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Glossary

Glossary

802.3af

An IETF standard PoE method for powering networked devices.

A
address signaling The transmission of telephone digits from the calling-party phone to the called-party phone. A unique sequence of digits identifies each individual phone on the network so the call reaches the correct destination. alternate mark inversion (AMI)

An older digital circuit method for dictating how binary

is sent and interpreted on the wire.


analog telephone An edge device that sends and receives voice using two wires. The voice signal is sent and received in analog waveforms. application-specific routing (ASR)

An H.323 feature that allows streams to be routed

based on the application being used.


assured forwarding (AF) PHB A PHB classification system that has 12 priority classes, which are segmented into four classes, each with three drop priorities: low, medium, and high. Automatic Number Identification (ANI)

The source telephone number of the calling

party. Also known as caller ID.


AutoQoS

A Cisco QoS configuration method that automatically determines the bestpractice configurations for an interface and applies them for you. The first step on the two-step AutoQoS for the Enterprise configuration process. The router monitors interfaces and collects information about the data flows it sees and attempts to classify them into one of 10 possible classes.

AutoQoS autodiscovery phase

AutoQoS for the Enterprise An automated QoS feature that configures large-scale networks for voice transport based on Cisco best-practice methodologies. AutoQoS for VoIP An automated QoS feature that configures small to medium-size networks for voice transport based on Cisco best-practice methodologies. AutoQoS installation phase The second step on the two-step AutoQoS for the Enterprise configuration process. The router uses the information collected during the AutoQoS autodiscovery phase to configure classes and policies, and then applies them to the appropriate interfaces.

B
backhaul

Trunks used to transport multiple voice calls between the private site and the service provider core network. See ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI).

Basic Rate Interface (BRI)

Glossary

behavior aggregate (BA) A QoS term used to describe similar traffic flows that are traveling in the same direction on a network device. Typically you want to classify traffic into groups that have a similar BA. best-effort QoS model

The model in which a network device treats all traffic the same and does not guarantee the delivery of traffic. A newer digital circuit method for dictating how binary is sent and interpreted over the wire. It solves the AMI 8-zeroes-in-a-row problem by sending a distinct pattern that can be interpreted as such.

Bipolar 8-bit Zero Substitution (B8ZS)

bottleneck The part of a network between two points where bandwidth is at its lowest. This is the area where congestion is most likely.

C
call admission control (CAC)

A voice protection feature that monitors the amount of bandwidth on a path, and either permits or denies a call from being established based on the amount of bandwidth available. A one-way logical connection of a call setup between two voice gateways.

call leg

call-processing agent Hardware and software responsible for call-processing and callcontrol functions on an IPT network. From a Cisco perspective, call-processing agents are any of the three Cisco Unified Communications Managers. call waiting caller ID

The ability of a phone to receive two or more simultaneous calls.

See: Automatic Number Identification (ANI).

central office (CO)

A PSTN switch equipment office that is geographically dispersed to handle the need of users based on population density and telephone usage. Circuits that connect a private business PBX to the PSTN.

central office (CO) trunk

Centralized Automatic Messaging Accounting (CAMA)

A specialized trunk configuration often used in North America for connecting to emergency services (E911).

Channel Associated Signaling (CAS) A digital signaling method that allows for up to 24 simultaneous calls at one time. In order to be able to squeeze 24 calls into an SF or ESF frame, CAS uses robbed-bit signaling. Cisco Discovery Protocol A Cisco proprietary Layer 2 messaging protocol that is commonly used between Cisco devices to determine neighboring devices and their capabilities. Cisco fax relay

Ciscos proprietary fax relay method, which uses special RTP packets to transport the communication stream.

Glossary

Cisco phone user license Cisco power injector

A license for each individual phone endpoint.

A midspan device that provides power to a single phone endpoint. A specialized voice gateway IOS that can perform

Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE)

IP-to-IP gateway functionality.


Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) A hardware appliance that runs on a hardened Linux operating system. Each server appliance is capable of handling up to 7,500 endpoints and can be clustered to support up to 30,000 endpoints. Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition (CUCMBE) A hardware appliance that runs on a hardened Linux operating system. The appliance is used in medium-size businesses and can handle up to 500 endpoints. Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CUCME) Specialized IOS software that runs on Cisco routers. The voice hardware and software are commonly used in small business environments and supports up to 250 endpoints. class maps

The first tier of a class-based QoS policy that defines a specific subset of traffic.

Class of Restriction (COR)

Within the voice gateway, a method that allows you to configure calling privileges and assign them to dial peers and telephone extensions configured on the voice gateway or CUCM Express.

Class of Service (CoS)

A field within the Layer 2 Ethernet frame header that marks traffic as being one of eight (0 to 7) classes for QoS prioritization purposes. A PHB classification system that uses only the three leftmost bits. The other three bits are always 0s. The CS was created for backward compatibility with IP Precedence values.

Class Selector (CS) PHB

class-based (CB) QoS A term used to describe the three-tiered MQC configuration process for QoS. The three tiers include class maps, policy maps, and applying the policy maps using a service policy. class-based weighted fair queuing (CBWFQ)

A queuing mechanism that is an extension of WFQ and also can be used to classify and prioritize traffic based on flow types.

codec

An algorithm that converts analog waves into a digital format that may or may not include compression. There are multiple codecs that use different fidelities, sampling rates, and packet payload sizes. The word codec is short for coder/decoder.

comfort noise Artificial white noise created locally and played to let the user receive audio feedback that a call is still in progress and has not been terminated. Common Channel Signaling (CCS)

A digital signaling method that uses in-band signaling by taking an entire channel out of the TDM structure to use exclusively for signaling.

Glossary

companding A bandwidth-saving technique used to reduce the total number of bits that are required for the digital circuit to be encoded and transported. compressed RTP (cRTP) A technique used to shrink the size of the IP/UDP/RTP header from 40 bytes to 25 bytes by not passing static information in every packet of an RTP stream. compression A method of reducing bandwidth by eliminating redundant 8-bit binary samples on the receiving end. This is done by using a known sample or group of samples and sending a signal to represent the known samples. congestion avoidance

A QoS method used to drop packets when congestion is detected

on an interface.
congestion management The use of logical queues within network hardware interfaces to store packets that are waiting to be transmitted on a congested link. CUCM Express feature license

A license that determines how many phones you can run

on the CUCM.
custom queuing (CQ)

A queuing mechanism that divides the total number of queue slots into different classes. Each class gets a certain amount of queue spaces that is configurable by the network administrator. The more preferred a class is, the more queue slots it is given. Telephone equipment owned by a private party that

customer premise equipment (CPE)

connects to the PSTN network.

D
default PHB A PHB classification describing traffic that requires only best-effort QoS. The default PHB has a binary value of 000000. default phone configuration file An XML configuration file that provides a Cisco IP phone with all the general information it needs to communicate with the CUCM Express system. demarc The termination point that separates cabling responsibility between the customers house wiring and the PSTN local-loop wiring. DHCP relay A configuration setting that relays DHCP messages between requesting endpoints and a DHCP server that resides on a different IP subnet. Dial Peer 0

If no inbound dial-peer matches are made using configured dial-peer rules, the voice gateway will use this built-in catch-all rule.

dial plan A telephone number methodology that uses dial peers to interpret dial strings and determine how calls are directed through IP and/or PSTN networks.

Glossary

Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS)

The destination telephone number a caller

dials and wishes to reach.


Differentiated Services (DS) byte

A field within the IP header that is used to mark

packets with a DSCP value.


Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) A ToS/DS field within the Layer 3 packet header that marks traffic as being one of 64 (0 to 63) classes for QoS prioritization purposes. DiffServ

A QoS model that classifies different IP traffic flows and marks them for use on other QoS-aware devices along the traffic flow path. Classified traffic can then be given different priorities although it is not considered to be guaranteed.

digit stripping A digit-manipulation technique that removes digits that are explicitly defined in dial-peer rules. Digital Signal Processor (DSP)

A hardware chip installed in a voice gateway that serves to assist in voice connectivity, conferencing, and transcoding functionality in a voice network.

digital telephone

An edge device that converts the analog signal into a digital format. This is done to overcome distance and scalability issues inherent with analog phones.

digital trunk A PSTN connection capable of transporting multiple digitized voice streams across a single cable. direct inward dial (DID)

A PSTN option where the carrier strips off and sends only a portion of the dialed digits to the customer. A command used when identifying files to be serviced by the TFTP server when the files are organized in a directory structure. The alias helps the phones locate the directory where the files can be stored on the flash. The resulting data after digital sampling has been performed on an

directory alias

discrete signal

analog signal.
drop precedence

A portion of the DSCP AF marking classification system where traffic can be marked with a drop precedence of low, medium, or high probability.

DSP farm A voice gateway configured to use DSP resources to offload transcoding, conferencing, and MTP from a CUCM. DSP profile

A grouping of DSP resources to serve a specific DSP-farm offloading service.

DTMF relay A method of transporting DTMF tones to better ensure that they are accurately reconstructed at the opposite end of a VoIP network. dual line The combining of two separate phone lines in one telephone button. This lets users of the phone place calls on hold or receive a second call when one line is in use.

Glossary

dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF)

A method of inputting telephone digits using buttons that sends two distinct tones to the phone switch to indicate a specific dialed digit.

dynamic gatekeeper discovery The method in which an H.323 device sends gatekeeper request (GRQ) RAS messages in a multicast to discover its local gatekeeper. Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP)

A service that dynamically assigns IP addresses and other network information to endpoint devices such as PCs and IP phones.

E
E&M port

An analog port commonly used to connect two PBX systems together.

E&M signaling

An analog signaling protocol used to communicate between PBX systems or PSTN network switches. See International Numbering Plan.

E.164

E1 A digital trunk that carries 32 TDM channels. Two channels are used for framing and signaling so the E1 can carry up to 30 simultaneous calls. E1s are used almost everywhere outside of North America and Japan. echo The reflection of sound that arrives to the listener a period of time after the original sound is heard. encoding

The process of taking the quantized samples and translating them into binary.

A CUCM Express command character that is used to set different ring, call waiting, overlay, and monitor options on an ephone.
ephone button separator ephone extension states

The six different operational states that an IP phone can be in.

ephone A CUCM Express configuration statement that represents physical phones on the CUCM Express system running SCCP. It includes a number used to identify a particular device within the IOS. ephone-dn A CUCM Express configuration statement that represents the telephone

extension configured on each phone that is running SCCP.


error correction mode (ECM)

A fax feature that can be enabled to better ensure the proper receipt of all fax-transmission packets.

expansion

An ephone button separator option used to expand line coverage for an overlay button.

expedited forwarding (EF) PHB A PHB classification system used for IP data flows that require low-latency packet loss and jitter.

Glossary

explicit congestion notification (ECN)

The two rightmost bits of the DS field that can be marked by Layer 3 devices to indicate link congestion. The newer digital framing method, which bundles 24 TDM channel cycles together in a single frame. It also performs cyclic redundancy checks (CRC) for better reliability compared to SF.

Extended Superframe (ESF)

F
fair queuing

A queuing algorithm that schedules packets for transport across the same interface. It is used in conjunction with priority marking of packets so that lower-class packets are not choked off completely.

fax pass-through A fax transmission method that transports fax messages the same way that voice calls are transmitted. The only difference is that when fax pass-through is enabled, it ensures that fax transmissions are encoded using either G.711 mu-law or G.711 a-law to provide a high-quality digital representation of the original analog source. fax relay A fax transmission method where analog fax transmissions are terminated at the voice gateway, which then demodulates, packetizes, and transmits the packets to the remote voice gateway. This process is accomplished using either the Cisco fax relay or T.38 fax relay method. fax transmission rate

A static transmit rate (measured in bps) at which the fax is transmitted over an IP network. The accuracy of a copied signal (such as voice) compared to the original.

fidelity

firmware load file

A file on the CUCM Express system used to tell the registering Cisco phones which firmware they are to download.

First-In, First-Out (FIFO) A queuing mechanism that does not place any emphasis on packet priorities. Instead, the first packet to be placed in the queue is the first one to come out. fixed delay

The amount of time it takes in an ideal situation where the only slowdown is in how fast it takes electrical and optical signals to transport IP packets. An analog port commonly used to connect a voice

Foreign Exchange Office (FXO)

gateway to the PSTN.


Foreign Exchange Station (FXS) An analog port commonly used to connect analog end devices such as a telephone or fax machine. FRF.12

An LFI mechanism that can be configured on Frame Relay circuits.

Glossary

G
gatekeeper

A device whose primary function is to maintain a database mapping telephone extensions to IP addresses. It is primarily found in environments running the H.323 protocol.

gateway signaling protocols Protocols used to communicate signaling between voice gateways or between a voice gateway and a call agent. glare An occurrence when loop-start signaling is used whereby a user picks up a phone and unexpectedly finds they are already connected to a call that came inbound. ground-start signaling

A supervisory signaling type that uses grounding wires for the signaling of the line to be seized. A fax standard transmission method that supports speeds up to 14.4 Kbps.

group 3

H
H.323 A suite of protocols for the signaling of voice, video, and data using a peer-to-peer architecture. H.323 Early Media An H.323 feature used in concert with H.323 fast start to provide early communication channels for media such as broadcast announcements and music on hold (MOH). H.323 fast start

An H.323 call-initiation process that sets up an H.245 channel during the call setup stage and does not wait for the call proceeding, alerting, and connect stages to complete. An H.323 component that breaks up an H.323 network into multiple zones. It can also be configured for other services, including RSVP-based CAC.

H.323 gatekeeper

H.323 proxy server A server that works as a head end for call setup and teardown of one or more H.323 endpoints. H.323 slow start An H.323 call-initiation process that sets up an H.245 channel after the call setup, call proceeding, alerting, and connect stages have completed. high-complexity codec A codec that requires a large amount of DSP processing power typically because of higher compression rates while maintaining call clarity. house wiring

The customers internal telephone wiring that it is responsible for

maintaining.
huntstop A command that tells CUCM Express to look for the next preferred ephone-DN if the most preferred phone is busy. hybrid system

The combination of PBX and key-system functionalities.

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Glossary

I
impedance

The ratio between voltage and electrical current. A dial peer that matches number strings coming into the voice gateway.

inbound dial peer

informational signaling

Feedback generated from the telephone switch to the user in the form of tones or voice messages to inform the phone user what state a call is in.

inject-tone A voice port-testing method used to send a tone across the port at a specific frequency that is used to determine proper settings as optimal impedance settings. inline power (ILP)

A Cisco proprietary PoE option integrated into switches.

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) A standard suite of protocols that operates on Layers 13 of the OSI model. It utilizes PSTN circuits running CCS for the transport of voice, data, and video. Intelligent Power Management (IPM)

A Cisco method using CDP to negotiate power

allocation of 802.3af PoE devices.


intercluster trunk A VoIP call type where call setup signaling is transferred between the CUCMs at each site in order to establish the call. interexchange network

The level within the PSTN hierarchy where national long-distance

charges are incurred.


interface binding

A configuration method used to associate a virtual interface with multiple physical interfaces. This is commonly implemented on voice networks to eliminate a single physical point of failure.

international network The level within the PSTN hierarchy where international longdistance charges are incurred. International Numbering Plan A telephone numbering plan used by all countries around the world. The plan breaks numbers into three categories: country code, national destination code, and subscriber code.

A public telephone service provider that uses the IP network to connect customers to the PSTN. It offers telephony services similar to the PSTN; the primary difference is that connection between the private organization and the service provider uses VoIP as opposed to legacy analog or digital circuits.
Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) interoffice trunk

Backhaul connections that interconnect central offices. Calls made between interconnected COs are considered to be local. A QoS model that guarantees the quality of service for specific traffic types. It can provide a guarantee by reserving a specific amount of bandwidth for a flow from end to end.

IntServ

Glossary

11

IOS feature set A license that determines the different features that can be run on an IOS-capable device. IP Precedence A technique that uses the three leftmost bits of the ToS byte to mark packets with a value of 07 for QoS classification purposes. ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) Digital circuit that has three channels of 64 Kbps each. The two channels used for transport are called B channels, and the one channel that out-of-band signaling uses is called the D channel.

J
jitter

The variation in the time between the receipt of each voice packet. For voice, it is recommended that jitter be reduced to 30 ms or less, on average.

K
key system

A telephone system used in small businesses for the sharing of external PSTN lines on multiple phones.

L
lightweight registration A feature in H.323v2 that uses modified RRQ messages that are smaller and consume less bandwidth when notifying the gatekeeper that the end device is still alive. line seizure A telephone line state when a phone transitions from an on-hook to an off-hook state. link efficiency

A QoS method used to make the transport of data flows more efficient, including techniques such as compression and LFI techniques. A link-efficiency compression technique that takes large data frames and fragments them into smaller, more manageable sizes. It then interleaves these smaller fragmented frames with other small frames such as voice.

link fragmentation interleaving (LFI)

listener echo The reflection of sound that is an echo of an echo; the listening party hears the talker two times during different time intervals. local call A VoIP call type where source and destination phones are connected to the same call-processing agent or voice gateway. local loop

The physical wiring between a customers private phone equipment and the PSTN central office (CO).

12

Glossary

local zones

H.323 zones that are managed by the local gatekeeper. A supervisory signaling type that uses a two-wire method for line

loop-start signaling

seizure.
Low Latency Queuing (LLQ)

A queuing mechanism that can be configured to offer priority queuing (PQ) for traffic such as voice and CBWFQ queuing for other types of traffic. A codec that requires a low amount of DSP processing power.

low-complexity codec

M
Mean Opinion Score (MOS) A subjective ITU-T method of ranking call clarity for various audio codecs. Each codec is judged for various quality aspects and is given an averaged score between 1 and 5, where 5 is considered excellent quality. media flow-around Media streams flow freely between the two networks and find their own path to the destination instead of being forced through a CUBE. media flow-through

Voice/video streams come into and are proxied by the CUBE.

Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) A newer voice gateway protocol that uses a client-server architecture. It is very easy to set up but limited in its features. Media Termination Point (MTP) A method used to set up logical terminations to offload voice duties such as call hold, transfer, park, conference calling, and DTMF generation. medium-complexity codec

A codec that requires a moderate amount of DSP processing

power.
MGCP fallback A MGCP failover feature that lets gateways fall back to the H.323 protocol when communications are lost, which renders MGCP useless. MGCP residential gateway

A type of MGCP gateway where the protocol is responsible for providing signaling between the IP network and analog voice ports including FXS, FXO, and E&M.

MGCP trunking gateway

A type of MGCP gateway where the protocol is responsible for providing signaling between the IP network and PSTN trunked ports such as ISDN BRI and PRI circuits. A Cisco QoS configuration method that uses a modular three-step hierarchical approach to configuring classes and policies and applying the policies to interfaces.

Modular QoS CLI (MQC)

monitor line An ephone button separator option used to monitor the status (on- or offhook) of a single ephone-DN.

Glossary

13

Multilink PPP (MLP) A Layer 2 transport mechanism defined in RFC 1990 that encapsulates Layer 3 traffic over point-to-point links including ISDN. multiplexing

Combining multiple analog or digital signals over a shared physical

medium.
multipoint control units (MCU) Devices used to control and facilitate H.323 multimedia content such as audio and video for a point-to-multipoint communication.

N
named signaling events (NSE) A message used to communicate resources such as codec choice when transporting fax transmissions. In this book, NSE messages can be either Cisco proprietary or ITU-T standard messages. narrowband Describes an audio sample taken using a smaller frequency range than wideband but that collects the vast majority of audio. Narrowband commonly collects signals between 300 and 3400 Hz. Network Time Protocol (NTP)

A service that synchronizes the internal clocks on

networked equipment.
non-standard facilities (NSF) Proprietary (non-T.30) capability codes that are exchanged between two fax machines to determine possible fax transmission methods. North American Numbering Plan (NANP)

The numbering plan used in the United States, Canada, and parts of the Caribbean. The plan uses a fixed format of 10 digits divided into three categories: area code, central office code, and subscriber code. A digit-manipulation technique that matches one string of digits and then substitutes different digits before forwarding them to the next destination. A mathematical equation used to find the optimal method for sampling the human voice for transport on a telephone network.

number expansion

Nyquist sampling theorem

O
octo-line The combining of eight separate phone lines in one telephone button. This lets users of the phone place calls on hold or receive a second call when the first line is in use. off-hook When the analog circuit between the ring and tip is connected and the ring powers the tip. off-net A VoIP call type where source and destination phones are on different networks where the PSTN must be utilized to complete the call.

14

Glossary

one-stage dialing When a voice network is configured so that a call is not terminated until the endpoint phone is reached. on-hook

When the analog circuit between the ring and tip is severed and the battery (ring) cannot power the tip lead.

on-net

A VoIP call type where source and destination phones are on the same network but traverse more than one voice gateway. A dial peer that matches number strings before exiting the voice

outbound dial-peer rule

gateway.
out-of-band signaling The process of using a separate voice channel that is reserved for signaling. That way, signaling is kept completely separate from any voice or data transmissions. overlay

An ephone button separator option used to associate multiple ephone-DNs with a single-line button.

P
packet loss

An occurrence when network hardware queues fill up and packets are dropped. For voice, it is recommended that packet loss not exceed 1 percent.

packet loss concealment Software used to intelligently guess what the payload should be for lost packets. The software then generates a substitute packet to fill in for the one that was lost on the network. peak information rate (PIR)

A byte setting that sets an absolute maximum rate above and

beyond the CIR.


peer-to-peer architecture

A model in which both voice peers have intelligence to route calls from one point to another.

Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) An objective ITU-T method that produces a highly reproducible score of voice codec quality. It is similar to PSQM but takes network issues such as latency, jitter, and packet loss into the scoring equation. Scores are graded using a scoring method similar to MOS (1 to 5) so the two scores can be easily compared. Perceptual Objective Listening Quality Analysis (POLQA) An objective ITU-T method that is used to score next-generation codecs in terms of voice quality. The standard will eventually be the replacement to PESQ because of its ability to offer more advanced benchmarking for sideband codecs as well as more advanced wireless networks. Perceptual Speech Quality Measure (PSQM)

An objective ITU-T method that produces a highly reproducible score of voice-codec quality. It has since been replaced with the more accurate PESQ scoring system.

Glossary

15

per-hop behavior (PHB)

A term used to describe DSCP subsets created by the IETF that define a structured methodology for marking packets with DSCP. Using the same wiring to power devices as Ethernet uses to transmit and A telephone switch that lets a business run an internal

phantom power

receive data.
phone branch exchange (PBX)

and private voice network.


policy maps

The second tier of a class-based QoS policy that associates traffic class types with one or more QoS operations.

POTS dial peer Voice gateway configuration command that provides routing information for connecting to traditional telephony devices such as analog phones, fax machines, and any off-network calls that are routed out to the PSTN using either analog or digital interfaces connected to the voice gateway. power brick

Standard 110v AC unit that plugs directly into a single phone endpoint.

Power over Ethernet (PoE)

A method of providing end devices with power using the same Ethernet cable used for the transport of data. A device that sits in between an IP phone and a non-PoE-capable switch that provides power to multiple phone endpoints.

powered patch panel

A link-efficiency compression technique that attempts to predict the next sequence of characters in a data stream by using an index in the compression dictionary.
predictor compression prefix adding A digit-manipulation technique that adds digits to the beginning of a number string before it is forwarded out of the voice gateway. Primary Rate Interface (PRI) Digital circuit that uses either 23 or 32 channel T1/E1 ports. Out-of-band signaling is used. priority queuing (PQ)

A strict queuing mechanism that is used to give priority explicitly An autodialing mechanism that is used to

to certain traffic types.


Private Line Automatic Ringdown (PLAR)

associate a port with a single destination.


private numbering plan

Numbering plan for the configuration of private telephone networks within an organization. The amount of time it takes a packet to travel from source to destination on a network. For voice, it is recommended that delay not exceed 150 ms.

propagation delay

protocol internetworking The ability of a CUBE to terminate and reinitiate IP voice sessions between devices that run H.323, SIP, or H.323-to-SIP.

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Glossary

proxy

A device that acts as an intermediary for connected clients.

Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) The name for the CO that is the first hop connecting a private voice network CAMA trunk to E911 services. public switched telephone network (PSTN) A network that interconnects private home and business phones. Customers pay a service fee to use the PSTN. pulse dialing A method of inputting telephone digits using a rotary disk with a mechanical motion to perform on- and off-hook transitions to specify a digit. pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM)

The process of sampling, quantizing, and encoding

an analog voice signal.


pulse-code modulation (PCM)

The process of translating sampled analog signals into a numbering system. This is also referred to as quantization.

Q
Q signaling (QSIG)

A signaling protocol that uses Q.931 as its underlying signaling protocol but modifies the signals so proprietary ISDN signaling protocols can be used by nonproprietary equipment on the other end of the connection.

Q.931

ITU-T standard sub-signaling protocol that is responsible for the setup and teardown of B channel connections whether they are voice or data connections.

Quality of Service (QoS) A set of traffic-control mechanisms used to give time-sensitive traffic priority on the network to limit delay, jitter, and packet loss. quantization The process of translating sampled analog signals into a numbering system. This is also referred to as pulse-code modulation.

R
Random Early Detection (RED)

A congestion-avoidance technique that randomly drops packets when congestion is detected. It is set into motion when queues begin to fill up and packets need to be discarded on bottleneck interfaces. RED cannot differentiate between traffic types, so any packets could potentially be dropped. An out-of-band supporting protocol for RTP. Its primary purpose is to track statistics for QoS adjustments. An IETF RFC 1889 and 3050 protocol designed to

Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP)

Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP)

transport real-time IP payloads.


Registration Admission and Status (RAS)

An H.225 message protocol that is used to communicate the registration process between H.323 gatekeepers and H.323 endpoints and voice gateways.

Glossary

17

remote zones

H.323 zones that are not configured locally and are handled by an external

gatekeeper.
reset

A full reboot of a Cisco IP phone.

Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) A Transport layer protocol that is designed to reserve bandwidth resources dynamically across an IP network. restart

A partial reset of a Cisco IP phone.

ringing time The amount of time that an echo canceller waits to listen for echo on the receiving (Rx) line of the tail circuit. robbed-bit signaling (RBS)

The technique of taking bits from SF framing channels 6 and 12 and ESF framing channels 6, 12, 18, and 24 for sending signaling data from one end of the digital circuit to the other. This stealing of bits is done to maximize the number of calls a CAS T1 can handle.

S
Secure RTP (sRTP)

Protocol that provides authentication, data encryption, and relay protection for RTP packets.

seizure

The process of taking a telephone connection off-hook, which reserves the line for a telephone call.

service policy The third tier of a class-based QoS policy that is used to apply policy maps to router interfaces including subinterfaces and virtual circuits. Session Description Protocol (SDP)

An RFC 2327 protocol that uses standard ASCII codes for describing and negotiating multimedia sessions. A peer-to-peer transport protocol that uses a distributed call-processing architecture. The protocol messages are sent in ASCII format, and addressing looks similar to an email address. The term used to describe an ephone-DN that is applied to two or more IP phones.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)

shared line

SIP delayed offer A method of exchanging SDP messages using SIP where the target device sends the initial request in a SIP OK message. SIP early offer A method of exchanging SDP messages using SIP where the initiating device sends the initial request in a SIP INVITE message. SIP proxy server

Device that takes the responsibility of forwarding INVITE messages for

the UACs.
SIP register server

Device that maintains a database mapping phone numbers to IP addresses on a SIP network.

18

Glossary

SIP secure (SIPS)

A configuration feature to secure SIP communication.

SIP source-bind A SIP feature used to statically assign an IP address to a specific voice gateway interface to be used for the signaling and/or media source IP address. SIP user agent (UA)

SIP endpoint device that can be considered either a UAC or a UAS device. Device that sends INVITE messages to a remote peer to Device that responds to UAC INVITE messages.

SIP user agent client (UAC)

establish a SIP connection.


SIP user agent server (UAS) site code dialing

A dial plan method that uses a digit or multiple digits to specify a specific location on a voice network. Site codes are useful in situations where you have overlapping telephone extensions.

Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP) Ciscos proprietary voice signaling protocol. It is primarily used as an endpoint-to-call-agent protocol for signaling but can be used on voice gateways for signaling. It uses a client-server architecture with centralized call control. source IP address

The IP address that defines the location of the CUCM Express

call-processing unit.
stacker compression

A link-efficiency compression technique that uses a special encoded dictionary, which both routers possess. The router replaces streaming data with much smaller codes found in the dictionary.

Super Frame (SF)

The former digital framing method, which bundles 12 TDM channel cycles together in a single frame. A fax standard transmission method that supports speeds up to

Super Group 3 (SG3)

33.6 Kbps.
Supervisory Signaling

Signaling that detects changes in the status of the telephone physical loop or trunk and is then used to set up and tear down calls. Loop-start and ground-start analog signaling fall within this signaling category.

survivable remote site telephony (SRST) A voice backup method that allows the voice gateway to temporarily act as the call-processing agent in the event that a WAN connection is lost and there are phones that cannot communicate with the CUCM.

T
T.30

An ITU-T standard for the transmission of fax messages over POTS lines.

T.37 store-and-forward fax

A fax transmission method that uses SMTP email messages as transport for the fax transmission. The transmission is obtained and converted into a

Glossary

19

TIFF file by the T.37-capable device. It is then attached to an email and sent to one or more recipients.
T.38 fax relay

An ITU-T standard fax relay method for transmitting fax messages over IP

networks.
T1 A digital trunk that carries 24 TDM channels. Depending on the signaling type used, a T1 can carry either 23 or 24 voice calls simultaneously. T1s are used primarily in North America. tail end hop off (TEHO)

The voice design of configuring your IP network to transport calls as far as possible on the IP WAN before letting them hop off onto the PSTN. This is an extension of toll bypass that can work in geographically dispersed IP networks.

talker echo The reflection of sound that arrives back at the originating talker where they hear themselves repeated. TCP synchronization A phenomenon that occurs when interface queues fill up. All TCP flows passing through the congested interface will back off and begin sending packets more slowly. They will eventually speed back up and cause the same congestion, causing a seesaw effect in traffic flow.

A special E.164 prefix number that can be dialed by endpoints to take advantage of special H.323 features.
technology prefix telephony service event (TSE) Special messages that can provide a way to communicate telephony events between MGCP gateways. tie trunk (or tie line)

A dedicated voice circuit that directly connects two PBX switches. A strict time-based method for sharing a single cable

time-division multiplexing (TDM)

to transport multiple voice signals.


token A metaphor used to describe a routers permission for a source device to send a specified amount of bits out to the network. token bucket

A metaphor used to describe interface queues.

toll bypass The voice design of configuring your IP network to utilize WAN connections for voice transport and therefore avoiding long-distance charges. tone suppression A configuration method used to block fax tone transmissions so they can be transported at a lower rate. Tool Command Language (TCL)

A scripting language that can be used within the IOS to script events for processes such as the T.37 store-and-forward fax method.

traffic classification

The process of identifying traffic based on different characteristics in order to group same-traffic types together for QoS.

20

Glossary

traffic marking The process of flagging critical packets so that the rest of the network can properly identify them and give them priority over all other traffic. traffic policing

A QoS technique that sets a strict maximum transmission rate to a certain group of traffic. If traffic flows go above the configured rate, the traffic is dropped or retagged. The process of ordering certain types of traffic for transport over LAN/

traffic queuing

WAN interfaces.
traffic shaping

A QoS technique that sets a maximum transmission rate to a certain group of traffic. If traffic flows go above the configured rate, the traffic is put into queues when available. That means the data will still be sent, but it will be delayed. The process of translating data between two different codecs.

transcoding

translation rule A digit-manipulation technique that nests multiple rules in a translation rule set, which then can be called within dial peers or POTS ports to match and manipulate number strings. translation rule regular expressions Defined characters used to provide an easy and structured method to match number strings used for matching and manipulating number strings within translation rules. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) An IP suite protocol often used in data applications that benefit from features such as reconstructing unordered packets at the destination, and the retransmission of missing packets. trust boundary A term used to describe the point within a network topology where you start trusting QoS markings contained within a packet or frame. two-stage dialing

When a voice network is configured so that a caller dials digits, which are accepted by a voice gateway, and the call terminates at a second hop along the connection where a second dial tone is given. The caller must then enter a second series of digits to complete the intended call. A field within the IP header that is used to mark packets with

Type of Service (ToS) byte

an IP Precedence value.

U
Unity Express

A hardware device that provides voicemail services. It integrates directly into CUCM Express on an open network module. An IP suite protocol often used by voice because it provides no error-correction mechanisms, which real-time traffic cannot utilize.

User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

Glossary

21

V
VLAN trunk

A link between two Layer 2 switches that can transport traffic from multiple VLANs. It keeps the traffic between the VLANs separate by tagging each frame.

Voice Activity Detection (VAD) Software used to detect silence on a phone call and prevent the sending of silent packets across the network to conserve bandwidth. voice clipping A side effect of VAD in which the first few milliseconds of a users voice are not transmitted to the remote party. voice gateway

A router that connects IP and PSTN voice networks. The gateway is responsible for translation, transcoding, and compression, when needed.

voice register dn A CUCM Express configuration statement that represents the telephone extension configured on each phone that is running SIP. voice register pool

A CUCM Express configuration statement that represents physical phones on the CUCM Express system running SIP. It includes a number used to identify a particular device within the IOS. A dedicated VLAN specifically used for voice communications on an IP

voice VLAN

network.
VoIP dial peer Voice gateway configuration command that provides routing information for devices connecting to each other through an IP network.

W
watch phone

An ephone button separator option used to monitor the status (on- or offhook) of all ephone-DNs assigned to a phone.

weighted fair queuing (WFQ) A queuing mechanism that uses byte sizes to fairly distribute traffic out of queues. This lets smaller packets such as voice have preferential treatment over larger data packets. Weighted Random Early Detection (WRED) A congestion-avoidance technique that uses RED but adds an extra layer of intelligence to better determine which packets should have a higher probability of being dropped based on QoS markings. It is a Cisco proprietary advancement of RED to make the dropping of packets less random by selecting packets that are marked lower than others. wideband Describes an audio sample taken using a large frequency range that captures more of the audio signal than narrowband methods. Wideband commonly collects signals between 50 and 7000 Hz.

22

Glossary

wildcard One or more characters used as a placeholder to describe a range of telephone digits. Wildcards are used in configurations (such as dial peers) to limit the number of rules that need to be created. wink

A term used to describe the on-off-on hook transition when using E&M wink-start supervisory signaling. See Weighted Random Early Detection (WRED).

WRED

Z
zone

In H.323, a gatekeeper is used to break up a large network into logical units known as zones for better management and policy enforcement. Configured on H.323 gateways, it is used to identify a zone by an E.164 number.

zone prefix

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