Glossary of Technical Terms

ASCII- the most common format for text files in computers and on the Internet.

Bandwidth- (1) How fast data flows on a given transmission path, and (2) Somewhat more technically, the width of the range of frequencies that an electronic signal occupies on a given transmission medium. Any digital or analog signal has a bandwidth.

Generally speaking, bandwidth is directly proportional to the amount of data transmitted or received per unit time.

Broadband – High speed network. Broadband refers to telecommunication that provides multiple channels of data over a single communications medium, typically using some form of frequency or wave division multiplexing.

Call Center - a central place where customer and other telephone calls are handled by an organization, usually with some amount of computer automation. Typically, a call center has the ability to handle a considerable volume of calls at the same time, to screen calls and forward them to someone qualified to handle them, and to log calls.

Digital Divide- The term 'digital divide' describes the fact that the world can be divided into people who do and people who don't have access to - and the capability to use - modern information technology, such as the telephone, television, or the Internet. The digital divide exists between those in cities and those in rural areas.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) — A form of digital telecommunications service that increases the capacity of the existing network of copper wire infrastructure. Variable bandwidths.

E -mail- E-mail (electronic mail) is the exchange of computer-stored messages by telecommunication. (Some publications spell it email; we prefer the currently more established spelling of e-mail.) E-mail messages are usually encoded in ASCII text. However, you can also send non-text files, such as graphic images and sound files, as attachments sent in binary streams. E-mail was one of the first uses of the Internet and is still the most popular use. A large percentage of the total traffic over the Internet is e- mail. E-mail can also be exchanged between online service provider users and in networks other than the Internet, both public and private.

Fiber Optic - Fiber optic (or "optical fiber") refers to the medium and the technology associated with the transmission of information as light impulses along a glass or plastic wire or fiber. Fiber optic wire carries much more information than conventional copper wire and is far less subject to electromagnetic interference. Most telephone company long-distance lines are now fiber optic.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) - A standard protocol for accessing e-mail from your local server. IMAP is a client/server protocol in which e-mail is received and held for you by your Internet server. You (or your e-mail client) can view just the heading and the sender of the letter and then decide whether to download the mail. IMAP requires continual access to the server during the time that you are working with your mail.

Information Technology (IT) — A term that encompasses all forms of technology used to create, store, exchange, and use information in its various forms (business data, voice conversations, still images, motion pictures, multimedia presentations, and other forms, including those not yet conceived). It's a convenient term for including both telephony and computer technology in the same word. It is the technology that is driving what has often been called "the information revolution."

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) — A digital end-to-end service that enables each telephone line to offer three communications channels for carrying voice,

data, or even video. Any two of these communications modes can be utilized

simultaneously. Designed to work over current twisted-pair wiring. Variable bandwidths.

Internet - The Internet, sometimes called simply "the Net," is a worldwide system of computer networks - a network of networks in which users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer (and sometimes talk directly to users at other computers).

Internet Service Provider (ISP) - An ISP (Internet service provider) is a company that provides individuals and other companies access to the Internet and other related services such as Web site building and virtual hosting. An ISP has the equipment and the

telecommunication line access required to have POP (Point-of-presence) on the Internet for the geographic area served.

Kbps (kilobytes per second) - In the U.S., Kbps stands for kilobit per second (thousands of bits per second) and is a measure of bandwidth (the amount of data that can flow in a given time) on a data transmission medium. Higher bandwidths are more conveniently expressed in megabit per second (Mbps, or millions of bits per second) and in gigabit per second (Gbps, or billions of bits per second).

Mbps (megabytes per second) - Mbps stands for millions of bits per second and is a measure of bandwidth (the total information flow over a given time) on a data

transmission medium such as twisted-pair copper cable, coaxial cable, or optical fiber. Depending on the medium and the transmission method, bandwidth may also be in the Kbps (thousands of bits or kilobits per second) range or the Gbps (billions of bits or gigabits per second) range.

Peering – An arrangement of traffic exchange between Internet service providers (ISPs). Larger ISPs with their own backbone networks agree to allow traffic from other large ISPs in exchange for traffic on their backbones. They also exchange traffic with smaller ISPs so that they can reach regional end points. Essentially, this is how a number of

individual network owners put the Internet together. To do this, network owners and access providers, the ISPs, work out agreements that describe the terms and conditions to which both are subject. Bilateral peering is an agreement between two parties.

Multilateral peering is an agreement between more than two parties.

POP (Point-of-Presence)- Access point to the Internet. A POP necessarily has a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. Your Internet service provider (ISP) or online service provider (such as AOL) has a point-of-presence on the Internet and probably more than one. The number of POPs that an ISP or OSP has is sometimes used as a measure of its size or growth rate.

POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)— Analog or electronic transmission of voice and data over the twisted-pair copper wire infrastructure that was originally installed for use by telephones exclusively, i.e., predates widespread use of the Internet. Variable

bandwidths.

T1/T3 — Terms for leased data connections with very high bandwidths, 1.5 Mbps and 45 Mbps (megabytes per second), respectively.

Telecommunications — Transmission of information over networks (wired and wireless), including data, voice, and video.

Touch Screen - computer display screen that is sensitive to human touch, allowing a user to interact with the computer by touching pictures or words on the screen. Touch screens are used with information kiosk, computer-based training devices, and systems designed to help individuals who have difficulty manipulating a mouse or keyboard.

Wireless Technologies — Transmission of voice or data using radio waves instead of electrical or light impulses. Antennas replace the network of wires. Variable bandwidths.

World Wide Web - A technical definition of the World Wide Web is: all the resources and users on the Internet that are using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). A broader definition comes from the organization that Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee helped found, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): "The World Wide Web is the universe of network-accessible information, an embodiment of human knowledge."