Creativyst's Glossary of Industry Related Terms

Industry Terms

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(Creativyst™ Glossary)

Packet drop

	A type of QoS: When a queue within a network router reaches its maximum length, packet drops can occur. When a packet drop occurs, connection-based protocols such as TCP slow down their transmission rates in an attempt to let queued packets be serviced, thereby letting the queue empty. This is also known as tail drop because packets are dropped from the input end (tail) of the queue.
	See Also: QoS TCP/IP Internet

PBX

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Private Branch Exchange - This is the term used to describe your typical phone switch. A PBX is an in-house telephone switching system that interconnects telephone extensions to each other, as well as to the outside telephone network. It may include functions such as least cost routing for outside calls, call forwarding, conference calling and call accounting. Modern PBXs use all-digital methods for switching and can often handle digital terminals and telephones along with analog telephones. PBX's can date back to the late 1800's and almost every company has one today.

PCM

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	Pulse Code Modulation - A technique for converting analog speech into a digital data stream.
	See Also: codec G.711 G.729

PCP

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	Post Call Processing - Another name for After Call Work (ACW)
	See Also: After Call Work

PCS

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	See: Physical Coding Sublayer

Perl

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The name of an open source programming language created and distributed by http://www.wall.org/~larry/" TARGET="_blank">Larry Wall. It is widely used to write programs in a platform independent way. It is likely the most common language in use today for writing web based applications, probably because of it's ability to run programs without modification on just about every platform known in the free world. It is not limited to web based applications though.

Perl is commonly thought to be an abbreviation for Practical Extraction and Report Language and sometimes believed to be an abbreviation for Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister (the latter being preferred by its creator).

The source code for Perl is freely available, so it can be compiled to run on the platform of your choice. Many people have compiled the source code on their favorite platforms (like Windows, Linux, AS/400, Apple, etc) and have made the resulting Perl executables (called ports or binaries in the open source world) available for download.

For a full list of all the platforms Perl has been ported to, along with links to download them, see the CPAN web site.

See Also: Java JavaScript

Permalink

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A "permanent link" to a webpage. A URL link to specific content that will always lead to that content even after it has been archived.

This term was originally used to describe permanent links in weblogs where the item will automatically scroll off of the current content area and be archived.

The permalink allows weblog administrators to provide other websites with a way to link into their archived content that will continue to work over time.

Phone

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	See: Telephone

PHY

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	Physical Interface - The interface that corresponds to Layer 1 of the 7-layer OSI internetworking model; This layer is comprised of the PCS and PMD.

Physical Coding Sublayer

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	In layer 1 of the OSI 7-layer internetworking model, this is the part of the PHY that dictates the bit patterns sent to the PMD.

Physical Interface

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	See: PHY

Physical Media Dependent

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	In layer 1 of the OSI 7-layer internetworking model, this is the part of the PHY that dictates the way bits are converted to physical signals, such as light in the case of fiber.
	See Also: Physical Coding Sublayer

Plain Text

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	The original, readable message before encryption or after decryption. After encryption the unreadable message is called Cipher Text.
	See Also: Cryptography Encryption Cipher Text

PLC

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Packet Loss Concealment - An algorithm used in codecs to conceal lost or dropped packets. The algorithm may do this by playing the last packet received over again or it may insert comfort noise, among other things. In effect, they attempt to render packet loss unnoticeable to the listener. Codecs with PLC enabled clearly improve call quality over digital lines with the only cost being that they require more powerful processors.

See Also: G.711 G.729A VoIP

PMD

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	See: Physical Media Dependent

Post Call Processing

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	See: After Call Work

POTS

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	Plain Old Telephone Service. Basic single-line telephone service for the public switched telephone network (PSTN). With some exceptions, POTS only supports making and receiving calls, and POTS lines can handle only one conversation at a time. To use a conventional modem and a telephone at the same time on a POTS system, two lines are needed.
	See Also: PSTN

Predictive Dialer

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A predictive dialer is used in outbound call centers to automatically dial the phone for a group of agents.

A predictive dialer's decision of when to make the next call is based on the statistical probability of an agent becoming available to answer the call at the instant the recipient picks up. Other things considered by the dialer include the statistical probability that the called party will be available to answer the phone.

Because a predictive dialer relies so heavily on statistical probability, it will sometimes call a number that no agent is available to take. Technically, this is an abandoned call, but it is also referred to as a nuisance call because the called party gets hung up on the instant he or she answers the phone. For this reason, many local authorities have mandated maximum rates for outgoing abandoned calls. Typically in the range of around 5 percent.

See Also: Calls In Queue Average Speed of Answer After Call Work

Predictive Dialler

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	For outgoing call centers or campaigns. A system which dials outgoing numbers based on a statistical prediction of when the next agent will become available to take the call. Often responsible for the slight delay you hear between answering the phone and when the telemarketer responds with his or her sales pitch.

PRI

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	See: Primary Rate Interface

Primary Rate Interface

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	PRI - The ISDN standards that bundle multiple circuits over a single link. In the US, it consists of 24 circuit switched B (bearer) channels plus one packet-switched D (data) channel. It is the ISDN equivalent of a T1 circuit (1.544 Mbps).
	See Also: T1 ISDN

Priority Queuing

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A method of delivering QoS on TCP data networks: This is a de-facto method, built into the operation of most TCP/IP routers. It begins with a set of queues with different priority ratings. Queues are then serviced in strict order of queue priority, so the high priority queue is always serviced first, then the next-lower priority, and so on. This method is good for simple needs such as moving important traffic but fails badly in high-traffic applications.

	Public Switched Telephone Network - The "old" telephone network (still very much in use today) that set up calls by creating a physical electrical path, or �connection� from the originating number to the destination number. Modern networks are �connectionless� and rout packets containing digitized audio voice information as it is produced.
	See Also: POTS