List of Telephony Terminology - Acronyms

Acronyms

Acronym Name Notes
1ESS Number 1 Electronic Switching System US
1FR Flat rate service US
2G second-generation mobile telephone
2.5G Enhanced 2G mobile telephone
3G third-generation mobile telephone
4WTS Four-wire termination set US
ACD Automatic Call Distribution/Director
ACTS Advanced Coin Telephone Service US
ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
ANI Automatic Number Identification US
AMA Automatic Message Accounting US
BOK Unblocking UK
CCIS Common Channel Interoffice Signaling
CID Caller ID
CLEC Competitive Local Exchange Carrier US
CLI Caller Line Identification Europe
CLID Caller Line ID UK
CTI Computer telephony integration
COSMOS Wire records
DDCO Direct Dial Central Office (Opposite of DID) US
DDD Direct Distance Dialing US
DDI Direct Dialing In UK
DECT Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications
DID Direct Inward Dialing US
DMS Digital Multiplex System Can
DNIS Dialed Number Identification System US
DSL Digital Subscriber Line
DTMF dual-tone multi-frequency
FDM Frequency-division multiplexing
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
GSM Global system for mobile communications
GST Ground start US
IDDD International Direct Distance Dialing US
IDF Intermediate distribution frame US
ILEC Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier US
ISD International Subscriber Dialling UK and India
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
IVR interactive voice response
KSU Key Switching Unit US
LST Loop Start Trunk US
MDF Main Distribution Frame
MF Multi-frequency US
PABX Private Automatic Branch eXchange Europe
PBX Private Branch eXchange US
PMBX Private Manual Branch eXchange UK
POTS plain old telephone service
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
RCMAC Recent Change Memory Administration Center US
REN ringer equivalency number
SMS Short Message Service or text messages
SF Single Frequency supervision tone (2600) US
SIP Session Initiation Protocol US
SP Lock Unlocking UK
SS7 Signaling System 7
STD Subscriber trunk dialling UK and India
T-CXR T-carrier US
TAPI Telephony Application Programming Interface
TR Tip and ring US
TSPS Traffic Service Position System
TXE Telephone eXchange Electronic UK
UAX Unit Automatic eXchange UK
VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol US
WAP Wireless Application Protocol
WATS Wide Area Telephone Service US
WTAI Wireless Telephony Applications Interface
Telecommunications (general)
History
  • Beacons
  • Broadcasting
  • Communications satellites
  • Computer networks
  • Drums
  • Electrical telegraphs
  • Fax
  • Heliographs
  • Hydraulic telegraphs
  • Internet
  • Mass media
  • Mobile phones
  • Optical telegraphy
  • Photophones
  • Radio
  • Radiotelephones
  • Smoke signals
  • Telegraphy
  • Telephones
  • The Telephone Cases
  • Television
  • Undersea telegraph lines
  • Videophones
Pioneers
  • Edwin Howard Armstrong
  • John Logie Baird
  • Alexander Graham Bell
  • Tim Berners-Lee
  • Jagadish Chandra Bose
  • Vint Cerf
  • Claude Chappe
  • Lee De Forest
  • Philo Farnsworth
  • Reginald Fessenden
  • Elisha Gray
  • Guglielmo Marconi
  • Alexander Stepanovich Popov
  • Johann Philipp Reis
  • Nikola Tesla
  • Camille Papin Tissot
  • Alfred Vail
  • Charles Wheatstone
  • Vladimir K. Zworykin
Media
  • Coaxial cable
  • Free-space optical
  • Optical fiber
  • Radio waves
  • Telephone lines
  • Terrestrial microwave
Networks
  • ARPANET
  • BITNET
  • Ethernet
  • FidoNet
  • ISDN
  • Internet
  • Local area
  • Mobile
  • NGN
  • Packet switched
  • Public Switched Telephone
  • Radio
  • Telecommunications equipment
  • Television
  • Telex
  • Wide area
  • World Wide Web
  • Wireless
Geographic
Telecommunications in Africa
Sovereign
states
  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Benin
  • Botswana
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cameroon
  • Cape Verde
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Comoros
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Republic of the Congo
  • Djibouti
  • Egypt
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • The Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
  • Kenya
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Mali
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Rwanda
  • São Tomé and Príncipe
  • Senegal
  • Seychelles
  • Sierra Leone
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Sudan
  • Swaziland
  • Tanzania
  • Togo
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe
States with limited
recognition
  • Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
  • Somaliland
Dependencies and
other territories
  • Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla / Plazas de soberanía
  • Madeira
  • Mayotte / Réunion
  • Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha
  • Western Sahara
Telecommunications in Asia
Sovereign
states
  • Afghanistan
  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Bangladesh
  • Bhutan
  • Brunei
  • Burma (Myanmar)
  • Cambodia
  • People's Republic of China
  • Cyprus
  • East Timor (Timor-Leste)
  • Egypt
  • Georgia
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Israel
  • Japan
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • North Korea
  • South Korea
  • Kuwait
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Laos
  • Lebanon
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives
  • Mongolia
  • Nepal
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Philippines
  • Qatar
  • Russia
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Singapore
  • Sri Lanka
  • Syria
  • Tajikistan
  • Thailand
  • Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Uzbekistan
  • Vietnam
  • Yemen
States with limited
recognition
  • Abkhazia
  • Nagorno-Karabakh
  • Northern Cyprus
  • Palestine
  • South Ossetia
  • Taiwan
Dependencies and
other territories
  • British Indian Ocean Territory
  • Christmas Island
  • Cocos (Keeling) Islands
  • Hong Kong
  • Macau
Telecommunications in Europe
Sovereign
states
  • Albania
  • Andorra
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Kazakhstan
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macedonia
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Montenegro
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom
States with limited
recognition
  • Abkhazia
  • Kosovo
  • Nagorno-Karabakh
  • Northern Cyprus
  • South Ossetia
  • Transnistria
Dependencies
and other territories
  • Åland
  • Faroe Islands
  • Gibraltar
  • Guernsey
  • Jersey
  • Isle of Man
  • Svalbard
Other entities
  • European Union
Telecommunications in North America
Sovereign states
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Bahamas
  • Barbados
  • Belize
  • Canada
  • Costa Rica
  • Cuba
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • El Salvador
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala
  • Haiti
  • Honduras
  • Jamaica
  • Mexico
  • Nicaragua
  • Panama
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • Saint Lucia
  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • United States
Dependencies and
other territories
  • Anguilla
  • Aruba
  • Bermuda
  • Bonaire
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Cayman Islands
  • Curaçao
  • Greenland
  • Guadeloupe
  • Martinique
  • Montserrat
  • Navassa Island
  • Puerto Rico
  • Saint Barthélemy
  • Saint Martin
  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon
  • Saba
  • Sint Eustatius
  • Sint Maarten
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • United States Virgin Islands
Telecommunications in Oceania
Sovereign states
  • Australia
  • East Timor (Timor-Leste)
  • Fiji
  • Indonesia
  • Kiribati
  • Marshall Islands
  • Federated States of Micronesia
  • Nauru
  • New Zealand
  • Palau
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Samoa
  • Solomon Islands
  • Tonga
  • Tuvalu
  • Vanuatu
Dependencies and
other territories
  • American Samoa
  • Christmas Island
  • Cocos (Keeling) Islands
  • Cook Islands
  • Easter Island
  • French Polynesia
  • Guam
  • Hawaii
  • New Caledonia
  • Niue
  • Norfolk Island
  • Northern Mariana Islands
  • Pitcairn Islands
  • Tokelau
  • Wallis and Futuna
Telecommunications in South America
Sovereign states
  • Argentina
  • Bolivia
  • Brazil
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Ecuador
  • Guyana
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Suriname
  • Uruguay
  • Venezuela
Dependencies and
other territories
  • Aruba
  • Bonaire
  • Curaçao
  • Falkland Islands
  • French Guiana
  • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

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