Glossary

General Terms related to AAISP

DSL Related

ADSL: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
BRAS: Broadband Remote Access Server (Takes PPP from EU and passes it to ISP by L2TP)
CPE: Customer Premise Equipment (router or modem)
DSL: Digital Subscriber Line. E.g. ADSL, FTTC/VDSL, Gfast.
DSLAM: Digital Subscriber Line Access Modulator
DLM: Dynamic Line Management
FTTC: Fibre to the Cabinet. Fibre optic cables to the cabinet, and then copper to the premises.
FTTP: Fibre to the Premises. Broadband running over fibre optic cables. The data is sent through light lasers. No copper pair is required. Fastest speed.
G-Fast: Addition on the cabinet that gives faster speed. Higher frequencies.
L2TP: A standard system called Layer Two Tunnelling Protocol (L2TP) which allows you (using suitable software or equipment) to connect to us via another Internet access service.
LTS: L2TP tunnel switch - the router on the wholesaler's network (eg TalkTalk) that forwards the LT2TP to the ISP. Also see; L2TP on Juniper's website
TAM: Test Access Module
VDSL: Very-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line
VP: Virtual Path - a link between an Exchange and the BRAS

BT Fault Terms

AI: Action Item
BBCR: BroadBand Customer Reporting (BT)
BBEU: WBC EUA Service ID (Circuit ID)
CA: Customer Apparatus
CDTA: Conscious Decision To Appoint - force booking an Openreach engineer
CP: Communications Provider
CRD: Customer Required by Date
DP: Distribution Point
ELF: Early Life Failure - A fault soon after an install
EU: End User
FaultReportAdvised C: The result after running a PSTN line test. Usually Y or N, bur C means test Inconclusive/ Not Completed - Fault Report may be raised if CP believes there is a problem on BT network charges may be incurred if the fault is subsequently shown to be off BT network
FTR: Fault Threshold Rate - The speed at which the line is considered at fault
KBD: Knowledge Based Diagnostics
KCI: Keep Customer Informed. SMS or Email informing customers of any line discrepancies.
MBORC: Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control. Used by BT to indicate that they're suspending normal fix guarantees as some external event has made it impossible to achieve them (e.g. a fire, storms, terror attack).
MFL: Main Fault Location
MPF: Metallic Path Facility
NTE: Network Termination Equipment
NTE5: Network Termination Equipment, 5th version
PONR: Point of No Return - e.g. when an engineer is booked and cannot now be cancelled.
PCP: Primary Cross-connect Point
PEW: Planned Engineering Works
POH: Point of Handover
RA: Rate Adaptive
REIN: Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise - some sort of interference causing problems with a broadband line - tricky to pinpoint, patience needed in diagnosing these faults.
RWT: Right When Tested
SIN: Supplier Information Note [BT]
SMPF: Shared Metallic Path Facility
SP: Service Provider (e.g. AAISP)
SSFP: Service Specific Front Plate
TPM: Tie Pair Modify - The cable from the MDF (main distribution frame) to the DSLAM port is replaced
TSO: Technology Service and Operations - a department within BT
WAC: Work Allocation Controls (team)
WLR: Wholesale Line Rental

BT Fault Locations

CA: Fault located at Customer Apparatus
CE: Fault located at Customer Equipment. Provides further breakdown of a CA fault
DT: Diagnostic Test required to establish fault
EX: Fault located in Exchange
FU: Fault Located at Frames Unit. Provides further breakdown of an EX fault.
LN: Fault Located in Local Network

Openreach PSTN Fault Types

Terms used to describe a fault type on a PSTN phone line. When reporting a PSTN fault to Openreach one of these terms is used to describe the fault.

BNR: Bell not ringing
BR: Bell ringing continuous
CCS: Call minder problems
CDT: Continuous Dial Tone
CO: Cuts off
DRO: Damage to aerial cables
DRU: Damage outside end user premises
DRW: Damage at the end users site
DRA: Damage Report Apparatus
ESF: Exchange Service Facility
FNT: Faint Transmission
MOD: No other equipment, retried
NDT: No dial tone
NR: Dial tone no answer
NSY: Noisy
NT: No Tone
NU: Number not Obtainable
OHR: Overhearing
OWT: One Way Transmission
PET: Permanently engaged tone
RTP: Ring Trip
UTR: Unable to trip ringing
WNO: Wrong Numbers Obtained
XL: Crossed lines

Services Related

BT: British Telecom
BTOR: British Telecom Openreach
BTW: BT Wholesale
CLI: Caller Line Identification (re telephony)
CLI: Command Line Interface
CDR: Call Detail Records - Call logs
CQM: Constant Quality Monitoring - the name given to the monitoring graphs used on the control pages and FireBricks. Customers and staff can view these graphs in near real time and historical graphs. It’s updated every 100 seconds. Sends an LCP echo every second (a bit like a PING).
DNS: Domain Name System/Server. Translates domain name to an IP address to have an internet location.
Domain: Text/written address of an IP address. DNS translates this to an IP address to be understood by a computer.
DS: Delegation signer (The record used to identify the DNSSEC signing key of a delegated zone)
Hostname: Used in association with domain name. E.g. support.aa.net.uk.
IDN: Internationalised Domain Name
IP: Internet Protocol
MSO: Major Service Outage - some sort of fault that will be affecting lots of customers - should be on https://aastatus.net.uk
OR: Openreach
RIPE: The Réseaux IP Européens Network - the organisation in Europe who manage IP addresses
SIM: Subscriber identity module
SIP:Session Initiation Protocol - Sets up a VoIP call.
TTW: TalkTalk Wholesale
VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol

Email Related

IMAP: Internet Message Access Protocol
POP3: Post Office Protocol, Version 3
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

Other

IRC: Internet Relay Chat - an online chat room, AAISP have one, see the contact page. You can talk to staff and customers
TCH: Telecity Hex - a datacentre in London run by Equinix AKA HEX, LD8, LOH - A&A have racks there
THN: Telehouse North - a datacentre in London - A&A have racks there