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CRPF Proprietary Acronym List

Started by HarrySmith, February 28, 2014, 08:06:18 PM

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HarrySmith

If you are new to the forum, your telephone knowledge may be somewhat limited to acronyms used by members in forum posts. Some are common sense but others are obscure. As such, this reference list was created and is being maintained to help those who would like to find out what an acronym means.

This is the most complete list to date for forum acronyms. A Generic Acronym List is available in another topic and it contains over 1,000 modern, common acronyms. Also, a list of acronyms used by repairmen or given to repairmen on trouble work orders are listed at the end of this post (scroll to the bottom).

Feel free to make any suggestions (strongly encouraged) to add to this list by posting a new reply to this topic with one or more acronyms and their meanings and/or unknown to you acronyms followed by a few question marks. All contributions are greatly welcome.

New additions will be copied into the alphabetical list below. Unknown acronyms submitted will be added to the list when their definitions become known.

Thanks for everyone's help in building this list.

================================

CRPF Acronym List  ( last updated 12-23-2023 )

1-0

  1A1/1A2 -- Multi-Line (Key) Telephone Systems
  2FR -- 2-party selective flat rate party lines
  4FR -- 4-party semi-selective flat rate party lines
  4P4C -- 4 position 4 contact modular plug/jack
  6P6C -- 6 position 6 connectors modular plug/jack
  8P8C -- 8 position 8 contact modular plug/jack


A

  AA5 -- All American 5 (refers to a 5 tube AM radio)
  AC -- Alternating Current
  ADSL -- Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
  AE -- Automatic Electric (Company)
  AFAIK -- As Far As I Know
  AFB -- All Finders Busy
  AKA -- Also Known As
  AL -- Analog loopback
  AMM -- Analog Multi-meter
  ANAC -- Automatic Number Announcement Circuit
  AST -- Anti-Side Tone (limited or lower volume talk feedback into receiver element)
  ASTIC -- Anti-Sidetone Induction Coil (UK)
  ATA -- Analog Telephone Adapter
  ATB -- All Trunks Busy
  ATCA -- Antique Telephone Collectors Association
  ATM -- Automatic Telephone Mfg Co


B

  Bakelite -- Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride
  BOC -- Bell Operating Company
  BLR -- Bell Labs Record
  BRI -- Basic Rate Interface
  BSP -- Bell System Practice
  BSRS -- Bell System Repair Specs
  BSTJ -- Bell System Technical Journal
  BTA -- Basic Trading Area (a PCS/cell phone FCC designated carrier service area, subdivisions of the MTA designated areas)
  BTM -- British Telephone Manufacturing Company
  BTMC -- Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company
  BTTN -- Bluetooth wireless gateway device that connects a cell phone to a regular home telephone system (as in XLink BTTN)
  BTW -- By The Way


C

  C-Stock --  telco property that was re-manufactured at one of the Western Electric service centers
  CA -- Common Audible
  CAB -- Tenite Butyrate plastic
  CB -- Common battery; power source for the telephone is at the telco CO  (in context definition)
  CB -- Call Block  (in context definition)
  CKT -- Circuit
  CLEC -- Competing Local Exchange Carrier
  CLLI code -- Common Language Location Identifier code
  CO -- Central Office (telephone exchange office where switching equipment and power sources for the phone system for a certain area is located)
  COE -- Customer Owned Equipment
  CMB -- Common Bell
  COCOT -- Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephone
  COT -- Chicago Old Telephones (a company that rebuilt telephones from various parts for commercial sale)
  CPC -- Calling Party Control (signals)
  C.R.A.P. -- 1) Communications Related Apparatus & Parts
  C.R.A.P. -- 2) Completely Ridiculous And Pretentious
  CRTC --  Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission


D

  DDD -- Direct Distance Dialing
  DECT -- Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications
  DDI -- Direct Dialing Inward (UK & Oceania areas)
  DHCP -- Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
  DICM -- Dial Intercom
  DID -- Direct Inward Dialing (US)
  DISA -- Direct Inward Station Access
  DL -- Digital loopback
  DMM -- Digital Multi-meter
  DNS -- Domain Name Servers
  DOD -- Direct Outward Dialing
  DOS -- 1) Denial Of Service (internet related)
  DOS -- 2) Disk Operating System (computer related)
  DP -- Pulse Dialing
  DRMO -- Government surplus auctions
  DSL -- Digital Subscriber Line
  DSLAM -- Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer
  DT -- Dial Tone
  DTMF -- Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency; a.k.a. "touch-tone"
  DVM - Digital Volt Meter


E

  EB --  Elektrisk Bureau
  E/W -- Equipped With
  ELR -- Earth Loop Recall (UK)
  ESR -- Equivalent Series Resistance (capacitor condition mearurement)
  ESS -- Electronic Switching System


F

  FA -- Fuse Alarm
  FCC -- Federal Communications Commission
  FDV -- FiOS Digital Voice
  FiOS -- Fiber Optic Service
  Frankenphone -- A telephone assembled or reconstructed from a variety of different manufacture's parts
  Friend -- A person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection
  FXO -- Foreign Exchange Office
  FXS -- Foreign Exchange Subscriber


G

  GM -- Global Moderator
  GSP -- GTE/General System Practices
  GTEP -- General Telephone Practices
  GTD-5 EAX -- General Telephone Digital Number 5 Electronic Automatic Exchange; a Class 5 digital telephone switch developed by GTE Automatic Electric Laboratories


H

  HES1 or HES2 -- House Exchange System (run on 12-24 volts)
  HES3 or HES4 -- House Exchange System (run on 50 volts)
  Hybrid -- A telephonic item made by combining two or more different elements; a mixture.
  Hz -- Hertz (frequency), kHz (Hz / 1,000)


I

  ICAMBI -- In Case Anyone May Be Interested
  IIRC -- If I Remember Correctly
  ILEC -- Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier
  IMHO -- In My Humble Opinion
  IP -- Internet Protocol (address)
  ISDN -- Integrated Services Digital Network
  ISPS -- Internet Service Provider System
  ISTR -- I Seem To Remember
  ITT -- International Telephone & Telegraph


K

  KSU -- Key System Unit, used in KTS exchanges
  KTS -- Key telephone system (similar to a PABX but can be manually programmed by the user, such as a Panasonic 616)


L

  LB -- Local battery; power source for the telephone is on-site, where it is being used (now rarely implemented)
  LD -- Loop Disconnect, ie Pulse Dialling (UK)
  LFB -- Last Finder Busy
  Line Cord -- 2 types: flat 4 conductor used with modular plugs and round 2-4 conductor used with spade lugs
  LRC -- Inductance (L), Resistance (R), Capacitance (C) circuit as in a bridged ringing circuit
  LTB -- Last Trunk Busy


M

  M  --  When found above the phone's number on a number card indicates the phone is "M"odular
  mF -- Microfarad (capacitance), or µF
  MFP -- Moisture & Fungus Proofed  (military phones)
  MGCP -- Media Gateway Control Protocol
  MJA -- Major Alarm
  MM -- Multi-Meter
  MNA -- Minor Alarm
  MSL -- Motor Start Lead
  MG -- Motor Generator (ringing machine)
  MW -- Message Waiting
  MTA -- Major Trading Area (a PCS/cell phone FCC designated carrier service area)


N

  NANP -- North American Numbering Plan
  NAS -- Network Attached Storage
  NAT -- Network Address Translators
  NIB -- New In Box
  NIC -- Network Interface Controller
  NID -- Network Demarcation Device (Network Interface Device)
  N/M -- Nortel Millennium (payphone)
  NOS - New Old Stock (can also be found applied to "C stock"
  NPSTN -- Novelty/Nostalgia Public switched telephone network (see PSTN)
  NPA-NXX -- Numbering Plan Area (area code); central office exchange code (see NANP)
  MTU -- Maximum Transmission Unit


O

  ONT -- Optical Network Terminal
  OOMA -- A Private Company Providing Products for the Telephone Industry
  OSP -- Outside Plant
  OTOH -- On The Other Hand


P

  PAP2T -- Linksys ATA phone adapter
  PBX/PABX/PMBX -- Private branch exchange/private automatic branch exchange/private manual branch exchange
  PCS -- Personal Communication Services (refers to digital, not analog cell, telephone services)
  Phreak (...ing) - - Someone who breaks (breaking) into the telephone network illegally, typically to make free long-distance phone calls or to tap phone lines. The term is now sometimes used to include anyone who breaks or tries to break the security of any network.
  PF -- Power Failure (circuit)
  Phoneitis -- A disease caught by most forum member which presents as the inability to stop buying telephones
  Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride -- Bakelite
  PON -- Passive Optical Network
  PoE -- Power over Ethernet
  POTS -- Plain Old Telephone Service
  PPS -- Pulses per Second
  PRI -- Primary Rate Interface
  PST -- Plug and Socket Telephone (UK)
  PSTN -- Public switched telephone network  [POTS can be is either one of the elements which make up the PSTN or is synonymous with PSTN itself)
  PTT -- Push To Talk
  PUC -- Public Utilities Commission


Q

  Q&A -- Questions and Answers
  QoS -- Quality of Service


R

  RDD -- Raised Dumb Dumb
  REC -- Receiver or Receiver Element
  REN -- Ringer equivalence number  (represents drain on ringing voltage a single phone will have; Western Electric 500 = 1)
  RIP -- Retired In Place
  RJxx -- Registered Jack (nn defining the modular plug positions and connectors)
  ROH -- Receiver Off Hook
  RUD -- Rapid Unexpected Disassembly (explosion)
  RX -- Receiver or Receiver Element


S

  S.C.R.A.P. -- Surplus Communications Related Apparatus & Parts
  SDD -- Shallow Dumb Dumb
  SIP -- Session Initiation Protocol
  SIP -- Single In-line Package
  SIT -- Special Information Tones
  SLACK -- A channel-based messaging platform
  SLIC -- Subscriber's Line Interface Card
  SLT -- Single Line Telephone station
  SOHO -- Small Office, Home Office (PBX)
  SOLR -- Sidetone Objective Loudness Rating
  SRTP -- Secure Real Time Transport Protocol
  Station Wire -- 22 or 24 gauge 4 conductor solid/color coded conductors in parallel within a jacket
  ST -- Self test
  STC -- Standard Telephones & Cables: A British telephone, telegraph, radio, telecommunications and related equipment manufacturer started London in 1883 as International Western Electric (the UK arm of the US Western Electric) and became known as STC (Standard Telephones & Cables) in 1925 when Western Electric sold its international operations to ITT Corporation who then named it STC.
  STD -- Subscriber Trunk Dialing (UK)
  STK -- Standard Telefon & Kabelfabrikk (Norwegian)
  STL -- A file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems with several backronyms such as "Standard Triangle Language" and "Standard Tessellation Language"
  STUN -- Session Traversal Utilities for NAT
  SxS -- Step-by-Step (electro-mechanical automatic stepping switch; now obsolete in most PSTN systems)


T

  T&R -- Tip and Ring
  TAM -- Telephone Answering Machine (UK)
  TBR -- Time Break Recall (UK)
  TCI -- Telephone Collector's International
  Telampternphone -- A lamp made from a telephone, a lantern and an electric bulb with or without a shade
  Telco -- Telephone Company
  TLS -- Transport Layer Security
  TRS -- Tip, Ring and Sleeve
  TTBOMK -- To The Best Of My Knowledge
  TX -- Transmitter or Transmitter Element


U

  µF -- Microfarad (capacitance), or mF


V

  VBX -- Virtual Branch Exchange
  VDSL -- Very-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line
  VoIP -- Voice over Internet Protocol
  VTVM -- Vacuum Tube Volt Meter


V

  XLink BTTN -- Bluetooth wireless gateway device that connects a cell phone to a regular home telephone system


Z

  ZIP -- Zone Improvement Plan

===============================


Repairmen Work Order Trouble Related Acronyms

  BDR -- bell doesn't ring
  BRCM -- bell rings can't meet

  CB -- cross battery (TS, RS, BS, etc)
  CBDT -- can't break dial tone
  CBH -- can't be heard
  CH -- can't hear

  DIY -- dog in yard
  DLL -- dial long lines (unit or circuit)
  DTAD -- dial tone after dialing

  ETIR -- every time it rains

  GEN -- generator
  GRD -- (TS, RS, BS, etc)

  HICAP -- high capacitance
  HIRES -- high resistance
  HOOL -- hears others on line
  HS -- handset

  ICKY-PIC -- PIC flooded with a waterproof chemical that is thick and gooey
  IDF -- intermediate distribution frame

  LD -- long distance

  MDF -- main distribution frame

  NDT -- no dial tone

  O/D -- out of order
  OBS -- open both sides
  OHOP -- only has one phone
  ORS -- open ring side
  OTS -- open tip side

  PIC -- Plastic Insulated Cable
  RX -- receive(r)(ing)

  S/C -- short circuit
  SOL -- static on line
  ST -- Side Tone (full or high volume talk feedback into receiver element)

  TX -- transmit(ter)(ing)

  UNBAL -- unbalanced

  WAK/SDD -- works at night/sleeps during day

  XBOX -- cross box
  XTALK -- cross talk
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

KaiserFrazer67

#1
Saw the acronym/abbreviation list thread, and wanted to post some to it. Thought I'd add these to the list, since I had no idea what these meant when I was a newbie a few short months ago.  Even though they're now second nature to us, they might not be to a "n00b":

Telco:  Telephone company
CO:  Central office (the telephone exchange office where the switching equipment and power source for the phone system covering a certain area is located)
REN:  Ringer equivalence number  (represents drain on ringing voltage a single phone will have; Western Electric 500 = 1)
DTMF:  Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency; a.k.a. "touch-tone"
PBX/PABX/PMBX:  Private branch exchange/private automatic branch exchange/private manual branch exchange
KTS:  Key telephone system (similar to a PABX but can be manually programmed by the user, such as a Panasonic 616)
POTS:  Plain-old telephone service
PSTN:  Public switched telephone network  [Depending on which Wikipedia entry you look up, POTS is either one of the elements which make up the PSTN, or is synonymous with the PSTN itself...  demonstrating one of the many reasons Wikipedia should be taken with a grain of salt...  :P ]
SxS:  Step-by-step (electro-mechanical automatic stepping switch; now obsolete in most PSTN systems)
NPA-NXX:  Numbering Plan Area (area code); central office exchange code (see NANP)
NANP:  North American Numbering Plan
ATA:  Analog telephone adapter
VoIP:  Voice over Internet Protocol
CLLI code:  Common Language Location Identifier code
GTD-5 EAX:  General Telephone Digital Number 5 Electronic Automatic Exchange; a Class 5 digital telephone switch developed by GTE Automatic Electric Laboratories
CB:  Common battery; power source for the telephone is at the telco CO
LB:  Local battery; power source for the telephone is on-site, where it is being used (now rarely implemented)
-Tom from Oakfield, Wisconsin --  My CO CLLI & switch: OKFDWIXADS0--GTD-5 EAX

"Problems are merely opportunities in workclothes." -Henry J. Kaiser

TelePlay

I pulled this topic for about a day to update it, sort it out. It is now back and open to both use and suggestions of new acronyms, unlisted acronyms.

Please suggest them by posting a reply to this topic. All suggestions will be copied to the alphabetical list in the first topic.

The topic is now Unlocked.

If you know the meaning, please provide it.

If you don't know the meaning of an acronym not of the list, submit it with a few question marks following it ( ? ? ? ) and it will be added to the list once the meaning is known.

Thanks.

Victor Laszlo

#3
Some trouble-related terms that a repairman would find on his/her work orders:

NDT no dial tone
CH can't hear
CBH can't be heard
BDR bell doesn't ring
BRCM bell rings can't meet
SOL static on line
CBDT can't break dial tone
HOOL hears others on line
OHOP only has one phone
HS handset
LD long distance
DTAD dial tone after dialing
ETIR every time it rains
DIY dog in yard
XTALK cross talk
XBOX cross box
O/D out of order
TX transmit(ter)(ing)
RX receive(r)(ing)
HICAP high capacitance
HIRES high resistance
UNBAL unbalanced
MDF main distribution frame
IDF intermediate distribution frame
DLL dial long lines (unit or circuit)
GEN generator
S/C short circuit
OTS open tip side
ORS open ring side
OBS open both sides
CB cross battery (TS, RS, BS, etc)
GRD (TS, RS, BS, etc)
WAK/SDD works at night/sleeps during day

CO terms:

DSLAM Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer
MG motor generator (ringing machine)
MSL motor start lead

Key system terms:

A-lead answer lead
H-lead hold lead
B-lead balance lead
L-lead lamp lead
DICM dial intercom
CMB common bell
CA common audible

POTS is plain old telephone service as noted above, and along with this is PANS "pretty amazing new stuff."

MBSWWYPBX  "Mus be somfin wrong widge yo PBX" The telco repair clerk's standard reply to a vendor who is attempting to relate a central office-based problem on behalf of a customer, whether or not the customer has a PBX.

BOC Bell operating company
RBOC Regional Bell operating company
ILEC Incumbent local exchange carrier
CLEC Competing local exchange carrier

BSTJ Bell System Technical Journal
BLR Bell Labs Record

IITYWYBMAD

ThePillenwerfer

#4
Quote from: HarrySmith on February 28, 2014, 08:06:18 PM
  PAP2T -- ?? (panasonic analog pulse to tone?)

As far as I know a PAP2T is a type of Linksys ATA.

Additions, though they may be only used in Britain:—

ASTIC -- Anti-Sidetone Induction Coil
ELR -- Earth Loop Recall
LD -- Loop Disconnect, ie Pulse Dialling
pps -- Pulses per Second
PST -- Plug and Socket Telephone
STD -- Subscriber Trunk Dialling
TAM -- Telephone Answering Machine
TBR -- Time Break Recall

HarrySmith

#5
One more that I don't see on our list:

C.R.A.P. = Communications Related Apparatus & Parts

;D There is another similar one which escapes me right now, if you remmber it please add it or let me know and I will add it here.

---

S.C.R.A.P. -- Surplus Communications Related Apparatus & Parts
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Alex G. Bell

#6
Right, some are not used in the US or are used differently.  For example in North America "STD" is usually used by the medical profession and public health agencies to refer to "social" ("sexually transmitted") diseases. 

DDD or Direct Distance Dialing refers to subscriber nation-wide dialing of toll calls.  More limited direct dialing of toll calls existed decades earlier but had no special name.

AST (antisidetone) and ST (sidetone AKA "booster circuit") were used but not concatenated with "IC" for induction coil.

DP rather than LD for pulse dialing.

"Ground" rather than "earth" in any reference to such a connection but "ground" or "earth loop recall" is almost never used here.  "Flashing" (momentary on-hook supervision) was the generally used method but there is no equivalent to TBR.

Quote from: ThePillenwerfer on May 26, 2017, 06:11:00 PM
As far as I know a PAP2T is a type of Linksys ATA.

Additions, though they may be only used in Britain:—

ASTIC -- Anti-Sidetone Induction Coil
ELR -- Earth Loop Recall
LD -- Loop Disconnect, ie Pulse Dialling
pps -- Pulses per Second
PST -- Plug and Socket Telephone
STD -- Subscriber Trunk Dialling
TAM -- Telephone Answering Machine
TBR -- Time Break Recall

HarrySmith

OK, this one is strictly for use on the forum.

W.L.P. = We Love Pictures/Photographs

For use in greeting new members or when a post lacks photos!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

jsowers

Quote from: HarrySmith on July 24, 2018, 09:32:07 AM
OK, this one is strictly for use on the forum.

W.L.P. = We Love Pictures/Photographs

For use in greeting new members or when a post lacks photos!

Think about this for a minute. How is someone who is already clueless on posting pictures going to know what that means? That sounds like a great way to drive people away. If you have to use something like that, then please post a link to this page so they can figure out what the heck you're saying. Which makes using the acronym longer than just typing the actual words, so it defeats the purpose.
Jonathan

HarrySmith

OK Johnathan. Relax, I guess humor is not your strong point.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

jsowers

Quote from: HarrySmith on July 24, 2018, 11:14:10 AM
OK Johnathan. Relax, I guess humor is not your strong point.

Well, give us clueless people a clue, like a smiley face or something. Or say you were kidding. Sorry, but I didn't see any humor in it at all.
Jonathan

HarrySmith

Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

rp2813

As a former telco employee, I stopped myself from using an acronym in the "Troubleshooting" forum to describe the condition a subset is manifesting on my POTS line that I'm currently trying to resolve:

ROH = Receiver Off Hook
Ralph

RDPipes

When I was in Electronics school/college my instructor would get real bent when someone used the term Volt meter when we all had (MM) Multi-meters. He'd say a volt meter is one that measures ONLY volts and nothing else and I reckon I've become the same way. So MM = Multi-meter You can put a "D" on it for Digital and or an "A" for analog if it makes you happy DMM AMM.  ;D