Glossary
Customer Support : Glossary

Heard a term or buzzword not listed here? Send it to glossary@asite.com and we will tell you what it means. (and we'll post it here if it's a good one!)

3G (third-generation) Mobile
Broadband for mobile users.

ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line)
High-speed, "always on", flat-rate internet connection, based on phone lines.

Always-on
A permanent network connection.

Application
Software with a particular function, such as payroll or word processing.

ASP (application service provider)
Company offering software applications or service for rent over a network on a pay-per-use basis.

Back-end/ back-office
Any behind-the-scenes, not customer-facing systems.

Bandwidth
The speed of a network.

Broadband
Always-on, flat-rate internet connections and data communications that are faster than conventional modems or ISDN.

Business-to-Business
The exchange of products, services, or information between businesses via the Internet. B2B web sites fall into several categories: company web sites, product supply and procurement exchanges, specialized search sites, and trade and industry standards organization sites.

Collaboration
Project collaboration, including what is often referred to as a 'project extranet' allows people at different locations, within and between organizations, to access all the plans, drawings, specification and construction date and technical information associated with a building project. It also manages the project workflow process.

Conference Call
Phone call with several people on different phones.

Convergence
Voice, data and internet communications down one line, to cut costs and reduce admin.

CRM
Customer-relationship management (CRM) A company's system for managing its relationships with customers, or the software used to help manage these relationships. The goal is to integrate customer-related activities across departments and various communication channels (such as phone and e-mail). This enables a company to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty by ensuring that customers receive consistent, high-quality service through all channels, before and after a sale.

DNS
Domain Name Server. An Internet server that turns your human readable address (e.g. www.asite.com) into an IP number.

dwf
Drawing web format. Autocad .dwf web publishing file can be created using the Autodesk Whip-n-Post program.

E-business
Any application that automates business processes that is hosted on the internet enables 'e-business' to take place.

E-commerce Electronic commerce.
The buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. This includes buying and selling products with digital cash and via Electronic Data Interchange, for example.

E-marketplace
An online community that serves as a virtual marketplace for business-to-business transactions. Most e-marketplaces serve specific industries, such as automotive or biotechnology.

ERP Enterprise resource planning (ERP).
A software system designed to automate business processes and integrate all departments within a company. This may include accounts receivable and payable, distribution, human resources, manufacturing, purchasing, and so forth. The objective is to help a business monitor and control its overall operation.

Extranet
A private network accessible via the web by suppliers, partners, employees, and customers, usually requiring a password for access.

Flexible Working
The ability to work anywhere, thanks to mobile computing and communications.

Front-end/Front-office
Any ICT task that involves customer-facing functions.

Hosting Provider
Firm that runs other companies' websites and applications on its own computers.

ICT
Information and communications technology.

Infrastructure
The hardware, software, network, etc that sit underneath the applications.

Intranet
A private network for use by a company's own staff.

ISDN (integrated services digital network)
Digital, dial-up telephone line for voice and/or data. Faster than a modem, slower than ADSL.

ISP (internet service provider)
Company providing internet access.

LAN (Local Area Network)
Network connecting computers and other devices in one office or building.

Modem
Device for connecting computers via an ordinary phone line.

Outsourcing
Contracting-out some or all of your internal ICT infrastructure, staff or applications.

PDA (personal digital assistant)
A hand-held computer, often including mobile phone and e-mail.

Portal
A Web site that serves as a single starting point to access a broad range of applications, services, content, and commerce. Portals are intended to provide a focused resource that aggregates various other resources such as help desks, newsletters, and product lists.

Procurement
Direct material purchasing for clients and their trade contractors. Asite can be used to help create, distribute and manage the tendering process, receive quotations from several suppliers at one go, place orders and conduct transactions online. Ordering and delivery processes are streamlined by providing a central hub where all data can be shared and accessed by the buyers, sellers and distributors.

Scalability
The ability to increase a system's capacity or number of users without huge upheaval or expense.

SDSL (symmetric digital subscriber line)
High-speed connection combining the benefits of ADSL and convergence (see above).

SLA (service level agreement)
A contract specifying the service customers can expect from a provider.

SME
Small or medium-size enterprise with up to 500 staff.

SMS (short message service)
A mobile phone text message.

Supply Chain Automation
Use of electronic links between trading partners, eg to place orders.

svf
simple vector format. Microstation .svf web publishing file can be created from Microstation.

Universal Messaging
Technology that combines messages from fixed phone, mobile, fax, e-mail, pager, etc.

Video Conference
Video-phone call between two or more people, which may include data-sharing for showing presentations, reviewing documents.

VoIP (voice over internet protocol)
Voice telephony via internet or networks based on internet technology.

VPN
A secure private network using a public network (eg, the internet) as carrier.

WAN (wide area network)
Network connecting geographically dispersed computers and other devices.

WLAN (wireless local area network)
Computers without wires.

Back to Top

If you are an existing customer and require any technical assistance, please contact us by telephone on +44 (0)845 130 5550 or email us at support@asite.com

[ Back to Customer Support ]