telephones make when the buttons are pressed. So called because each noise is a combination of two tones. These tones are easily distinguished by electronic systems, and so suit perfectly for remote control of telephone systems.
E1 This is a digital transmission format use to provide an ISDN PRI.
ECTF Enterprise Computer Telephony Forum. This organisation works towards interoperability in the CT industry. They produce a set of standards that all CT solution providers should follow to ensure maximum compatibility. For example, if the hardware and software you purchase is compliant you should be confident that you'll be able to run other compliant software on the same hardware.
Erlang Agner Erlang was a Danish mathematician who was persuaded to divert his energy towards the delivery rates of telephone calls. He's given his name to a few very important formulas for calculating call traffic. It does have its faults, but it's well worth investigating if you're involved in resource planning.
Ethernet The most popular physical method of constructing physical networks. Most Ethernet networks use TCP/IP.
Forced call When a call is immediately delivered to an agent with no chance to refuse.
H.100 An ECTF standard governing hardware.
Handling time Combination of talk and wrap time. Essentially how long it has taken to service one call.
Historical data All data that is not realtime - this is used to provide MI and statistics for any previous period.
Hosted solution Telephony equipment that is rented, with the equipment at a remote location. Voice is sent either over telephone lines or VoIP, and data connection is made via the internet.
IP See TCP/IP
IP Phone A telephone that can receive and transmit voice by VoIP.
ISDN Integrated services digital network. ISDN is the standard for digital telephone lines. In the UK these are available as BRI or PRI. These carry 2 and 30 64kbps channels respectively (with an additional channel for signalling). Each channel is normally used for one telephone "line" and can therefore support one call.
ISDN Signalling When ISDN is delivered over a PRI, two different signalling methods are available from BT. The choice of signalling method makes a difference to how you can operate your DDI's. With DASS it is possible to allocate a single channel to a number; with Q931 this is not possible. However whilst a range of DDI's can be allocated to multiple channels with DASS, these channels cannot be shared with another range. On the whole Q931 offers more flexibility.
IVR Interactive voice response. This is where a caller interacts with the telephone system by pressing the telephone buttons (DTMF tones). The scope of IVR ranges from making a queue selection through to getting automated information about your account. IVR does not mean voice recognition!
LCR See least cost routing.
Least Cost Routing The best way of reducing call costs. Your telephone lines stay with the same provider but you chose who to pay for your calls. With standard LCR this is implemented by either providing a dialler or by the re-programming of your switch. LCR is very flexible as you can program your switch to use different providers for different call types, such as international or mobile.
Network based See hosted solution
PBX Private Branch Exchange - this is a telephone switch.
POTS Plain Old Telephone Set. A normal analogue phone, just as you'd use at home. Some POTS are designed for call centre use and utilise headsets rather than handsets.
Predictive dialler An outbound calling system which calculates when an agent is going to become available and proactively dials new leads in an attempt to have a customer available when the agent finishes the previous call. Predictive diallers will also dial multiple customers for each available agent, based upon historic data of how many calls were successfully connected.
PRI Primary rate interface - see ISDN
Q391 (Euro-ISDN) See ISDN signalling.
Real time Reports and displays that show the current state of play: Calls waiting, calls abandoned etc. Usually within the last 30 or 60 minute period.
S.100 An ECTF standard governing software.
Screen Pop See CTI.
Skill based routing A more complex ACD system where the type of call is identified allow it to be given to the best skilled agent available.
Soft Switch A telephone switch based on CT.
Speech recognition A computer system which can recognise human speech. Basic systems may only be able to understand expected responses (for example: "yes" or "no"). More advanced systems can transcribe speech real time.
Switch A generic term used to describe a telephone system. A switch could provide inbound or outbound functionality, and is not necessarily a system suitable for call centre use.
T1 The US version of ISDN PRI, this only has 23 channels.
Talk time Time spent on the telephone talking to a customer.
TAPI Telephony application programming interface - A standard way to allow CTI between different systems.
TCP/IP Transport control protocol/Internet protocol - Essential the most popular method of network signalling.
TPS Telephone preference service. The TPS is a "do not call" list for UK consumers. It is illegal for call centres in the UK to contact consumers for sales or marketing if they are on this list unless they have permission from the customer to do so. The job of running the TPS service is currently contracted to the DMA.
VoIP Voice over IP - A method of transmitting voice over an IP network.
Wrap time Time spent after the call dealing with required paperwork / data entry. Agents are not available to take a call whilst in wrap.
