Glossary
Definitions of common VoIP, telecom, and VoiceCenter terms.
A reference of terms you will encounter throughout VoiceCenter and the telecommunications industry.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) | System that routes incoming calls to the most appropriate agent or queue based on rules such as skill, availability, or longest idle time. |
| AMD (Answering Machine Detection) | Technology that detects whether an outbound call is answered by a person or a voicemail/answering machine, allowing the system to take different actions for each. |
| ASR (Answer Seizure Ratio) | Percentage of call attempts that are successfully answered. A key quality metric for carriers and trunks. |
| CDR (Call Detail Record) | A data record produced for each call containing caller, destination, duration, timestamps, and status. Used for billing, analytics, and troubleshooting. |
| CLI (Caller Line Identification) | The phone number displayed to the receiving party on an outbound call. Also known as Caller ID. Must be verified or owned by the tenant. |
| CRM (Customer Relationship Management) | Software for managing contacts, leads, and customer interactions. VoiceCenter includes a built-in CRM module. |
| DID (Direct Inward Dialing) | A phone number that routes directly to an extension, queue, or IVR without going through a manual operator. Most VoiceCenter numbers are DIDs. |
| DTMF (Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency) | The tones generated when pressing keys on a phone keypad (0-9, *, #). Used to navigate IVR menus and enter PINs. |
| E.164 | International phone number format: a plus sign followed by the country code and subscriber number (e.g., +14155551234). VoiceCenter stores all numbers in E.164 format. |
| Extension | An internal short number (e.g., 101, 200) assigned to a user, device, or agent for internal calling and routing within the PBX. |
| IVR (Interactive Voice Response) | An automated menu system that greets callers and lets them navigate options using keypad input ("Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Support"). |
| LCR (Least Cost Routing) | Routing logic that selects the cheapest carrier or trunk for an outbound call based on destination and rate. |
| NER (Network Effectiveness Ratio) | Percentage of call attempts that reach the destination network successfully, excluding user-related failures. A carrier quality metric. |
| PBX (Private Branch Exchange) | The internal phone system that manages extensions, call routing, transfers, and voicemail within an organization. VoiceCenter provides a cloud PBX. |
| PDD (Post Dial Delay) | The time between dialing a number and hearing ringback or an answer. Lower PDD means faster call setup. |
| PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) | The global network of traditional telephone lines and switches. Calls to landlines and mobile phones go through the PSTN. |
| Queue | A call distribution mechanism where incoming calls wait in line until an agent becomes available. Supports strategies such as round-robin, longest idle, and ring all. |
| Rate Deck | A table of per-destination call rates used by the rating engine to price calls. Tenant-specific rate decks override the global deck. |
| Ring Group | A set of extensions that all ring when a call comes in. Supports simultaneous ringing (ring all at once) or sequential ringing (ring one after another). |
| SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) | The signaling protocol used to set up, manage, and tear down voice and video calls over IP networks. |
| SLA (Service Level Agreement) | A target for call center performance, typically expressed as a percentage of calls answered within a time threshold (e.g., 80% of calls answered within 20 seconds). |
| Softphone | Software that makes and receives phone calls over the internet. VoiceCenter includes a browser-based softphone powered by WebRTC. |
| Tenant | A client company in VoiceCenter. Each tenant has its own isolated set of numbers, users, PBX configuration, billing, and data. |
| Trunk | See SIP Trunk. A connection between the VoiceCenter PBX and an external carrier or phone system for routing calls. |
| TTS (Text-to-Speech) | Technology that converts written text into spoken audio. Used in IVR prompts and automated messages. |
| Voicemail | A system that records audio messages from callers when the intended recipient is unavailable. |
| WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) | A browser-based technology for real-time audio and video communication. Powers the VoiceCenter browser softphone. |
| Wrap-up Code | A disposition code selected by an agent after a call ends to categorize the call outcome (e.g., "Sale Made", "Callback Requested", "Wrong Number"). Used for reporting and follow-up rules. |
Looking for a term not listed here? Check the feature guides for in-context definitions, or contact your administrator.