Technical Glossary -- (Kurt Smith)

bits per second

Sometimes referred to as a high-speed internet, broadband is an ‘always on’ fast connection to the internet. Today there are a wide variety of broadband technologies available in most areas; two of the more commonly found and used technologies are cable and DSL broadband.

Busy transfer is a phone feature similar to call divert, except that the call is only re-directed if the receiving phone is engaged

Also known as: B Byte (B) is the name given to a group of 8 bits of digital data that are read as a single unit or word. Each byte can represent information that is used in a system, such as a single character from the ASCII code. The number of bytes is also commonly used as a measure to indicate information capacity, and the storage of data in digital systems is normally quoted in megabytes or gigabytes. In computer systems bytes are always used to refer to the memory and disk space, as computers deal easily with binary numbers (i.e. powers of 2). The size of text and image files is also normally given in bytes (e.g. in kilobytes or megabytes). In contrast, communication systems tend to use bits when referring to data transmission speeds. Although there are usually eight bits in a byte, longer sequences such as 16 and 32 bits are also possible

computer aided design

Call barring is a mobile phone feature that allows the user to set certain prohibitions on incoming or outgoing calls. This is an effective means to prevent the phone being used to make expensive international or premium rate calls, particularly when the phone is to be used by people other than the subscriber.

Many companies that provide for business use now employ call barring as a security measure, to control their use and restrict calls to pre-approved numbers. The user's personal code must be used to activate this feature

Call deflection is a selective call divert that allows a call to be forwarded without accepting it. Call deflection can either be invoked automatically by the mobile station, or by a network interaction. It is only supported within an ISDN call environment, and will only work as long as no call forwarding or divert limits have been met. Calls can be deflected to different numbers depending on the caller’s number, discovered by CLIP.

Call divert is a�handset feature that allows the user to forward or redirect all incoming calls to an alternate�number (fixed or mobile), or to voicemail. This is a facility with many advantages, enabling the user to be called on another phone or at a particular location, to have calls answered by somebody else, or to use a voicemail answering service. When this feature is activated the�number from which calls are forwarded will not ring or receive calls. Various options may be available to the user, allowing them to choose different phone numbers to divert to, depending on the circumstances. For example, calls may be diverted to one number when engaged (busy transfer), but another number or voicemail when the phone is switched off or the network unavailable.

Call holding is a phone feature that allows the user to put an ongoing call on hold, while at the same time making or receiving a second call on the same phone.

The person 'on hold' will not be aware of what the other party is doing during the call holding period, and they may be presented with silence or hear pre-recorded music and reassuring messages. This feature is convenient when a user needs to talk with two parties who should not talk directly (i.e. a conference call is not possible), which might arise when a mortgage broker is setting up a deal between a bank and a mortgager.

Call holding can also be used in conjunction with call waiting to allow two calls to be handled at once, so ensuring that important incoming calls are not missed.