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Phone system glossary
- Audience: End users
- Audience: App users
- Audience: Admins
- Audience: Contact center
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These are the terms you're most likely to meet while using or managing your CallSprout phone system. Each group is in alphabetical order. If a word isn't here, ask CallSprout support.
Numbers, people and devices
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Caller ID | The number, and often a name, that the other person sees when you call or when they call you. |
| Desk phone | The physical phone on a desk, linked to your extension. A device is any phone, app or adapter signed in to an extension. |
| Extension | A short internal number that belongs to one person or device. Coworkers dial it to reach you. |
| MAC address | A unique hardware ID, usually printed on a label on a desk phone. It links a phone to a user and their extension. |
| Phone number | A number outside callers dial. It can ring a person, a phone menu or a ring group. |
| PIN | A numeric code that protects your voicemail and some call settings. |
| Softphone | A phone app on a computer or mobile phone that makes and takes calls like a desk phone. The Communicator apps are CallSprout's softphones. |
During a call
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Call forwarding | Sending your calls to another extension or phone number. |
| Call quality score (MOS) | A score from 1 to 5 that rates how a call sounded. Higher is better. You may see it in call history or in your app. |
| Call recording | A saved copy of a call's audio. Recording laws vary by state, and your company is responsible for any notice and consent they require. |
| Do Not Disturb | A setting that stops calls from ringing your phone. |
| Follow me | A setting that makes calls try your other numbers too, such as your cell phone. |
| Hold music | The audio callers hear while they wait on hold or in a queue. |
| Paging | A one way announcement played through the speakers of one or more phones. An intercom call is the two way version. |
| Parking | Holding a call in a numbered slot so anyone can pick it up from another phone. |
| Pickup | Answering a call that is ringing on someone else's phone. |
| Star code | A short code that starts with a star, which you dial to change a setting or use a feature. See the star code cheat sheet. |
| Transfer | Passing a call to someone else. A blind transfer sends it right away. An attended transfer lets you speak to the other person first. |
Call routing and setup
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Admin portal | The web page where your company's phone system admin manages users, phones and call routing. |
| BLF (busy lamp field) | A light on a desk phone key that shows whether a coworker's line is free, ringing or busy. |
| Business hours | The schedule that tells your system when you're open or closed, so callers get the right greeting and routing. |
| Call history | A list of past calls with the date, time, numbers and length. You'll find it in your user portal. |
| Enhanced ring group | A ring group with extra controls, such as members who log in and out, for teams that take a lot of calls. It comes with every plan. |
| Hot desking | Signing in to a shared phone so it uses your extension and settings until you sign out. |
| Phone menu | A recorded menu that routes callers by the key they press, like "press 1 for sales." Also called an auto attendant or IVR. |
| Provisioning | How a desk phone receives its settings from the system automatically. |
| Queue | A line where callers wait for the next free agent. Queues are on Contact Center Pro. |
| Ring group | A set of phones that ring together or one after another when someone calls a number. |
| User portal | The web page where you manage your own settings, messages and call history. |
Contact center
Wallboards are part of Contact Center Lite and Contact Center Pro. Agent states, whisper, barge and the wait and service level measures are on Contact Center Pro. For how the measures are worked out, see what contact center metrics like SLA, AWT and occupancy mean.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Abandoned call | A call where the caller hangs up while waiting to be answered. |
| AWT | Average waiting time: how long callers wait on average before an agent answers. |
| Barge | A supervisor joins a live call so both the agent and the caller can hear them. |
| Listen in | A supervisor hears a live call without joining it. |
| MWT | Maximum waiting time: the most time any caller has waited. |
| Not ready | An agent state that pauses incoming calls, for a break or follow-up work. |
| Service level | The share of calls answered within a target number of seconds. Your team picks the target. |
| Wallboard | A large screen view of live call numbers, made for a TV in the room. |
| Whisper | A supervisor speaks to the agent during a live call and the caller can't hear it. |
Monitoring laws vary by state. Your company is responsible for any notice and consent they require.
Sign in and network terms
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| DTMF | The tones a phone sends when you press keys. Phone menus and PIN entry use them. |
| E911 | Emergency calling that sends the address registered to the phone number on your extension to the 911 dispatcher. A dispatchable location is precise enough for responders to find you, such as a floor or suite. If a phone moves or someone starts working from a new place, tell your admin. Your admin asks CallSprout support to update the emergency address. |
| NAT | A router feature that lets many devices share one public internet address. It's a common cause of one way audio. |
| SIP | The standard phones and apps use to connect to the phone system and place calls. |
| Two step verification (2FA) | A second step at sign-in, such as a code, in addition to your password. |
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