Glossary of Terms
What's on this page:
As we realise that a majority of our customers do not come from an Information Technology-based background, on this page we have taken some of the more common I.T-related abbreviations and broken them down into "Laymen's Terms" to make them less jargonistic.
- 3G - The blanket name for a family of standards for mobile telecommunications that offer services including wide-area wireless telephone, video calls, and wireless data all in a mobile environment. 3G Networks therefore offer users a wider range of more advanced services.
- ADSL - Asymmetric Digiital Subscriber Line. A data communications technology that allows faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide.
- ADSL2(+) - Newer versions of ADSL that increase performance of data rates and download capacity.
- CCTV - Closed Circuit TeleVision. The use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors.
- CMS - Content Management System. A web-based program that allows you to update websites without knowledge of programming or HTML.
- Firewall - A software solution that blocks any dangerous or harmful traffic from accessing your PC or network.
- HD - High Definition. Refers to far greater imaging quality provided by digital over analogue technology.
- HTML - Hyper Text Markup Language. The "programming" language used to make and format web pages and content on the Internet.
- IP - Internet Protocol. A protocol used for communicating data across an internetwork, also referred to as TCP/IP.
- PABX - Private Branch Exchange. A telephone exchange that serves a particular business or office as opposed to the general public.
- PoE - Power over Ethernet. Refers to the ability to provide power to electronic devices through the use of only network cable, without requiring additional power cabling.
- PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network. The "switchboard network" of all the world's land line telephones.
- PTZ - Pan/Tilt/Zoom. The opposite of fixed cameras, PTZ cameras offer increased functionality and moveable field of vision, often at the cost of image resolution.
- SPAM - The Internet equivalent of "junk mail", sent by unsolicited vendors to your e-mail address.
- Wi-Fi - A class of wireless local area network devices based on industry standards, allowing wireless network access.
- VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol. A system that allows the use of the Internet to communicate by voice as opposed to a regular land line phone.
- VPN - Virtual Private Network. A computer network that forms links between nodes on a larger network (such as the Internet).
More terms will become available as needed or requested.
