R

Reminder Call - Pre-programme alarm calls through your phone

Remote Call Forwarding (RCF) - A method for forwarding calls made to a ceased line to a new number, without the caller being aware that the call has been forwarded. The set up cost and monthly charge for this service is much more than for ‘Caller Redirect’. In addition the owner of the line has to pay the cost of the forwarded part of the call, as well as the exchange line rental for the ceased line (this is because the number of the ceased line cannot be reallocated to another user whilst RCF is in effect)

Ring Back - See 'Call Return'

Router - In essence, a router is a translator – it helps otherwise incompatible networks to communicate with each other and allows only authorised machines to connect to other computer systems.

S

SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line) – Like ASDL, it the technology that lets you receive broadband over your standard telephone line. The advantage is that it provides the same speed/bandwidth in both directions, hence symmetric. It is especially useful for for companies needing to upload high bandwidth packets quickly such as data. It is a very common requirement with VOIP networks.

Short Message Service (SMS Services) – This is the text communication service component of phone, web or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices.

Service Maintenance Levels – These are the four service maintenance levels provided on all phone lines by Openreach.

It is now possible to Expedite repair from any Service Maintenance Level to any other for a one-off visit fee. For further details, please contact us.

Service Maintenance Level 1 – This service level is the basic level for residential phone lines only and is included in the line rental cost.

It operates during normal working hours (0800 – 1800 Monday to Friday exc. Public and Bank Holidays). If a fault is reported during these hours, the commitment is to clear it by the end of next working day + one e.g. a fault reported at any time between 00.01 – 23.59.59 on Tuesday would have a commitment time of 23.59.59 on Thursday

Service Maintenance Level 2 – This service level is the basic level for business phone lines and is included in the business line rental cost. It can be provided for residential lines at an additional cost.

It operates during normal working hours (0800 – 1800 Monday to Saturday exc. Public and Bank Holidays). If a fault is reported during these hours, the commitment is to clear it by the end of next working day e.g. a fault reported at any time between 00.01 – 23.59.59 on Tuesday would have a commitment time of 23.59.59 on Thursday

Service Maintenance Level 3 – This operates every single day including Bank Holiday. From

Monday – Friday it is from 07:00 - 21:00, whilst at the weekend (Saturday – Sunday) is operates from 08:00 – 18:00. It can be provided to both residential and business lines at an additional cost.

If the fault is reported by 12.59, the commitment is to clear it by 23.59.59 same day or the day of the appointment where later. If the fault is reported after 13.00, the commitment is to clear it by 12.59.59 next day.

Service Maintenance Level 4 – This operates all the time i.e. Monday – Sunday (inc Bank Holiday) 24/7. The commitment is a 6hr fix round the clock, 365 days a year. It can be provided to both residential and business lines at an additional cost.

SLA (Service Level Agreement) – This is the part of a service contract where the level of service is formally defined. In practice, the term SLA is sometimes used to refer to the contracted delivery time (of the service) or performance.

Smart Divert - This product is Call divert with remote access

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) - The standard Internet protocol for transferring electronic mail from one computer to another.

Sub Addressing (20 Octet) - This service allows calling parties to send up to 20 alphanumeric characters (except #) with the digits of the number they are dialling. Different combinations of characters can then be allocated to each device connected to a called ISDN 30e line. The characters sent would depend which piece of equipment is accessed, i.e. the phone will ring, access will be gained to PC, etc. Note: Terminal equipment must have the capability to send and/or receive Sub Addresses to use this service.

Speed - Speed is just that - the speed at which you can receive data. Broadband is far faster than the old dial-up connection that usually only worked at speeds of 56 Kilobits per second (Kbps). Business broadband packages offer speeds of up to 8 Megabits per second (8Mbps).

Streaming - Streaming lets you access a file – a video or music for example – as you are downloading it, rather than having to wait for the whole thing to download first.

Speed dials - This is the storing of regularly dialled numbers under short codes.

Switch - Engineers often refer to phone systems as switches.

Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line – See SDSL