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In our previous article, we presented half of our condensed VoIP glossary. Here’s the second list of definitions to help you master the basics of IP telephony:

  1. Jitter
  2. Latency
  3. MAC Address
  4. Modem
  5. Number Porting
  6. Private Branch Exchange (PBX)
  7. Power over Ethernet (PoE)
  8. Public Switched Telephone Service (PSTN)
  9. Quality of Service (QoS)
  10. Router
  11. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
  12. Switch
  13. Virtual Phone Number
  14. Voice over IP (VoIP)
  15. WebRTC

Jitter

Defined as the variation in packet arrival time, jitter can impact the quality of voice calls.
Jitter buffers help control the sound disruption caused by the delay, smoothing the packet delivery rate enough so it is comfortable for the human ear.

 

Latency

Latency is the time it takes for a packet to reach its destination.
It’s a very important factor for IP telephony because of voice delay. Technically, the speed of light (3×108 m/s) represents perfect latency.

 

MAC Address

A MAC address is a hardware identification number that uniquely identifies each device on a network.

 

Modem

A modem (modulator-demodulator) does digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital signal conversions.
The modulator function translates digital signals into analog tones that can be sent over a telephone network. At the other end, the demodulator function translates the analog tones back to digital.

Back to the top of the VoIP glossary

 

Number Porting

Number porting refers to the transfer of an existing phone number from a current service provider to a new service provider.

 

Private Branch Exchange (PBX)

A private telephone switching system that allows outside phone lines from a telecommunications provider to connect to extensions in an office or building.
Note: Sherweb frees businesses from buying costly PBX hardware to get VoIP features. With a PBX hosted in the cloud, it only takes a reliable Internet connection to start using calls, videoconferencing and more.

 

Power over Ethernet (PoE)

It is the technology that makes power  Ethernet cables supply power to network devices over the existing data connection.

 

Public Switched Telephone Service (PSTN)

It is the combination of all the world’s telephone carriers, both private and public, including local, long distance and international transmission links. Also referred to as the “Plain Old Telephone System (POTS)”.

E.g: Bell, Rogers, Verizon, AT&T

Back to the top of the VoIP glossary

 

Quality of Service (QoS)

QoS ensures that the traffic for real-time business applications like telephone calls is prioritized. Tools such as Mean Opinion Score (MOS) are used to test and measure QoS.

 

Router

A router is a device connected to at least two networks that determines the next network point a packet will be forwarded to.  Where each information packet will be sent is based on the router’s current understanding of the networks it is connected to.

 

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an industry standard application-layer protocol that can initiate, manage and terminate Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communications and multimedia, including voice, video, email and instant messaging.

 

Switch

A switch is a device that keeps a record of the MAC addresses of all devices connected to it. The switch then channels incoming data from any multiple input ports to the specific output port that will transmit the data to its destination.

Back to the top of the VoIP glossary

 

Virtual Phone Number

It’s an additional phone number assigned to an existing phone subscription.
When looking for an Internet phone for business solution, some owners will be interested in this option.

 

Voice over IP (VoIP)

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It refers to the transmission of voice communications over the Internet.
VoIP is also known as Internet Telephony, IP Telephony or Broadband Telephony.

 

WebRTC

WebRTC is a collection of communications protocols and application programming interfaces that enable real-time communication over peer-to-peer connections.
When WebRTC is supported on a web server, users can make phone calls directly from a web page.
 

Part 1 | Part 2

 

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Written by The Sherweb Team Collaborators @ Sherweb