Confused by all the technical terms? Check out our A-Z glossary for a simpler explanation.
To find a term, just click on the letter it starts with.
An access code introduced by Telecom for channelling Internet traffic to Internet service providers.
Short for 'second generation cellular technology', capable of supporting digital cellular services.
Equipment that enhances the productivity and appearance of mobile phones. Accessories include batteries, chargers, headsets, car kits, coloured covers and carrying cases.
Technology that enables computer data to be sent down the phone line at frequencies above those used for voice traffic. The voice and data signals are separated by a splitter or filter at your premises and at the telephone exchange. Since both voice and data signals can travel over the phone line simultaneously, there is no need to install a separate line for Internet access.
'Asymmetric' refers to data travelling downstream (from the network to your premises) faster than upstream (from your premises to the network).
A hardware device that converts information into code so it can be carried over a copper phone line.
A message or other type of read-out containing both letters ('alphas') and numbers ('numerics'). Alphanumeric memory dial is a special type of dial-from-memory option that displays names and numbers on your phone handset.
An analogue audio signal is a representation or copy of the pressure waves that make up audible sound, converted into an electrical representation. For example, sound waves transmitted over a copper phone line.
A physical device that enhances phone reception by improving the sending or receiving of radio signals. Antennas can be built-in to the phone or external. Car antennas help to boost the reception and transmission of mobile phones for drivers.
A phone feature where you can answer your mobile by pressing any key.
Asynchronous transmission is the most commonly used method of dial-up data transmission. When data blocks are transmitted they are marked by a start bit at the beginning of each character and a stop bit at the end. This ensures that the modem will recognise data as such and not be confused by line noise that has no stop and start bits.
A high-bandwidth, low-delay, packet-based switching protocol that allows voice, video, text and data to be multiplexed into a single transmission network.
The amount of data transmitted in a unit of time. Data network bandwidth is usually expressed as bits per second (bps), or bytes per second (Bps). There are eight bits in one byte. A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits.
The built-in rechargeable power supply for your mobile phone. Li-ion (Lithium-ion) batteries are the latest and most efficient. You can also get Nimh (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries.
A bit is the smallest unit of information that a computer recognises - essentially a '1' or a '0'.
An online journal or diary of opinions and latest news that is regularly updated. Blogs connect likeminded people with similar interests. Visitors to blogs can often make comments or ask the blogger questions.
Short-range (up to 10 meters) radio link technology that provides wireless connectivity between a mobile phone and a desktop computer, laptop or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Bluetooth is ideal for updating stored information such as address books and appointments.
A measure of how fast binary digits can be sent through a channel. Specifically, the number of '0' and '1' units that travel down the channel per second.
Broadband is a high-speed data connection between you and your Internet Service Provider (ISP). The speed depends on which plan you select. Your ISP in turn provides you with access to the Internet.
A program you use to view web pages, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla.
The packaging of a number of services where generally the price of the bundle is less than the combined price of the individual services.
The two wires commonly used to connect customer premises to the telephone exchange.
An area in your hard disk reserved for storing images, text, and other files you have viewed on the Internet. The Temporary Internet Files folder is the cache for Internet Explorer.
A limitation placed on a phone line that means you can't make national and international calls.
Redirecting incoming calls to another number.
A feature you can add to your phone line so that when someone calls while you are on a call, you are alerted by a special tone.
Caller display shows the phone number of the person calling you on your phone's screen (except restricted/call barred numbers).
A wide ranging term that covers the technology of sending voice and data to mobile phones at high speed.
A mobile communications system that facilitates phone communication between mobile users within a particular area. In cellular mobile systems, large geographical areas are divided into smaller areas, or cells.
When a telecommunications service provider uses a site owned by another service provider, so they can extend their network.
Bringing two or more people into a call simultaneously.
A one-off fee when a service is connected.
A small piece of information that a web server can temporarily store on your hard drive. Cookies help your web browser remember information, which the web server can retrieve the next time you visit that web page.
The main transmission medium used in local telephone access networks to connect a telephone or other apparatus to the local exchange. Copper circuits are designed for voice telephony and have limited ability to carry broadband services such as video, unless combined with a technology such as Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL).
The geographic area of a wireless network in which you could make or receive calls with your mobile phone.
Telecommunications equipment such as phones, PABX systems, faxes, and video terminals located within your premises.
With a data-capable mobile phone you have the ability to transmit data from a laptop, portable fax machine or personal digital assistant, equipped with a modem and auxiliary jack.
The transmission of data such as emails, files, spreadsheets and pictures between computers or over a telecommunications network.
A location within a wireless network's coverage area where there isn't any coverage, or where transmission falls off. Dead spots are often caused by electronic interference, hills, tunnels or indoor parking garages.
Technology used to link cordless mobile handsets to a wired telephone system.
The IP address of a network connection. This may be on the local computer, or another computer on the local network that connects your computer to an external network such as the Internet.
The boundary point between the Telecom network and a customer's sockets and permanent wiring.
A cradle that holds and recharges a mobile phone. Desktop chargers need a mains power supply.
Some modems provide a DHCP server function, which can be used to assign addresses dynamically on a local area network (LAN). DHCP distributes IP addresses from a central point and automatically sends a new IP address when a computer is plugged into a different place in the network.
Another way of accessing a packet switch service, such as the Internet, instead of having a dedicated connection.
Digital technology uses bits (computer information units) to encode information such as voice, video, data and images, for transmission.
Digital transmissions pass sounds in the form of a stream of binary numbers rather than as an analogue electrical signal.
A national or international call that you dial directly, without operator assistance.
There are various display types for mobile phone screens. With Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) you can read the display in all lighting conditions. Colour LCD provides coloured, luminous segments with crisp characters. Light Emitting Displays (LEDs) are big and bright. Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) can be seen in direct sunlight and in darkness, at various angles and in a range of temperatures.
A computer maintained by your Internet service provider that matches IP addresses to host names. Some providers will send you a specific DNS address. This usually contains four sets of numbers separated by periods and is different from your IP address.
A DOS attack happens when an attacker crashes a host or service so that it can't communicate properly with the rest of the network. A DOS attack can take many forms and can disable a web server. It's also possible for a DOS attack to target elements of the network other than a specific host. For example, an attacker can target the network's bandwidth by clogging it with bogus network requests.
Downstream refers to data flowing from a source such as a website, Internet service provider (ISP) or corporate host, to the end user. The end user could be you at home or a business. Upstream refers to data flowing from the end user back to the website, ISP or corporate host.
The Drive space area checks the capacity of your recycle bin, temporary system files and temporary Internet files
If a folder needs to be emptied an X will display to the left of Disk space and the folder or folders that need to be emptied are check marked.
A device housed at our exchange that concentrates a number of digital subscriber lines.
Commonly known as tone dialling. You must have a DTMF enabled phone to access certain network services that rely on your phone sending tones. Refer to your mobile phone's user manual to find out how you can turn this feature on and off.
A phone that can work on two network frequencies.
Technology that can send eight or more wavelengths down a single fibre optic cable.
Some modems provide a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server function, which can be used to assign addresses dynamically on a local area network . DHCP distributes IP addresses from a central point and automatically sends a new IP address when a computer is plugged into a different place in the network.
The unique identifier of a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile phone.
The different parts of the Internet are connected by a set of special computers called routers, which tie networks together to make up the Internet. These networks are sometimes called ethernets, and sometimes called phone lines.
Phone lines and ethernets carry data traffic, such as email. Routers sort the traffic and route it to its final destination on the Internet.
A place where various types of communication lines are switched together.
Favourites, or bookmarks as it is known in some browsers, is a folder where you can save the addresses of websites you have visited. This makes it easier and quicker to find certain pages or websites again.
A security system that helps prevent unauthorised access to or from a private network. Firewalls - originally introduced to prevent Internet users hacking in to corporate intranets - are now widely used to help protect data on individual computers linked to the Internet. All data passing through a firewall is inspected then blocked or allowed to pass according to predetermined security criteria.
A high-speed communications technology used throughout the world to connect local area networks, Internet, voice and other customer network applications. Frame relay uses a simple form of packet switching that's well suited to powerful PCs, workstations and servers that operate with intelligent protocols such as SNA and Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
A computer system for exchanging information across incompatible networks by translating between two dissimilar protocols. It may also describe any mechanism that gives access to another. For example, an Internet service provider, which acts as a gateway to the Internet.
Data transfer speed measured in billions of bits per second.
A gigabyte (GB) is 1,024 megabytes, or 1,073,741,824 bytes.
Make and take calls without actually holding the phone - essential for in-car use to avoid unsafe driving. The kit usually includes a battery charger and a hands-free holder. It may include connections to an external antenna, external speaker or a data port for fax and modem connections.
A unit of frequency that measures cycles per second.
Your computer stores a history of websites you have visited while browsing the Internet. Over time, this memory of visited sites can accumulate and bog down your web browsing sessions. Clearing your history may improve performance.
The main page of a website. A home page is the first page you see when you start Internet Explorer.
The language used to create and design web pages. HTML is a series of 'tags' that create the page layout, format text and insert graphics and multimedia into a web page.
A protocol that makes hypertext information, such as web pages, available over the Internet.
Anything on a web page that you can click on to go to another page. Links can be text or graphics and can take you to another page at the same website or to a page on a different site.
A way of presenting linked information such as text, sounds and images, so that you can choose the order you view information in.
A global satellite network that offers mobile satellite communications services for maritime, land, and aeronautical users.
Mobile phone covers that you can detach and change. Only selected mobile phones have interchangeable covers.
Where two networks are connected so that customers on one network can connect with customers on another. Interconnection is also used to enable customers to access services provided by another network.
The point at which two pieces of equipment meet.
A call outside New Zealand. To make an international call, dial the international access code - 00 - before the country and area codes, and local number.
A service that allows mobile phone users travelling in overseas countries to make calls from their existing mobile, due to agreements between different countries.
A constantly evolving group of international computer networks connected by phone lines.
An Internet address, or URL, is the name of a website, such as telecom.co.nz. An Internet address can also be the address of someone you want to send email to, such as bob@telecom.co.nz.
A typical address starts with a protocol name (such as ftp:// or http://) followed by the organisation that maintains the site. The suffix - for example .com, .co or .org - identifies the kind of organisation that owns the site. Commercial site addresses often end with .com.
The Internet's set of protocols (TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) enables data to get from one place to another. Every computer that connects to the Internet needs a unique TCP/IP address.
The IP or TCP/IP address represents the computer's location on the Internet, and represents who and where you are.
A network connecting an affiliated set of client computers using standard Internet protocols such as TCP/IP and HTTP. Many intranets now take the form of an IP-based network of nodes behind a firewall, connected by a secure virtual private network (VPN or IP-VPN). Intranets between cooperating companies can be called extranets.
The IP address is the numeric address of a computer. Some internet service providers will send you the IP address of their server. If you're not sure whether you need to enter an IP address, contact your provider.
InfraRed port is the ability to transmit data without cables.
A global mobile phone system of satellites.
An international communications standard for sending voice, video and data over digital phone lines or normal phone wires. ISDN supports data transfer rates of 2x64 Kbps (64,000 bits per second) over a copper cable for a basic rate service, e.g. 128kbps. ISDN is about twice as fast as dial-up but has been largely surpassed by Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL).
A company that provides access to the Internet. ISPs may also provide related services, like website building and hosting. An ISP has the equipment and the telecommunication line access required to have Point of Presence (POP) on the Internet, for the geographic area it serves.
An automated customer service that uses pre-recorded voice prompts to help customers get information. IVR can be controlled by touch-tone phones or speech.
A spring-connector socket for plugs with two or more contacts.
Thousands of Hz - kilohertz.
Data transfer speed measured in multiples of 1,024 bits (sometimes interpreted as 1,000 bits) per second.
The volume of information you upload and download is measured in bytes. A kilobyte (KB) is 1,024 bytes (sometimes interpreted as 1,000 bytes).
A managed and monitored computer networking service from Telecom that connects your branch office local area networks to your head office.
The time it takes for a data packet to transit from end to end. Latency is one of the service performance indicators we monitor regularly.
A clear, larger than normal mobile phone display that makes it easy to read several lines of text at once, in most lighting conditions.
Battery technology used in mobile phones. Li-Ion generally provides more energy capacity than nickel metal hydride batteries of the same weight.
Charges for access to the Telecom Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), covering the rental of the line from the exchange to the customer's premises, and associated overheads.
Calls within your local area, as defined by Telecom.
The line from your premises to the phone company's nearest local exchange. It is usually a circuit of two copper wires.
Local loop unbundling enables telecommunications providers other than Telecom to access Telecom's local loop network, in order to offer a full range of services directly to customers.
A term used to measure the power capacity in batteries.
Data transfer speed measured in multiples of 1,048,576 bits (sometimes interpreted as 1 million bits) per second.
The volume of information you upload and download is measured in bytes. A megabyte (MB) is 1,048,576 bytes (sometimes interpreted as 1 million bytes, or 1,000 kilobytes).
Memory check will scan for available memory. For optimum performance it is suggested that you have a minimum of 128MB of free memory. If you are operating with less than 128MB of free memory an error will display next to Memory check. Additional memory can be purchased from various online vendors or from your local computer store.
The gradual shortening of a battery's life if it is recharged before it is completely discharged. This mainly happens with nickel cadmium batteries, less so with nickel hydride batteries and even less so with lithium ion batteries. To minimise the risk of memory effect, allow your mobile phone to completely run out of power before you recharge it.
A service that sends and receives images, video clips and sounds as attachments to messages.
A modem converts (or modulates) outgoing digital signals from your computer into the analogue signals used by a conventional phone line. Similarly, it converts incoming analogue signals into the digital signals your computer uses.
Also known as MPEG layer 3. A compressed audio format that greatly reduces file size without much loss in quality. You can shrink the original sound data from a music CD by a factor of 12 without losing sound quality. Factors of 24 and over maintain a sound quality significantly better than you get by reducing the sampling rate and the resolution of your samples.
A group of people that generate standards for digital video and audio compression
The combination of multiple media formats to communicate information. Communication formats include voice communications (speech recognition, speaker verification and text-to-speech), audio processing (music synthesis, CD-ROM), data communications and video.
Any process that enables multiple users to use a single circuit or transmission medium.
Communication technologies with a data transmission capacity of under 1 Mbit/s. This includes online interactive services such as the Internet, voice, facsimile services, slow-scan video images and low-rate data transmission.
A firewall that hides all users behind one public IP address, providing some protection against external hackers.
Calls within New Zealand but beyond your local call area. To make a national call, dial the national access code - 0 - before the area code and local number. National calls don't include calls from or to a mobile network.
Holidays as defined in the Holidays Act 2003, including New Years Day, the 2nd of January, Waitangi Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Queens Birthday observance, Labour Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
A group of interconnected computers that can exchange information. A network can be as few as several personal computers on a LAN or as large as the Internet, a world-wide network of computers.
An expansion board you insert into a computer so it can be connected to a network. Most NICs are designed for a particular type of network, protocol and media, although some can serve multiple networks.
A popular source of power. Commonly used for mobile phone batteries, as they are robust, long lasting and rechargeable
Another popular source of power, suitable for use in multi-purpose portable devices and audio-visual equipment but especially in mobile phone batteries. NiMH mobile phone batteries are an environmentally friendly, high capacity rechargeable battery that hold more power for their size than NiCd batteries.
Access to blocks of phone numbers by service providers who also provide individual numbers to customers.
The process of taking your existing phone number with you when you switch to a new service provider.
A mail server that can accept mail from any sender and send it to any recipient. OMRs are usually taken advantage of by spammers who use the server to hide the origin of unsolicited email.
A proxy server that accepts and proxies connections from any IP address. They are usually taken advantage of by spammers who use the server to hide the origin of unsolicited email.
Additional services available from the Telecom operator.
A strand of hi-tech glass that carries signals in the form of laser light pulses. An optical fibre pair can carry many thousands of telephone conversations simultaneously, or a mix of video and voice. An optical fibre cable may contain tens or even hundreds of fibres.
When a product or service, generating unit or other plant item is out of service for maintenance.
A small-scale switching system located in an office or building that provides voice and data extension lines, and an access point to the public network.
In a packet-switched network such as the Internet, data is packaged and routed in blocks, or packets. Each packet has a header with the network destination address. Packet-switched networks are 'connectionless', because the paths selected by routers can vary from moment to moment as each router is updated with current network information.
A measure, usually a percentage, of packets sent to a destination that doesn't prompt return packets. The missing packets are lost packets.
A combination network/radio system that can signal a person by means of a pocket 'bleeper' device, which is activated when a caller dials a particular code number.
The cable, including modem card, used to connect a mobile phone to a laptop computer for data transfer.
A hand-held computer that can send and receive emails when connected to a mobile phone.
The code to confirm you are permitted to access certain functions or information, similar to a bank ATM PIN.
A program commonly used in security systems to allow messages through a firewall or router. Pinholing hides you from the Internet, protecting your computer from hackers and potential intruders.
An access point to the Internet, through a unique IP address. Your Internet service provider has at least one point of presence on the Internet.
A web page designed to allow different users to tailor and aggregate content as they like. Web portals include global and special instant messaging, email, and chat facilities to encourage the development of electronic communities.
A mobile phone feature that can make text messaging quicker and easier. The phone predicts the word you are typing, reducing the number of keystrokes you need to make. Refer to your mobile phone's user manual to find out how you can turn this feature on and off.
The IP address of the first computer used to turn IP addresses into Internet names, such as xtra.co.nz
For internal networks that will never connect directly to the Internet, it's standard practice to use IP addresses and subnet masks from a list created specifically for this purpose. For example:
IP address range Subnet mask
10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255 255.0.0.0
172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255 255.255.0.0
192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255 255.255.255.0
A standard set of rules that govern the transmitting and receiving of data. Internet Protocol (IP) is one example of these rules.
A proxy server acts as a security barrier (sometimes called a firewall) between your internal network (intranet) and the internet, keeping other people on the Internet from accessing confidential information on your intranet.
The standard telephone service.
A keyboard that has a separate key for every letter of the alphabet, such as is used on a standard computer keyboard and some personal digital assistants. 'QWERTY' refers to the order of the first six letters on this style of keyboard.
You should empty your recycle bin on a regular basis to keep your computer running efficiently. When you delete a file, it is temporarily stored in the recycle bin in case you discover you need the file and want to restore it.
Although it is an important safety tool, the recycle bin can also slow computer performance unless you clear the bin out on a regular basis. You could have hundreds of files and megabytes of storage being used by files you no longer want or need.
A device used to amplify and equalise an analogue communication signal weakened and distorted through long fixed or wireless circuits. It has a similar function to a regenerator in digital systems.
To click the secondary mouse button, which in most cases is the one on the right side of the mouse. If you are left-handed, you can change primary and secondary mouse buttons in the Control Panel.
A widely-used protocol for managing routing information within a self-contained network, such as a corporate local area network (LAN) or an interconnected group of LANs.
On the Internet, a router is a device (or, in some cases, software on a computer) that directs information packets to the next point toward their destination.
Technology that provides feeds of information to mobile devices and Internet browsers. RSS is often used to distribute information updates from news websites, weblogs and podcasting services. RSS feeds provide web content or summaries, with links to the full versions.
An RSS feed is a XML file that is also known as a webfeed, RSS stream or RSS channel.
The page you see when you click the search button on the Internet Explorer toolbar. Search services will vary depending on your Internet service provider). A search page provides an organised way to find and go to other websites. Many search pages provide various ways to search, such as by topic or keyword. Others provide a well-organised list of hyperlinks to selected websites.
The IP address of a second computer used to turn IP addresses into Internet names. This is used as a back-up should the primary DNS server be unreachable or unable to resolve an Internet name.
A service that enables you to send and receive short text messages on a mobile phone.
The standard Internet protocol for transferring electronic mail from one computer to another.
The name given to the high capacity under-sea fibre optic cable that connects New Zealand with Australia and the United States.
Advertising email that you didn't ask for and, more than likely, don't want.
Filters that separate high frequency (Broadband) and low frequency (regular phone and fax) signals.
The number of hours that a freshly charged battery will keep a mobile phone operating for when the phone is not in use.
Pre-configured, unchanging IP addresses that may be used for specific services such as web hosting. Static TCP/IP addressing was the original way to allocate a PC, Host, or UNIX system with an address that could talk to other hosts. Dynamic IP addresses resolve the issue of having duplicate IP addresses, as they are allocated from a sequential address pool.
A 32-bit number combined with your IP address to uniquely identify a connection on a network, ranging from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255
The act of navigating the Internet by clicking hyperlinks.
A data-exchange device at the centre of a network that allows peripheral devices to share data. It is also a term used to describe a phone system.
Programmes sometimes store temporary information in a TEMP folder. Before a programme closes, it usually deletes this information. However, some files are not automatically deleted and can accumulate in your temporary system files folder.
A predictive text system that can make it quicker to create text messages on your mobile phone.
The total amount of time a fully-charged battery can power a phone to make calls.
A suite of communication protocols that allow computers to talk to each other - creating the Internet.
Authorisation to connect a particular type of equipment to the Telecom Network.
Wireless communications that involve Internet access and data delivery to mobile phones with audio, moving colour images and sophisticated Internet services.
The address of a web page. Web URLs start with http://. The URL of the page you are on appears in the address box of Internet Explorer.
A feature that makes your phone vibrate rather than ring, to alert you of an incoming call or text message.
Voice calls over the Internet.
A private network provided on a public network infrastructure. An IP-VPN is a VPN provided over the Internet.
A network that can cover extensive, even global areas. WAN is the opposite of local area network (LAN).
A set of communication protocols used by wireless devices such as cellular phones, so they can be used for Internet access.
A program used to view websites on the Internet, such as Internet Explorer.
Any document you can view on the web. A website consists of one or many web pages.
A computer program that delivers ('serves') web pages. Every web server has an IP address and possibly a domain name. For example, if you enter the URL http://www.telecom.co.nz/home in your browser, this sends a request to the telecom.co.nz. server. The server then fetches the page named home.html and sends it to your browser for you to view.
The sale of telecommunications services at a discounted or wholesale price to other telecommunication services suppliers, who then resell them to customers.
Wireless Internet access through a 802.11b/g bandwidth radio signal network. Wi-Fi is generally accessed from a laptop without the need to plug-in to a land based Internet connection.
Microsoft frequently provides updated system patches to protect you from security vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.
Laptop or palmtop computers equipped with wireless cards can use WLAN to connect to the Internet at designated sites, using 802.11b technology at speeds of up to 2MB per second.
Used to create pages that can be delivered using Wireless Access Protocol (WAP).
A system of interlinked, hypertext documents that you can access through the Internet. You navigate the web by clicking hyperlinks.
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