- Bipolar with eight zero substitution. Clear channel line coding
option on DS-1 service allows the DS-1 user to obtain greater throughput
and functionality from their DS-1 facilities. The use of B8ZS allows
users to transmit data at a rate of 64 Kbps per DS-0, achieving what is
referred to as a clear channel. Applied against all 24 DS-Os on a DS-1,
the effective data throughput of the DS-1 facility is increased with
B8ZS from 1.344 Mbps to 1.536 Mbps, a 14% increase in throughput. CSUs
with B8ZS support are required on both ends of the user's circuit.
Network of broadband connections between switches.
Ballot
A release form that authorizes a customer's long-distance phone
service to be switched to (another) long-distance carrier, or reseller.
BAN - Billing Account Number
Used by telephone companies to designate a billing account,
i.e., a customer or customer location that receives a bill. A
customer may have any number of BANs.
Banded Rates
Tariffed rates which may be changed by the carrier within a
specified range. Frequently, state commissions require notice to
the commission prior to each change. Banded rates are being used
less frequently today.
Bandwidth
A measure of the communication capacity or data transmission rate
of a Circuit. The total frequency spectrum (in Hertz - cycles per
second) that is allocated or available to a channel, or the amount of
data that can be carried (in bits per second) by a channel.
Base Rate
The nondiscounted "per minute" charge for Measured Service.
Basic Rate Interface (BRI)
ISDN offering that allows 2 64kbps and 1 16kbps channels to be carried over 1 typical single pair of copper wires. This is the type of service that would be used to connect a small branch or home office to a remote network. Through the use of BONDING (Bandwidth on Demand) the two 64kbps channels can be combined to create more bandwidth as it becomes necessary.
Batch Oriented
A system that groups input into "batches" and processes them
periodically (rather than in real-time). (Contrast with Event Driven)
Baud (older term being
replaced by bps - bits per second)
The number of signaling elements that can be transmitted per
second on a circuit. e.g. When a modem is used to send digital
information on an analog line, baud refers to the speed that the
circuit can change from the tone used to represent a binary zero to
the tone used to represent a binary one (or vice versa). In an
average data stream, one baud is roughly equivalent to one bit per
second on a digital transmission circuit.
BCC
- Bellcore Client Company
Bell Customer Code
A three-digit numeric code, appended to the end of the Main
Billing Telephone Number, that is used by Local Exchange Carriers to
provide unique identification of customers.
Bell Operating
Company - BOC
The local (or regional) telephone company that owns and
operates lines to customer locations and Class
5 Central Office
Switches. BOCs have connections to other COs, Tandem (Class 4 Toll) offices and may connect directly to IECs like LDDS WorldCom, AT&T, MCI, Sprint, etc. BOC may
refer to the nineteen Bell Operating Companies that are owned by the
seven RHCs (Regional Holding Companies) (not including Cincinnati
Bell or Southern New England Telephone). The BOC role was
originally defined by the 1982 Modified Final Judgement that
specified the terms of the AT&T Divestiture). For Example, the
three BOCs: Mountain Bell, Northwestern Bell and Pacific Northwest
Bell are owned by the U.S. West RHC. Each BOC may service more
than one LATA, but BOCs are generally
constrained from providing long distance service between LATAs.
A secondary product test performed by a selected set of "early
support" end user(s) or customer(s) (under special contract) prior to
the general availability of the product.
Bill
Notice of charges for products and services rendered
Billing Account
Number - BAN
Used by telephone companies to designate a customer or customer
location that will be billed. A single customer may have multiple
billing accounts.
Bill-To-Room
A billing option associated with Operator Assisted calls that
allows the calling party to bill a call to their hotel room. With
this option, the carrier is required to notify the hotel, upon
completion of the call, of the time and charges.
Bird
- Satellite (informal slang)
BICSI
Building Industries Consulting Service International. A non-profit professional association
for those engaged in voice\data cable plant design and installation. Administers the Registered Communications
Distribution Designer (RCDD) and LAN Specialist certifications and provides related training.
BISDN- B-ISDN - Broadband
Integrated Services Digital Network (See ISDN)
A packet switching technique which uses packets of fixed length,
resulting in lower processing and higher speeds. Also see ATMor Cell Relay
Bit
The smallest amount of information that can be transmitted. In
binary digital transmission, a bit has one of two values: 0 or 1. A
combination of bits can indicate an alphabetic character, a numeric
digit, or perform a signaling, switching or other function.
Bit Error Rate -
BER
The rate at which errors occur in a stream of transmitted data.
The BER may be expressed in terms of a percentage of error-free seconds
or as a percentage of error-free bits.
Block Calls
Prevent calls from completing to the requested destination.
May be due to network problems (outage, overload, etc.), or by customer
request (e.g. block calls from-or-to certain NPAs,
NXXs, States,
LATAs, etc.).
An interactive signal that prompts the originating end user to
enter additional information. For example: 10555 Bong (Enter
Destination) Bong (Enter Billing information)
Bottleneck
A system capacity constraint that may reduce traffic during
peak load conditions.
bps
- bits per second (upper/lower case is significant)
BPS
- Bps - (8-bit) bytes per second
BRI - Basic Rate Interface
(ISDN)
3 digital signals over a single pair of copper wires: 2 voice (B)
channels and 1 signalling (D) channel. (e.g. voice and fax on a single
pair of wires)
Bridge
A LAN internetworking device that filters and passes data between
LANs based on Layer 2 (MAC layer) information. Bridges do not use any
routing algorithms. (Compare Router.
Contrast
Gateway - dissimilar protocols)
Broadband
A high-capacity communications Circuit/path. It usually implies a
speed greater than 1.544Mbps. (Contrast with Wideband and
Narrowband)
Brouter
A term used by some vendors, normally referring to a bridge also
having some of the characteristics of a router.
BTN - Billing Telephone Number
The phone number associated, for billing purposes, with the
Working Phone Number.
Bursty -- Batchy
Communications characterized by high volumes of data transmitted
intermittently, as opposed to steady-stream data.
Butt-set,
butt-in, buttinski
Hand-carried test telephone used to monitor, dial, and talk on
conventional analog telephone lines. So named because the craft person
could clip onto a pair and "butt in" to a conversation. Submitted
by Jay Hennigan of the RAIN Network
Bypass
Access an IEC other than the customer's Equal Access carrier by
dialing 10+CIC Code. (e.g. Bypass to LDDS WorldCom by dialing "10555").
See
Walkthrough,
CIC Code
Bypass Service
The use of facilities other than those of the LEC (Facilities
Bypass) or the use of operating telephone company private lines (Service
Bypass) to connect a customer premise to a PoP or another customer
premise.