Windows 98-WZ1

Windows 98

Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. See Windows 95.

Windows Application

A term used in this document as a shorthand term to refer to an application that is designed to run with Windows and does not run without Windows. All Windows applications follow similar conventions for arrangement of menus , style of dialog boxes, and keyboard and mouse use.

Windows CE

A smaller version of Microsoft's Windows operating system to be used for a range of mobile handheld communications, computing or entertainment devices. See also Microsoft At Work, an earlier attempt by Microsoft at making an operating system for devices other than PCs.

Windows Character Set

The character set used in Windows and Windows applications. Most TrueType fonts have a set of about 220 characters .

Windows For Workgroups

Windows for Workgroup is an obsolete local area networked version of Microsoft Windows operating system version 3.1 that offered integrated file sharing, electronic mail (Microsoft Mail) and workgroup scheduling (Schedule+), thus bringing the graphical user interface to the workgroup. Windows For Workgroups also has Network DDE, which allows users to create compound documents that share data across network. Most importantly, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 lets you do 32-bit disk access and 32-bit file access. Windows 95 superceded Windows for Workgroups.

Windows MetaFile

WMF. A method of encoding files. Other methods include EPS, PCX and TIFF.

Windows NT

Windows New Technology, now called Windows 2000, is a 32-bit operating system from Microsoft, designed to replace Windows95 and MS-DOS. As an operating system, Windows NT is targeted at the top 10% "power" users who need the power of a big, powerful operating system. Here are the main advantages of Windows NT, as explained by Microsoft:

• Interoperability. Windows NT delivers support for open computing benefits through its protected subsystem architecture. Windows NT was also designed to be protocol independent. As such it will interoperate with all leading network systems, regardless of the native protocol of the system.

• Portability. Windows NT was designed to be portable across a variety of hardware systems. The Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) limits and isolates the amount of code necessary to port Windows NT to a new platform. Windows NT will run on processors other than those made by Intel. MS-DOS, for example, doesn't.

• Scalability. Windows NT scales to work on both single and multi processor computer systems. This scalability gives users the flexibility to implement their own solutions, today or over time, on machines that meet the performance needs of sophisticated client server solutions.

• System Management. Windows NT supports SubNetwork Access Protocol (SNMP) and NetView network management standards.

• Published Interfaces. The interfaces to the Windows NT operating system are fully documented and published. Software developers are free to add functionality to the system based on their interface definitions.

• Support of Industry Standards. These include POSIX.1, OSF DCE, TCP/IP and WOSA, which is Microsoft's Windows Open Services Architecture. WOSA is a standard set of interfaces to connect a variety of applications with a range of back-end devices and services, such as messaging, telephony, databases, etc. Windows Telephony is part of WOSA.

Windows NT File System

NTFS. An advanced file system designed for use specifically with the Windows NT operating system. NTFS supports file system recovery and extremely large storage media. It also supports object-oriented applications by treating all files as object with user-defined and system-defined attributes.

Windows Open Services Architecture

See WOSA.

Windows Telephony

Introduced in the spring of 1993 jointly by Microsoft and Intel, Windows Telephony is a piece of software called a Windows Telephony DLL and two standards. The first standard is the Service Provider Interface (SPI). If a hardware manufacturer's product honors that SPI, that product can happily talk to the Windows Telephony DLL. The second standard is called the Application Programming Interface and it is directed at software developers who write applications programs. If those developers' programs adhere to the API, they can take advantage of the Windows Telephony DLL to drive whatever telephony devices or services adhere to the SPI. The Windows Telephony API is called TAPI. DLL stands for Dynamic Link Library. It is a Windows feature that allows executable code modules to be loaded on demand and linked at run time. At one stage, it was thought at Windows Telephony would bring about an explosion of shrink-wrapped Windows based telephone software applications ” from simple personal rolodexes to power dialers, to customized phone systems for banks and for bakers. It was going to bring about an explosion of new telephony hardware devices ” from telephones that look more like PCs than phones, to PCs that are phones, to blackbox telephony devices that hook to laptops and transform hotel phones.

Windows Telephony removed earlier overwhelming barriers to creating PC-driven telephony applications, namely the wide enormity of telephony "network" services ” from the many telephone company interfaces (POTS to T-1), to the many more proprietary interfaces behind dozens of proprietary PBXs, key systems and hybrid phone systems. Unfortunately Windows Telephony never took off, largely because the telephone industry just "didn't get it." The industry also resented that an outsider ” someone from the computer industry would attempt to layer standards on the phone business. As a result, Windows Telephony has never taken off. See At Work, Fax at Work, Telephony Services, Windows Telephony Services, Windows Toolkits and WOSA.

Windows Telephony Services

Here is Microsoft's original definition: Windows Telephony services are provided as a WOSA (Windows Open Services Architecture) component. It consists of both an application programming interface (API) used by applications and a service provider interface (SPI) implemented by service providers. The focus of the API is to provide "personal telephony" to the Windows platform. Telephony services break down into Simple Telephony services and Full Telephony services. Simple Telephony allows telephony-enabled applications to be easily created from within these applications without these apps needing to become aware of the details of the Full Telephony services. Word processors, spreadsheets, databases, personal information managers can easily be extended to take advantage of this.Complete call control is only possible through the use of the Full Telephony services. Applications access the Full Telephony API services using a first-party call control model. This means that the application controls telephone calls as if it is an endpoint of the call. The application can make calls, be notified about inbound calls, answer inbound calls, invoke switch features such as hold, transfer, conference, pickup, park, etc., detect and generate DTMF for signaling with remote equipment. An app can also use the API to monitor call- related activities occurring in the system.

The fact the API presents a first-party call control model does not restrict its use to only first-party telephony environments. The Windows Telephony API can be meaningfully used for third-party call control. The API provides an abstraction of telephony services that is independent of the underlying telephone network and the configuration used to connect the PC to the switch and phone set. The API provides independent abstractions of the PC connections to the switch or network and the phone set. The connection may be realized in a variety of arrangements including pure client based wired or wireless connections, or client/server configurations using some sort of local area network.

The Telephony API by itself is not concerned with providing access to the information exchanged over a call. Rather, the call control provided by the API is orthogonal to the information stream management. The Telephony API can work in conjunction with other Windows services such as the Windows multimedia wave audio, MCI, or fax APIs to provide access to the information on a call. This guarantees maximum interoperability with existing audio or fax applications.

The Telephony API defines three levels of service. The lowest level of service is called Basic Telephony and provides a guaranteed set of functions that corresponds to "Plain Old Telephone Service" (POTS - only make calls and receive calls). The next service level is Supplementary Telephone Service providing advanced switch features such as hold, transfer, etc. All supplementary services are optional. Finally, there is the Extended Telephony level. This API level provides numerous and well-defined API extension mechanisms that enable application developers to access service provider-specific functions not directly defined by the Telephony API. See Windows Telephony.

Windows Toolkits

Windows toolkits are libraries of code that implement the graphical user interface objects that every software application uses. The toolkits save time by eliminating the need for software developers to re-implement the same code repeatedly for each application. Toolkits also have the benefit of consistent user interface implementation across all applications that use the toolkit. See also Windows.

Windows XP

An updated version of Windows 2000 that has Win2000's stability and some nice new features, including the ability to dial into the machine remotely and to make phone calls. See the next definition.

Windows XP Real Time Communications

When it introduced Windows XP towards the end of 2001, Microsoft announced an update of the Windows Messenger Real-Time Communications client, that will enable consumers to use their personal computers to make voice calls from their PCs to telephones anywhere in the world via a choice of participating service providers. These new PC-to-phone calling options, along with other enhancements, are included in a downloadable update to the Windows Messenger feature within Windows XP. In addition, an update to the MSN messenger client will enable this new PC-to-phone support for users of previous versions of Windows. The Microsoft Voice Services program enables carriers to participate in and benefit from this Windows Messenger Real-Time Communications update, which includes embedded Voice Over IP (VoIP) and PC-to-phone calling capability. Microsoft will host a referral service of qualified carriers who will be our partners in terminating PC to phone calls via the Messenger client. The Voice Services program will allow Microsoft, via Messenger, to refer new customers to the participating carriers in order to subscribe, and also will integrate the user online communications services with voice services from an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP).

If you are an ITSP, the Voice Services program provides you with a way to build differentiating services, reduce customer churn by adding new applications and capabilities for your existing customers, find new customers (every copy of Windows XP that ships is essentially a telephone handset that needs a backbone carrier for VoIP traffic), and most importantly, increase the average revenue per customer you currently enjoy if you are not already offering VoIP services. ITSPs will be able to manage their own customers to include provisioning, call processing and termination, billing, and customer care.

Voice Services is one of the first ways an ITSP can adopt and leverage the Microsoft .NET platform. Microsoft Voice Services incorporates the Passport web service to authenticate end users securely and privately over the Internet. ITSPs also can take advantage of other Microsoft .NET Web services (Microsoft .NET My Services ” formerly code-named "HailStorm") to build true Unified Messaging applications. Any company capable of terminating IP-based telephone calls to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is a candidate for the program. In the Voice Services program, Microsoft does the following:

• Authenticates users via the Passport Internet Authentication Web Service

• Processes Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling requests via our SIP proxy servers

In the Voice Services program, the carrier (ITSP) is responsible for the following:

• Completing

• Provisioning

• Terminating calls on the PSTN

• Billing

• Handling of all customer care

Carriers need to deploy the following technical infrastructure to participate in the program:

• SIP-based proxy servers and soft switches

• VoIP trunking

• SIP signaled VoIP-to-PSTN gateways

The Referral Program works thus: Users are prompted to sign up for the new Windows Messenger when they install the Windows XP Home Edition operating system for the first time. After installing Windows Messenger, a user will be prompted to make a PC-to-tele- phone call. If it is the first time they have made a call, they will be taken to a referral server and shown the carriers in their area that are terminating PC to phone telephone calls. The end user selects a carrier at this time.

WinInet API

The Microsoft Win32 Internet functions. These functions provide Win32 applications with access to common Internet protocols. These functions pluck out the heart of the Internet's Gopher, FTP, and HTTP protocols and turn them into an application programming interface (API). This provides a straightforward path to making applications Internet-aware.

WinISDN

WinISDN is ISDN*Tek's API for talking to internal ISDN modems. It supports all of the high level functions for call setup and answering on an ISDN modem. Most of the more popular internal ISDN modems support WinISDN. One of the ways WinISDN helps increase throughput is by handling data transfers in large blocks rather than one byte at a time. The overhead on single byte transfers is much higher than handling a single block.

Wink

A signal sent between two telecommunications devices as part of a handshaking protocol. It is a momentary interruption in SF (Single Frequency) tone, indicating that the distant Central Office (CO) is ready to receive the digits that have just been dialed . In telephone switching systems, a single supervisory pulse. On a digital connection such as a T1 circuit attached to a Carrier Access Corporation Access Bank II, a wink is signaled by a brief change in the A and B signaling bits. On an analog line, a wink is signaled by a brief change in polarity (electrical + and -) on the line.

Wink Operation

A timed off-hook signal normally of 140 milliseconds , which indicates the availability of an incoming register for receiving digital information from the calling office. A control system for phone systems using address signaling.

Wink Pulsing

Recurring pulses of a type where the off-pulse is very short with respect to the on-pulse, e.g., on key telephone instruments, the hold position (condition) of a line is often indicated by wink pulsing the associated lamp at 120 impulses per minute, 94 percent make, 6 percent break (470 ms on, 30 ms off).

Wink Release

On most modern central offices when the person or device at the other end hangs up, your local central office will send you a single frequency tone. That tone is called wink release. Such a tone can be used to alert a data device that the device at the other end has hung up. (Remember it can't tell by just listening ” like you and me.) When a data device hears a wink release, it usually takes it as a signal to hang up also.

Wink Signal

A short interruption of current to a busy lamp causing it to flicker. Indicates there is a line on hold.

Wink Start

Short duration off hook signal. See Wink Operation.

WINS

Windows Internet Name Service. A name resolution service that resolves Windows networking computer names to IP addresses in a routed environment. A WINS server, which is a Windows NT Server computer, handles name registrations, queries, and releases.

Winsock 2

Winsock stands for Windows Sockets. Winsocks are standard APIs between Microsoft Windows (3.1, 95 and NT) application software and TCP/IP protocol software (also called a protocol stack). Winsock 2 is a network programming interface at the transport level in the ISO reference model. It is being defined by an open, industry wide workgroup, called the Winsock Forum.

Wintel

A combination of the words Windows and Intel. Wintel refers to PCs that run Microsoft Windows and use Intel microprocessors. Wintel PCs are by far the biggest-selling PCs, amounting to around 80% of all PCs sold. Observers of the PC industry refer to the "Wintel standard" to refer the phenomenon of such high market dominance by one type of PC.

Wipe

A transition between two video signals that takes the shape of a geometric pattern. Used also in PowerPoint.

Wipeout

A completely blank television picture caused by extremely strong interference.

WIPI

Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability. All three Korean cellular operators are using different operating systems (eg KTF uses BREW, SKT uses in-house developed package, LGT uses JAVA) to access the wireless internet.) WIPI is a Korean Government inspired wireless platform for accessing the internet which the Korean Government wants to compete with Qualcomm's BREW (Binary Running Environment for Wireless Internet) as part of Korea's telecoms equipment export drive. The reason is that WIPI is an open system so that content providers should be able to standardize their production based on one specification rather than having to create content for all three different operating systems, increasing consumer choice and reducing operating costs. Cellular operators' reaction to WIPI has been muted because each sees their own operating system as a competitive advantage.

WIPO

World Intellectual Property Organization. An intergovernmental organization with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, WIPO is an agency of the United Nations. WIPO is responsible for the promotion of the protection of intellectual property throughout the world through cooperation of its member states, of which there were 161 as of February 1997. WIPO also is responsible for the administration of various multilateral treaties dealing with legal and administrative aspects of intellectual property. In 1998, WIPO convened an international process to develop recommendations concerning the intellectual property issues associated with Internet domain names, including dispute resolution. See also Domain Name, gTLD, Intellectual Property and TLD.

Wire Center

The physical structure where the telephone company terminates subscriber outside cable plant (i.e. their local lines) with the necessary testing facilities to maintain them. Usually the same location as a class 5 central office. One or more Switching Entities which serve the plant facilities through a single main frame ( or two or more main frames joined by the cables), regardless of the number of buildings involved. A wire center might have one or several class 5 central offices, also called public exchanges or simply switches. A customer could get telephone service from one, several or all of these switches without paying extra. They would all be his local switch.

Wire Center, Multi-Entity

A North American telephone company term. A wire center which has two or more entities serving the plant facilities through a single main frame, (or two or more main frames joined by cables), regardless of the number of buildings involved. The wire center may include entities of various switching types and combinations, e.g., 3 entities, entity 1, lAESS, entity 2, 5ESS-2000, entity 3, DMS-100.

Wire Center Serving Area

That area of an exchange served by a single wire center.

Wire Concentrator

A conduit; a pipe within which a large number of individual wires are routed through.

Wire Pair

Two separate conductors traveling the same route, serving as a communications channel.

Wire Plant

The installation of all low voltage wiring, both voice and data in a facility.

Wire Printer

A matrix printer which uses a set of wire hammers to strike the page through a carbon ribbon, generating the matrix characters.

Wire Rate

See Wire Speed.

Wire Running Tools

Tools that help you run wire in and around a building. The most common form of wire running tools that help you fish wire through hollow drywalls.

Wire Speed

The rate at which bits can be transmitted over a circuit or link, which generally is considered to be a wired circuit comprising one or more metallic or glass conductors, but which also may be wireless. For example, the wire speed of Ethernet is 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, or 1 Gbps. Ethernet standards specify the medium (e.g., Cat 3 or Cat 5 UTP, optical fiber, or RF (Radio Frequency) or Ir (Infrared) wireless); the maximum and minimum allowable distances; the bit encoding scheme; and other specifics of the "wire." Wire speed generally is more closely related to signaling speed that to actual transmission speed, or throughput. Actual throughput depends on many factors, including how many devices of what specific types and what specific capabilities are associated with the circuit. All devices impose some level of delay on the signal. The more complicated the processes performed by a given device, the greater the level of delay, and oftentimes the less efficiently the circuit potential is used (i.e., the greater the difference between throughput and wire speed). To put this in context, bridges are very simple devices which accomplish very simple processes and which, therefore, typically impose very little delay. As one moves up the food chain to switches, routers and gateways, the level of complexity increases, and the level of delay increases , as well. As wire speed is a fundamental imperative of system designers, the implementation of processes in silicon and the optimization of software components is of the utmost importance in order that system throughput match wire speed as closely as possible. See also Throughput.

Wire Stripper

A tool which takes the insulation off a wire without hurting the inside metal conductor.

Wire Tap

The attaching to a phone line of a piece of equipment whose job is to record all conversations on that phone line. Wire taps are illegal. Law enforcement agencies use them, but must receive authorization from a court to apply the tap. Such authorizations are given if the law enforcement agency argues that applying the tap will prevent crime or help bring a suspected criminal to justice . Wire taps are not authorized lightly. See also Trap and Trace.

Wire Telephony

The transmission of speech over wires.

Wire Wrap and Solder

Soldering and wire wrap dominated early cable connections. Some old buildings still have large boards of wire wrapped or soldered connections. Wire wrap is still used in telephone company-related applications, but solder for cross- connects is obsolete and not seen today.

Wired Equivalency Privacy

See WEP.

Wired For Capacity

The wired-for capacity represents the upper limit of capacity for a particular configuration. To bring to a phone system to its "wired for capacity," all that's necessary is to fill the empty slots in the system's metal shelving (its cage) with the appropriate printed circuit boards. "Wired-for Capacity" is a marginally useful term, giving little indication of the type of printed circuit boards ” trunk, line, special electronic line, special circuit, etc. ” that can be installed. And many PBXs allow only their printed circuit boards to go into assigned slots. Your PBX cabinet might, for example, have plenty of empty space for extra printed circuit boards, but it may not have any more space for boards which service electronic phones. Thus, it is effectively maxed out.

Wired For Management

WFM. See WFM.

Wired Logic

A required logic function implemented in hardware, not software.

Wired Love

A novel published in 1879 by Ella Cheever. It was about a long-distance romance between telegraph operators.

Wireless

Without wires. Any system of transmitting and receiving information without wires. That system could be anything from your cellphone to your 802.11b-equipped laptop. it could be your wireless headset. See also 802.11a, 802.11b, CDMA, cellular radio, GSM and the wireless definitions following.

Wireless Access Controller

The first component in an in-building wireless phone systems is the wireless access controller. It does many things. It provides access to the host network, be it a host PBX or the public switched telephone network (including Centrex). The access controller also manages the picocellular infrastructure of the wireless system through connections to the radio base stations. In the case of a Northern Telecom wireless business systems, base stations are connected to the controller via 144-kilobit-per- second (kbit/s) digital links that offer 2B+D interface connectivity. This digital connectivity (two 64-kbit/s channels for voice and data, and one 16-kbit/s channel for signaling information) provides the high-speed signaling capability needed by the controller to offer advanced business services and to manage mobility across several base stations. These digital links also make it possible to enhance radio system capacity by having the controller synchronize all base stations .

The controller software structures are designed so that untethered personal directory numbers and physical ports (specific interface circuits wired to a particular location) are dynamically associated at every call and at every hand-off to another base station. This dynamic assignment makes it possible for the same personal or group directory number to be used for a variety of wireless and wireline terminals, irrespective of location. The controller also handles user registration, roaming, and hand-off.

Roaming which is the capability to redirect incoming calls to the appropriate base station, is accomplished through a combination of radio protocols, system software, and databases. The databases make it possible to locate portable terminals, through various broadcasting or polling schemes, without incurring excessive search delays.

Hand-off, on the other hand, is the capability needed in order to cope with the fact that a user will continuously move from one location, and hence one cell , to another, while communicating. As this happens, the link must be maintained in a manner transparent to the end user, always maintaining communications with the strongest base station signal in the neighborhood of the portable terminal. The controller monitors the radio signal strength of the portable and, when the signal weakens, switches it to a base station with a stronger signal. It then switches the communications link from the former base station to the new one and signals the terminal to begin radio communication on the new channel. Interference could be caused, for example, by other portable terminals in the same cell or an adjacent cell, or by external influences, such as nearby traffic or people moving partitions in an office. In such cases, the base station redirects the call rapidly to a less noisy channel in the same cell or an adjacent cell.

Wireless Application Protocol Forum

In January, 1998, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Unwired Planet announced the establishment of the Wireless Application Protocol Forum Ltd. This non-profit company will administer the worldwide WAP specification process and facilitate new companies contributing to WAP specification work. According to the press release announcing the establishment of the Forum, the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is targeted to bring Internet content and advanced services to digital cellular phones and other wireless terminals. WAP Forum aims to create a global wireless protocol specification that works across differing wireless network technology types, for adoption by appropriate industry standards bodies. Applications using WAP will be scaleable across a variety of transport options and device types. A common standard offers potential economies of scale, encouraging cellular phone and other device manufacturers to invest in developing compatible products. Cellular and other wireless network carriers and content providers will be able to develop new differentiated service offerings as a way to attract new subscribers. Consumers will benefit through more and varied choices in mobile communications applications, advanced services and Internet access. In addition to the four founding partners, new members are now welcome to join WAP Forum. Members may contribute to the current specification work, participate in driving the continuing evolution of WAP and nominate and elect additional directors to the board of WAP Forum. In order to become members of WAP Forum, interested companies need to apply to join. All the details including the application form can be found at www.wapforum.org and www.xwap.com.

Wireless Assisted Global Positioning System

WAGS. See GPS.

Wireless Cable

An oxymoron which means that TV signals are broadcast by microwave to antennas on customers' homes . The former name for wireless cable was MMDS, short for Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service.

Wireless Cable Service

An oxymoronic term if there ever was one, but it does have an industry definition: A wireless broadcast service providing cable-TV-like entertainment video channels, received at a subscriber's site by a small parabolic antenna or dish. It is an encompassing term, covering the specific services of Microwave Distribution Service (MMDS), Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) and Cellular Television. See also Fixed Wireless Local Loop.

Wireless Competitive Access Providers

WCAPS. See Fixed Wireless Local Loop.

Wireless Data Forum

WDF. A not-for-profit organization dedicated to publicizing successful wireless data applications and customer communities. WDF membership includes network service providers, wireless device and infrastructure equipment manufacturers and vendors , computer software and hardware developers, and information services content providers. www.wirelessdata.org.

Wireless Data Network

A radio-based network for data transmission. Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) is an example.

Wireless Digital Standards

See Digital Wireless Standards.

Wireless E-911 Phase I / Phase II

Refers to the technology and services mandated by FCC Report and Order 96-264 pursuant to Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) 94-102. The FCC requirement applies to all cellular and PCS service providers, and those Specialized Mobile Radio carriers that provide public voice service with telephone network interconnection.

Phase I defines delivery of a wireless emergency 911 call with call-back number and identification of the cell and sector from which the call originated. This allows the call to be routed to an appropriate public service answering point (PSAP) based on caller's general position. Without Phase I capabilities, wireless calls are routed to some default service agency, e.g., the state highway patrol. The required Phase I availability date was April 1998, but at this time (early 1999) many public service agencies have not upgraded their equipment to accept the Phase I information and still employ default, or non-selective, call routing.

Phase II defines delivery of a wireless 911 call with Phase I requirements, plus location of the caller within 125 meters 67% of the time. In addition, the call is routed to the appropriate PSAP based on the caller's coordinates. The required Phase II availability is October 2001. This new capability has given rise to the potential for other, non-emergency, added- value location services for wireless customers, and has instigated technological development in wireless handsets, infrastructure, network signaling, and emergency service equipment. See also Position Determination Technology.

Wireless Edge Server

This definition from a company which sells wireless edge servers. A wireless edge service provides a mechanism to deliver preferential and prioritized services to high-value customers. This server can be deployed with both the traditional e- business solutions and next-generation Web solutions. The Wireless Edge Server identifies the request, prioritizes it based on the device type and connection speed, and routes the request to the available resource. It is equipped to monitor the common applications used by e-businesses. The Wireless Edge Server monitors the applications and identifies the resource that is best equipped to handle a particular request. It can also handle rich content-audio, video, and graphics-without saturating the corporate networks.

Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance

See WECA.

Wireless Fiber

See Fixed Wireless Local Loop.

Wireless Institute of Australia

See WIA.

Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability

See WIPI.

Wireless LANS

The conventional local area network (LAN) uses wires or optical fiber as a common carrier medium. However, other possibilities exist. Low microwave frequencies (lower than about 10 GHz) can provide data rates as high 10 Mbit/s. Millimetric waves at around 60 GHz could support several 10 Mbit/s channels, while infra-red beams could support even greater data throughputs. The area covered by such a scheme would be restricted by the low allowable power radiation. The data rates of such systems tend to be restricted by walls, by interference and by multipath propagation problems that arise due to reflections within the building. Because of the wide bandwidth available, channeling can easily be provided by using spread spectrum methods and code division multiple access (CDMA), a technique that significantly improves the system security. See 802.11a and 802.11b.

Wireless Local Loop

WLL. A means of provisioning a local loop facility without wires. Usually employing low power radio systems running in the microwave range, WLL also includes short-range infrared (Ir) systems, which are optical in nature. WLL allows carriers to provision local loops , with perhaps 1 Gbps or more in aggregate bandwidth per coverage area. Such systems are being deployed widely in Asia and other developing countries where they offer the advantages of rapid deployment, and rapid configuration and reconfiguration, as well as avoidance of the costs of burying wires and cables. WLL is particularly attractive where rocky or soggy terrain make cabled systems problematic . WLL also is highly attractive to CLECs (Competitive Local Exchange Carriers), who have a compelling need to deploy local loop facilities, bypassing the incumbent LECs in a deregulated, competitive environment as envisioned by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. See also ADML, Fixed Wireless Local Loop, Infrared, and LMDS.

Wireless MATV System

WMATV. A coaxial distribution network which receives television programming from a wireless receiver.

Wireless Messaging

Technology allowing the exchange of electronic messages without plugging into a wired land-based phone line. Two wireless messaging types are available: one-way, based on existing radio paging channels; and two-way, based on either radio-packet technology or cellular technology. Some people include in-room infra-red links in the term "wireless messaging." Some of the PDAs use wireless links.

Wireless Number Portability

WNP. It means you can take your phone number with you as you change carriers. Some countries have it, including United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia and Hong Kong,. Others don't. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 mandated it for the U.S. But, as of writing, (Spring, 2003) it hadn't been implemented here. And some industry trade groups are arguing that it's a gigantic expense that could be better spent on improving service and coverage. I'm inclined to agree with them.

Wireless Office Telecommunications System

WOTS. A private wireless system for use in an in-building or campus applications. A WOTS generally is in the form of an adjunct to a PBX or KTS (Key Telephone System). From the common control cabinet, wired connections are established to antennas, which are deployed in a microcell (i.e., very small cell) topology. As go off-hook, your wireless phone connects to a micro- cell antenna. The antenna system can accomplish handoffs, much like a cellular network, as you move about. The specific technology involved can be that of either cordless or cellular telephony.

Wireless Packet Switching

Unlike existing cellular networks, wireless packet-switched networks are designed specifically for data communications. Packet switching breaks messages into packets and sends these packets individually over the network. Here's how a message is sent over the RAM Mobile Data Wireless Networks, one of the packet radio networks in operation today:

1. After you've written a message and turned on your modem, you enter a send command in your e-mail software.

2. The modem breaks your message into packets. A typical packet has a message space for as much as 512 bytes (about 100 words). Longer messages are divided into 512 byte sections.

3. The modem then sends each packet separately over the RAM packet radio network. Each packet includes the sender's and receiver's addresses.

4. The network routes the message to the recipient.

5. The recipient's packet radio modem reassembles the individual packets into a single message.

6. Your recipient can then read the message.

A packet radio network, typically uses a hierarchical architecture to route messages. At the lowest level, base stations exchange wireless messages with nearby mobile computers. Base stations can route messages to other users who are within its service area, or the local switch to read recipients who are in other areas, on LANs, or on public e-mail services. The local switch can either route the message to a different base station or to a regional switch. Users of these packet radio networks can typically send messages anywhere in the network ” regardless of the physical distance ” for the same rate per message.

Wireless Personal Area Network

See WPAN and 802.11a and 802.11b.

Wireless Private Branch Exchange

WPBX. The WPBX offers business users the ability to make and receive calls using cordless telephones anywhere on a company's premises.

Wireless Rural Loop

WRL. Wireless Rural Loop is a subset of wireless local loop (WLL) or fixed wireless local loop for a smaller number of users in a large geographic area. It is almost a polar opposite of WLL that generally serves a relatively large number of users in a localized area. See also Wireless Local Loop and Fixed Wireless Local Loop.

Wireless Service Provider

WASP. A carrier authorized to provide wireless communications exchange services (for example, cellular carriers and paging services carriers).

Wireless Standard

A group of agreed upon specifications concerned with moving data types among wireless devices. Most wireless computing standards are created by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The standard 802.11b is the most common wireless local area network standard. See also IEEE, WPAN, 802.11b.

Wireless Switching Center

WSC. A switching system used to terminate wireless stations for purposes of interconnection to each other and to trunks interfacing with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and other networks.

Wireless Transport Layer Security

See WTLS.

WirelessReady Alliance

Six companies with interests in wireless products and services came together in December, 1998 to create WirelessReady Alliance, which is aimed at creating mobile data solutions for businesses and consumers. A spokesman for the group said that it would concentrate on existing wireless technologies, including cellular packet data, GSM and CDMA for personal communications systems and cellular services. www.sierrawireless.com/alliance.

Wireline

1. Another name for a telephone company that uses cables, not radio.

2. Cellular licenses received from the FCC with initial association to telephone company. Also referred to as B-Block. See Wireline Cellular Carrier.

Wireline Communications Communications that require a physical connection, such as wires or cables, between users.

Wireline Cellular Carrier

Also called the Block B carrier. Under the FCC's initial cellular licensing procedures, the Block B carrier is the local telephone company. The FCC reserved one of the two systems in every market for the local telephone ” or wire- line company. Wireline or Block B systems operate on the frequencies 869 to 894 Megahertz. See Non-Wireline Cellular Carrier.

Wiremap

A cable test used to determine whether each pin has connectivity with the appropriate pin at the other end of the cable. A wiremap test is also required to test for split pairs.

Wirespeed

See Wire Speed.

Wiretap

See Telephone Tap and Wiretapping.

Wiretapping

To listen in clandestinely to someone else's conversation. Other than scrambling , there is no known method to protect your telephone call against wiretapping, no matter what equipment you buy from companies advertising their wares nationally. Wiretapping can be accomplished without physical connection to a phone line, though technically this would be called "bugging." For all intents and purposes you should consider your telephone conversations as public and treat your conversations as such. See Telephone Tap.

Wiring Closet

A central termination area for telephone and/or network cabling. Such wiring closet might serve the building or just a floor or just part of a floor. It's designed to accommodate the wiring needs of one organization or a department of a bigger company. A wiring closer can be a physical closet or a small room. It typically contains punch- down blocks and cross-connect panels.

Wiring Concentrator

A wiring concentrator is an FDDI node that provides additional attachment points for stations that are not attached directly to the dual ring, or for other concentrators in a tree structure. The concentrator is the focal point of Digital's Dual Ring of Trees topology.

Wiring Density

Refers to the number of wires that may be terminated on a connecting block in a given area. A high density block may terminate twice as many wires as a low density block, while a low density block may provide better wire management since fewer wires are being dressed into and out of the connecting block.

Wiring Environment

A fancy term for any any building communications wiring system.

Wiring Grid

The overall architecture of building wiring.

Wiring Scheme

A fancy name for color coding telephone wires, so that you know how to punch down /connect up the differently colored conductors which you typically find in telephone cables. The blue goes on conductor 1, the green on conductor 2, etc.

WISeKey

WISeKey operates a common root certificate service on behalf of the International Secure Electronic Transaction Organization. The common root certificate provides a service to Certificate Authorities (CAs) worldwide and for the World Trade Centres global infrastructure. WISeKey provides a high-level certification service with global recognition and trust and is open for use by any CA complying with its certification practice statement. Through its partnerships with leading companies, it also develops digital certification and electronic commerce services for a wide range of international and national organizations and promotes the use of digital certificates for both authentication and authorization.

WISP

Wireless Internet Service Provider.

WIT

Washington International Teleport.

Witchcraft

It is possible to trace the origin of witch hunting to an incident that occurred in 1242. Two of the Pope's inquisitors were staying in a house in Avignonet, in the south of France. They had traveled there to root heretics. In the middle of the night a dozen men with axes, who belonged to a sect known as the Cathars that believed that the Old Testament God was a demon, were admitted to the house by claiming they had information about heretics. They slaughtered the two inquisitors and their servants, hacking their bodies until they were almost unrecognizable. After the massacre, the Pope became determined to stamp out heretics at all costs. A bloody crusade followed. Cathars were dragged out of their homes and burned. In 1244, 200 of them were burned on a gigantic bon-fire at Montsegur. Those who managed to avoid capture were no longer accused or heresy, but of a strange new crime: conspiring with the devil or, as it came to be known, witchcraft.

Witting

To be in on a secret.

WITS

Wireless Interface Telephone System.

WITSA

World Information Technology and Services Alliance. A global consortium of IT industry associations, WITSA positions itself as the global voice of the IT industry. Founded in 1978 as the World Computing Services Industry Association, WITSA is an active advocate in the area of public policy, working toward increasing competition through open markets and regulatory reform, protecting intellectual property, reducing tariff and non- tariff trade barriers to IT goods and services, and safeguarding the viability and continued growth of the Internet and electronic commerce. www.witsa.org.

WIXC

Wavelength Interchanging Cross-Connect. A type of OXC (Optical Cross-Connect). See OXC.

Wizard

An on-line tutor that guides you through common procedures or processes, as in hardware wizard.

WIZOP

A Chief Sysop (System Operator). See SYSOP.

WLAN

Wireless Local Area Network. A LAN without wires. There are major benefits, the biggest being the ability to configure and reconfigure the LAN around quickly and cheaply, as wires need not be placed and moved. Groups of people use them often in temporary situations ” a team of auditors , a group of firefighters, etc. Wireless LANs are often not as fast as wired LANs. Check. See also 802.11a, 802.11b and Wireless LANs.

WLANA

Wireless LAN Alliance. A consortium of manufacturers of WLANs, with the purpose of "generating awareness and creating excitement about the present and future capabilities of wireless local area networks." See WLAN. www.wlana.com

WLIF

Wireless LAN Interoperability Forum. A group of more than 20 mobile computing product and service suppliers formed in 1996, the WLIF promotes the OpenAir interface specification. Through a third-party laboratory, products are tested and certified for compatibility. www.wlif.com. See OpenAir.

WLL

Wireless Local Loop. See Wireless Local Loop.

WLNP

Wireless Local Number Portability. A government mandated project that will allow people to take their cell phone number with them when they change cell phone providers. See Local Number Portability.

WMATV

Wireless Master Antenna Television System.

WMBTOPCITBWTNTALI

We May Be The Only Phone Company In Town But We Try Not To Act Like It. An advertising slogan used by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in the early 1970's to counter public opinion. It didn't last long ” subscribers didn't believe it and SWBTC employees hated it. Or so Ray Horak, my Consulting Editor, says ” he should know, he was there. Southwestern Bell, by the way, no longer is the only phone company in town.

WMF

Windows MetaFile. A file that stores an image as graphical objects such as lines, circles, and polygons rather than as pixels. There are two types of metafiles, standard and enhanced. Standard metafiles usually have a .wmf file name extension. Enhanced metafiles usually have a .emf file name extension. Metafiles preserve an image more accurately than pixels when the image is resized. The reason to include this definition is that wmf files are the source of my best Microsoft PowerPoint presentation tip. I use PowerPoint a lot. So here goes. You have a PowerPoint presentation. You want to bring one or several slides in from someone else's presentation. If you paste them in, PowerPoint will make the new slide look like your own presentation's format. This will screw up all the imported slides and you'll spend eons trying to fix them. The only sure way to bring in a slide and to retain its formatting is to open the presentation you want to import and save it as a Windows Metafile (.wmf) file. It will ask you if you want to save one slide or all of them? If you say all of them, it will save the presentation in as many files as there are slides. Then you simply paste the new .wmf slides you want into your presentation. One tip: You must modify the slides before you save them as .wmf. When they're in the .wmf format, they can't be messed with. They drop into your presentation as basically uneditable bitmapped images. But they retain the original PowerPoint's format and don't adopt the format of the presentation they drop into.

WMI

Windows Management Instrumentation. Microsoft's WMI is the company's implementation of WBEM in Windows OSes. See WBEM.

WML

WML is Wireless Markup Language, and is the WAP-proposed browser language. Analogous to, and based upon HTML, but new and different. www.wapforum.org

WNP

Wireless Number Portability. See Wireless Number Portability.

Wombat

A harebrained idea is a wombat ” a waste of money, brains and time.

Woo Woo Tone

A tone on a phone line indicating the number is unavailable. Also the words to a neat Jeffrey Osborne song, as in "Will you woo woo with me?"

Wooden Nickels

The expression "don't take wooden nickels" came from the 19th century. Actual wooden coins were routinely "minted" as promotional gimmicks during the numerous exhibitions so popular in 19th century America. They were often were honored at "face value" by participating merchants during the run of the show. To accept a "wooden nickel" after the show had closed its gates would be financial folly ( especially in the days when nickels were actually worth something).

Woofys

Well Off Older Folks.

Word

A collection of bits the computer recognizes as a basic information unit and uses in its operation. Usually defined by the number of bits contained in it, e.g., 5, 8, 16 or 32 bits. Using DOS, the IBM PC (and compatibles) defines a word as an eight-bit byte. Such machines use the ASCII coding scheme (or a variation); such a scheme actually involves seven information bits plus a parity bit for error detection. Here's another explanation: A group of characters capable of being processed simultaneously in the processor and treated by computer circuits as an entity and capable of being stored in one storage location. See also Byte and Word Length.

Word Length

The number of bits in a data character without parity, start or stop bits.

Words Per Minute

WPM. The speed of printing, typing or communications. 100 WPM is 600 characters per minute (six characters per average word) or 10 characters per second. In ASCII, asynchronous transmission at this rate is also 100 or 110 bits per second, depending on the number of stop bits.

Work Area

The area where horizontal cabling is connected to the work area equipment by means of a telecommunication outlet. A station/desk which is served by a telecommunications outlet. Sometimes referred to as a work station.

Work Area Cable

A cable assembly used to connect equipment to the telecommunications outlet in the work area. Work area cables are considered to be outside the scope of cabling standards. See also Work Area.

Work Location Wiring Subsystem

The part of a premises distribution system that includes the equipment and extension cords from the information outlet to the terminal device connection.

Work Order

A term used in the secondary telecom equipment business. Internal document used by a remarketer specifying:

1. Work to be performed;

2. Machine or item on which work is to be performed;

3. Required completion date;

4. Cost of work;

5. Customer purchase order number and/or other pertinent billing information. This document is used internally to:

   • Implement required work;

   • Monitor progress; and

   • Issue final billing. A work order is implemented once a written request has been received authorizing the work to be performed.

Work Queue

A screen listing the Forms requiring your attention.

Word Spotting

In speech recognition over the phone, word spotting means looking for a particular phrase or word in spoken text and ignoring everything else. For example, if the word to spot was "brown," then it wouldn't matter if you said "I want the brown one," or "how about something in brown?" In short, word spotting is the process whereby specific words are recognized under specific speaking conditions (i.e. natural, unconstrained speech). It can also refer to the ability to ignore extraneous sounds during continuous word recognition.

Work Station

In this dictionary I spell it as one word WORKSTATION. See Workstation.

Workaround

A procedure or a piece of software that gets something (i.e. a computer system working). That "workaround" is typically not recommended by the manufacturer of the equipment. That manufacturer is typically surprised when your workaround actually works and often he says, "Wow, I've learned something."

Workflow

The way work moves around an organization. It follows a path. That path is called workflow. Here's a more technical way of defining workflow: The automation of standard procedures (e.g. records management in personnel operations) by imposing a set of sequential rules on the procedure. Each task, when finished, automatically initiates the next logical step in the process until the entire procedure is completed.

Workflow Management

The electronic management of work processes such as forms processing (e.g. for insurance policy acceptances, college admissions, etc.) or project management using a computer network and electronic messaging as the foundation. See Workflow.

Workforce Management

According to Jim Gordon of TCS in Nashville, Call center workforce management is the art and science of having the right number of people... agents ...at the right times, in their seats, to answer an accurately forecasted volume of incoming calls at the service level you desire .

Workgroup

A fancy new word for a department, except that the members of the workgroup may belong to different departments. The idea is that members of the work- group work with themselves, so they'd be perfect candidates to buy electronic mail packages that could send messages between themselves and other software packages that would allow them to share their collective wisdoms and schedule their meeting times. Typically members of the workgroup would be on the same local area network and share the same telephone system. See Workgroup Telephony.

Workgroup Computing

An approach to the supply of computer services whereby access to computer power and information is organized on a workgroup by workgroup basis. Such systems normally consist of computers of varying capabilities connected to a local area network. See Workgroup.

Workgroup Manager

An assistant network supervisor with rights to create and delete bindery objects (such as users, groups, or print queues) and to manage user accounts. A Workgroup Manager has supervisory privileges over a part of the bindery. When several groups share a file server, Workgroup Managers can provide autonomous control over their own users and data.

Workgroup Switching

Method of switching that provides high-speed (100- Mbps) transparent bridging between Ethernet networks, and high-speed translational bridging between Ethernet and CDDI or FDDI.

Workgroup Telephony

See Telephony Workgroups.

Working Group

See WG.

Working Key

A low level key that changes several times per second, also called the 'control word'. Typically this key changes every four video display frame times (133.5 msec for 525 line systems, or 160 msec for 625 line systems). The working key is used to derive keystream . For services without a video component, the working key epoch duration can be set to an appropriate interval.

Workload

1. A call center term.The total duration of all calls in a given period (half hour or quarter hour ), not counting any time spent in queue. This figure is equal to the number of calls times the average handle time per call.

2. Trunk workload is call volume x average trunk hold time Verification Call A call center term. The process by which a telephone sale or other disposition is verified to ensure the details are accurate, the costs quoted are precise, the delivery terms have been explained, the customer fully understands the purchase, etc. Verification may be the responsibility of a specially trained team or may be part of the role of the supervisor.

Workstation

In the telecom industry, a workstation is a computer and a telephone on a desk and both attached to a telecom outlet on the wall. The computer industry tends to refer to workstations as high-speed personal computers, such as Sun workstations, which are used for high- powered processing tasks like CAD/CAM, engineering, etc. A common PC ” like the one you find on my desk ” is not usually considered a workstation. The term workstation is vague.

World Class

A trendy term for cool, which was once hot. Used in sentences like "I have a world class product you ought to invest in." Ten years ago it would have been, "I have a cool product you should invest in." Twenty years ago it was "I have a hot product you should invest in." Actually the term means little, except that someone is excited about their product.

World Numbering Zone

One of nine geographic areas used to assign a unique telephone address to each telephone subscriber. See World Zones 1-9.

World Radiocommunications Conference

See WRC.

World Trade Organization

See WTO.

World Wide Web

Also called WEB or W3. The World Wide Web is the universe of accessible information available on many computers spread through the world and attached to that gigantic computer network called the Internet. The Web has a body of software, a set of protocols and a set of defined conventions for getting at the information on the Web. The Web uses hypertext and multimedia techniques to make the web easy for anyone to roam, browse and contribute to. The Web makes publishing information (i.e. making that information public) as easy as creating a "home page" and posting it on a server somewhere in the Internet. Pick up any Web access software (e.g. Netscape), connect yourself to the Internet (through one of many dial-up, for-money, Internet access providers or one of the many free terminals in Universities) and you can discover an amazing diversity of information on the Web. From weather to stock reports to information on how to build nuclear bombs to the best tennis tips, it can be posted on the Web for all to read. Invented by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, the Web is the first true "killer app" of the Internet. See Berners-Lee, Home Page, HTML and Internet.

World Zone 1

The area of the World Numbering Plan which is identified with the single-digit country code "1" and includes the territories of the United States and Canada (i.e. North America), and the following Caribbean countries: Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Granada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Virgin Islands.

World Zone 2

Africa. See World Numbering Zone.

World Zone 3

Europe. See World Numbering Zone.

World Zone 4

Europe. See World Numbering Zone.

World Zone 5

Central/South America. See World Numbering Zone.

World Zone 6

Pacific. See World Numbering Zone.

World Zone 7

Soviet Union, or the countries of what used to be the Soviet Union. How the world changes. See World Numbering Zone.

World Zone 8

Asia. See World Numbering Zone.

World Zone 9

Middle East. See World Numbering Zone.

WorldCom

The predecessor company to MCI WorldCom. WorldCom originally was LDDS (Long Distance Discount Services), a switchless reseller of long distance services started in Jackson, Mississippi by an ex-high school basketball coach called Bernie Ebbers. LDDS grew, acquired Wiltel Communications, grew some more, acquired MFS (Metropolitan Fiber Services), grew some more, acquired Brooks Fiber and a few other companies, grew some more, and outbid British Telecom for MCI. MCI Worldcom is the company that resulted on September 13, 1998. It was an incredible success story for a time. The stock ran up to a peak of $64.51 in June 1999. At that time CEO Bernard Ebbers was listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the richest men in the US. Michael Jordan, the most popular athlete in the world, provided commercial endorsements. In October 1999, WorldCom attempted to purchase Sprint in a stock buyout for $129 billion. The deal was vetoed by the Department of Justice. At the same time, the success began to unravel with the accumulation of debt and expenses, the fall of the stock market, the long distance rates and revenue. In order to maintain its success, executives started faking up sales, moving expenses from the expense side to the income statement to the asset side of the balance. It would take two years for the extent of these problems to become public. And eventually WorldCom turned out to be the largest fraud in the history of American business. WorldCom filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 21, 2002, nearly one month after it revealed that it had improperly booked $3.9 billion in expenses. Eventually Bernie Ebbers and the rest of his senior management left. New management came in and changed the name of the company to MCI.

WorldPartners

An association of AT&T, KDD (Japan), and Singapore Telecom to provide international Virtual Network Services (VNS). VNS services are provided to over 32 countries which are major communications hubs. See also VNS.

WORM

1. Write Once, Read Many times. Refers to the new type of optical disks (similar to compact discs) which can be written to only once, but read many times. In other words, once the data is written, it cannot be erased. WORM disks typically hold around 650 plus megabytes. See also CD, CD-R, CD-RW and Erasable Optical Drive.

2. A malicious piece of software that duplicates itself repeatedly. A worm works its way onto and then through an entire computer network by duplicating itself repeatedly. A worm tends to be malicious, with intent to do damage. The Internet worm was perhaps the most famous. It successfully (and accidentally ) duplicated itself on many of the systems across the Internet. A computer worm is a short computer program that spreads on its own over the Internet, causing computers to break down. A worm doesn't require a "host" file and typically spreads without any action by a computer user ” making worms particularly pernicious for users who believe that they are safe as long as they don't open any suspicious e- mails . Security experts refer to both worms and viruses as "malicious code." The most ferocious threats today are ''network worms,'' which exploit a particular flaw in a software product (often one by Microsoft). The author of Slammer, for example, noticed a flaw in Microsoft's SQL Server, an online database commonly used by businesses and governments . The Slammer worm would find an unprotected SQL server, then would fire bursts of information at it, flooding the server's data buffer, like a cup filled to the brim with water. Once its buffer was full, the server could be tricked into sending out thousands of new copies of the worm to other servers. Normally, a server should not allow an outside agent to control it that way, according to the New York Times, but Microsoft had neglected to defend against such an attack. Using that flaw, Slammer flooded the Internet with 55 million blasts of data per second and in only 10 minutes colonized almost all vulnerable machines. The attacks slowed the 911 system in Bellevue, Wash., a Seattle suburb, to such a degree that operators had to resort to a manual method of tracking calls. Unlike a virus, a worm generally does not alter or destroy data on a computer. Its danger lies in its speed: when a worm multiplies, it often generates enough traffic to brown out Internet servers, like air-conditioners bringing down the power grid on a hot summer day. The most popular worms today are mass mailers, which attack a victim's computer, swipe the addresses out of Microsoft Outlook (the world's most common e-mail program) and send a copy of the worm to everyone in the victim's address book. These days, the distinction between worm and virus is breaking down. A worm may carry a virus with it, dropping it onto the victim's hard drive to do its work, then e-mailing itself off to a new target.

3. Small, legless creeping animal. To survive, every bird must eat at least half its own weight in food each day. Young birds need even more. A young robin eats as much as 14 feet of earthworms a day.

WORN

Write Once, Read Never (A joke).

Worst Hour Of The Year

That hour of the year during which the median noise over any radio path is at a maximum. This hour is considered to coincide with the hour during which the greatest transmission loss occurs.

WOS

1. Wholesale Operator Services. The WOS product is a network-based service where USAN provides the automated operator services and First Data Corporation (FDC) (which provides MCI's own operator services) providers the live operator personnel.

2. Wireless Office Services, or Wireless Office System. See Wireless Office Telecommunications System.

WOSA

Windows Open Services Architecture. According to Microsoft, WOSA provides a single system level interface for connecting front-end applications with back-end services. Windows Telephony, announced in May 1993, is part of WOSA. According to Microsoft, application developers and users needn't worry about conversing with numerous services, each with its own protocols and interfaces, because making these connections is the business of the operating system, not of individual applications. WOSA provides an extensible framework in which Windows based applications can seamlessly access information and network resources in a distributed computing environment. WOSA accomplishes this feat by making a common set of APIs available to all applications. WOSA's idea is to act like two diplomats speaking through an interpreter. A front-end application and back-end service needn't speak each other's languages to communicate as long as they both know how to talk to the WOSA interface (e.g. Windows Telephony). As a result, WOSA allows application developers, MIS managers, and vendors of back-end services to mix and match applications and services to build enterprise solutions that shield programmers and users from the underlying complexity of the system.

This is how WOSA works: WOSA defines an abstraction layer to heterogeneous computing resources through the WOSA set of APIs. Initially, this set of APIs will include support for services such as database access, messaging (MAPI), file sharing, and printing. Because this set of APIs is extensible, new services and their corresponding APIs can be added as needed.

WOSA uses a Windows dynamic-link library (DLL) that allows software components to be linked at run time. In this way, applications are able to connect to services dynamically. An application needs to know only the definition of the interface, not its implementation. WOSA defines a system level DLL to provide common procedures that service providers would otherwise have to implement. In addition, the system DLL can support functions that operate across multiple service implementations . Applications call system APIs to access services that have been standardized in the system. The code that supports the system APIs routes those calls to the appropriate service provider and provides procedures and functions that are used in common by all providers.

The primary benefit of WOSA is its ability to provide users of Windows with relatively seamlessly connections to enterprise computing environments. Other WOSA benefits, according to Microsoft include:

• Easy upgrade paths.

• Protection of software investment.

• More cost-effective software solutions.

• Flexible integration of multiple-vendor components.

• Short development cycle for solutions.

• Extensibility to include future services and implementations. See also ODBC, MAPI, and TAPI.

WOTS

Wireless Office Telecommunications System

WPAD

Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Protocol. An Internet protocol which uses a collection of pre-existing resource discovery mechanisms to auto-discover Web proxy servers. The resource discovery mechanisms available include Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Service Location Protocol (SLP), and Domain Name Service (DNS) records. See also Proxy.

WPAN

Wireless Personal Area Networks. A network for interconnecting devices centered around the individual person in which the connections are wireless. This network typically consists of home multimedia devices including digital cameras and camcorders, music players, set-top boxes, game consoles and high definition television.The IEEE 802.15 Working Group (WG) is developing a set of standards for WPANs, attempting to provide for the coexistence of Bluetooth and 802.11 WLANs (Wireless Local Area Networks). In October, 2003, the IEEE Millimeter Wave Interest Group formed an interest group to explore the use of the 60 GHz band for wireless personal area networks (WPANs), which generally (according to the IEEE) have a range of 10 meters. This little-used, 7 GHz-wide portion of the radio spectrum (as defined in FCC 47 CFR 15.255) avoids interference with nearly all electronic devices, given the high attenuation of these wavelengths by walls and floors (meaning it doesn't penetrate walls and floors), and promises to allow more WPANs to occupy the same building, according to the IEEE. The IEEE 802.15.3(TM) Millimeter Wave Interest Group (mmWIG) was formed in July 2003 as part of an effort to develop a millimeter- wave-based alternative physical layer (PHY) for the IEEE high-rate WPAN standard, IEEE 802.15.3. Interest groups are the first step in the creation of a standard. See also 802.11 and Bluetooth.

WPM

See Words Per Minute.

WPBX

Wireless private branch exchange. The WPBX offers business users the ability to make and receive calls using cordless telephones anywhere on a company's premises.

WR-340

A specific size of rigid waveguide with a rectangular cross sectional shape.

WRAM

Windows Random Access Memory. Similar to VRAM, but with added logic to accelerate common video functions such as bit-block transfers and pattern fills. See also VRAM.

WRBYV

While Running Backwards You'll Vomit. The acronym is WRBYV, or White, Red, Black, Yellow, and Violet . These are the first five colors for all twisted 25-pair telephone cable in North America. The phrase makes it easier to remember the scheme. The wires are:

Tipside: (WRBYV) White, Red, Black, Yellow, Violet. Ringside:(BOGBS) Blue, Orange, Green, Brown, Slate.

The ring side color changes every pair in each group of five pairs. But the tipside only changes once for each group, as such: first pair ” blue/white, second pair ” orange/white, third pair green/white etc. The sixth pair would be blue/red, etc. to the last pair of a 25-pair cable, which be slate/violet. Out in the west, they usually think of BOGBS as being more important than WRBYV.

Wrap

1. In data communications, to place your diagnostic and test equipment around parts of a network so you can monitor their use (i.e. do network diagnostics on them). You are, in essence, wrapping your products around theirs.

2. To make a connection between a flexible wire and a hard tag by tightly wrapping the cable around the tag. There are automatic wire wrapping tools available for this job.

3. Redundancy measure in IBM Token Ring LANS. Trunk cabling used in Token Ring TCUs contains two data paths: a main and backup normally unused). If the trunk cable is faulty, the physical disconnection of the connector at the TCU causes the signal from the main path to wrap around on to the backup path, thus maintaining the loop. The term wrap is now used on FDDI networks. If a failure occurs on one of the FDDI rings, the stations on each side of the failure reconfigure. The two rings then are combined into a single ring topology that allows all functioning stations to remain interconnected .

Wrap-Up

Between-call work state that an ACD agent enters after releasing a caller. It's the time necessary to complete the transaction that just occurred on the phone. In wrap- up, the agent's ACD phone is removed from the hunting sequence. After wrap-up is completed, it is returned to the hunting sequence and is ready to take the next call.

Wrap-Up Codes

A call center term. Codes agents enter into the ACD to identify the types of calls they are handling. The ACD can then generate reports on call types, by handling time, time of day, etc.

Wrap-Up Data

Ad hoc data gathered by an agent in the ACD system following a call.

Wrap-Up Time

A call center term. The time an employee spends completing a transaction after the call has been disconnected. Sometimes it's a few seconds. Sometimes it can be minutes. Depends on what the caller wants.

Wrapper

See Digital Wrapper.

Wrapping

In token-ring networks, the process of bypassing cable faults without changing the logical order of the ring by using relays and additional wire circuits.

WRC

World Radiocommunications Conference. AN ITU conference, usually held every two years, to review and amend the international radio regulations, allowing for the introduction of new technologies and more efficient sharing of the radiofrequency spectrum.

WREC

Web REplication and Caching. A term describing the processes by which a proxy server goes about replicating data on origin Web servers and caching it in order to improve the overall efficiency with which Internet network resources are employed. See also Caching and Replication.

WRED

Weighted Random Early Detection. A QoS (Quality of Service) mechanism for IP- based networks. See Weighted Random Early Detection.

Wrist Candy

Computers or their ilk are becoming smaller. Some manufacturers think the next big thing will be computers you wear on your wrist. They're calling them wrist candy. At least that's one explanation. The other is that wrist candy is another term for arm candy or eye candy, i.e. an attractive woman you're escorting on your arm.

Write

To record information on a storage device, usually disk or tape.

Write Head

A magnetic head capable of writing only. You find write heads on everything from tape recorders to computers.

Write Protect

Using various hardware and software techniques to prohibit the computer from recording (writing) on storage medium, like a floppy or hard disk. You can write protect a 5 1/4 diskette by simply covering the little notch with a small metal tag. The idea of "Write Protect" is to stop someone (including yourself) from changing your precious data or program. You can't write protect a hard disk easily. The easiest way to stop someone changing a file is to use the program ATTRIB.EXE. See Attributes.

Write Protection

A scheme for protecting a diskette from accidental erasure. 5 1/4" diskettes have a notch which must be uncovered to allow data on the diskette to be modified. 3 1/2" diskettes have small window with a plastic tab which must be slid into place to cover the window to allow data on the diskette to be modified. See Write Protect and Attributes.

Write Protection Label

A removable label, the presence or absence of which on a diskette prevents writing on the diskette.

Write rate

An RFID definition. The rate at which information is transferred to a tag, written into the tag's memory and verified as being correct.

Wrong

"I am willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong." Samuel Goldwyn.

WRSS

Western Region Switch Support

WRT

With respect to.

WS

Web services security initiative. IBM, Microsoft and VeriSign are proposing a Web services security framework beginning with WS-Security for message integrity and confidentiality. Some of the elements are as follows:

• WS-Authorization

  Describes how to manage authorization data and policies. See WS-Security.

• WS-Federation

  Describes how to manage and broker trust relationships among unlike systems in a federated environment.

• WS-Privacy

  Model for stating privacy preferences and practices.

• WS-Security

  Describes how to attach digital signatures and encryption headers and security tokens, such as Kerberos tickets or X.509 certificates, to SOAP messages. WS-Policy: Used to express conditions and constraints of security policies.

• WS-Secure Conversation

  Describes how to manage and authenticate message exchanges between Web services.

• WS-Trust

  Framework for direct and brokered trust relationship between Web services.

WSC

Wireless Switching Center. A switching center designed for wireless communications services, typically fixed wireless services including data and voice.

WSDL

Web Services Description Language. Think of Web Services, a new flavor of software that makes it easier to integrate different companies' web sites (and the systems that feed them) over the Internet. This means, amongst other things, that one Web site will be able to sell visitors a combination of products and services from many web sites, making the visitors ' visit easier, richer and more rewarding . Web services is based on four software standards, XML, SOAP, UDDI and WSDL. Now understand that UDDI (Universal Description Discovery and Integration) is a virtual yellow pages for web services which lets software automatically figure out what web services are available and how to hook up to them. Now figure that WSDL are the few words associated with each entry into the yellow pages that describes the kind of work a web service can do for you. See UDDI and Web Services.

WSXC

Wavelength Selective Cross Connect. A type of Optical Cross-Connect (OXC). See OXC.

WTAC

World Telecommunications Advisory Council. WTAC is comprised of telecommunications leaders from the private and public sectors and from every region of the world. WTAC gives advice to the ITU ” the International Telecommunications Union. The WTAC held its first meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, in April, 1992. In February 1993, it published a small booklet called "Telecommunications Visions of the Future."

WTLS

Wireless Transport Layer Security. WTLS is based on the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, a derivative of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. The goal of WTLS is very much like that of SSL: to provide privacy and reliability for client-server communications over a network. While SSL primarily provides security over the Internet, WTLS is specific to wireless applications using WAP. The need for WTLS over TLS and SSL is due to the restrictions present in the wireless application environment. Specifically, TLS and SSL don't offer the necessary support for the limited memory and processing capabilities of WAP-enabled phones, support for multiple transport protocol layers , or capabilities to address low-bandwidth environments.

WTN

Working Telephone Number.

WTNG

WaiTiNG.

WTO

World Trade Organization. An organization of over 130 member countries and 30 observer countries. Formed in 1995, the WTO is a formal organization with legal status, which succeeded the ad hoc GATT (Global Agreement of Tariffs and Trade); the GATT agreement is now part of WTO agreements. According to the WTO, its main functions are assisting developing and transition economies, specialized assistance in export promotion, regional trading arrangements, cooperation in global economic policy-making, and routine notification when members introduce new trade measures or alter new ones. The WTO also assists in the settlement of trade disputes between member countries. The WTO gets involved in telecommunications in a number of ways, most recently in assisting in the development of multilateral agreements for normalization of international long distance costs. Currently, there exist incredible differences in such costs, depending on where the call originates; i.e., a 10 minute call from the U.S. to Hong Kong is much less expensive than the same call from Hong Kong to the U.S. It's more a matter of national politics and economic policy than anything else, resulting in an imbalance of trade in the magnitude of billions of dollars flowing out of the U.S. to other countries. Regardless of the direction of the call, the costs to the national carriers are roughly the same, and the revenues are split 50/50 between the two carriers. As a means around this inequity, International Callback developed. International Callback is viewed as illegal by most countries outside the U.S., as they seek to protect this significant source of hard currency. www.wto.org See also International Callback.

WTP

The WAP equivalent of the reliability portion of HDTP. www.wapforum.org

WU-ATS

Western Union-Advanced Transmission Systems

Wugga Wugga

The sound of a computer program.

WUI

1. Web User Interface. Pronounced "wooey." A GUI (Graphical User Interface) for the WWW.

WVI

Web Voice Integration. See TCP/IP and VoIP.

WWDD

World Wide Direct Dialing.

WWDM

Wide Wavelength Division Multiplexing. WWDM is a Wavelength Division Multiplexing system employing four wavelengths. In a GbE (Gigabit Ethernet) context, a WWDM system runs each of four wavelengths at 2.5 Gbps, with all running in parallel over a single optical fiber, thereby yielding an aggregate 10 Gbps. See also GbE, DWDM, and WDM.

WWW

1. World Wide Web; a hypertext-based system for finding and accessing resources on the Internet network. For a much better explanation, see World Wide Web and Internet.

2. Also referred to as World Wide Wait, which according to some frustrated observers, is the real meaning of WWW.

WWW2

See www3.

WWW3

www3 is as an alternate name to www in a bank of web server computers, i.e. a group of computers named www1.company.com, www2.company.com, www3.company.com, etc. These servers would typically be assigned to a "round robin" DNS (Domain Name Server) and share the load for the site. To get to that site, a Web surfer could type www.company.com, www1.company.com, www2.company.com or www3.company.com. He'd get the same information and hit what appeared to him as the same server.

WYPIWYF

Acronym for "What You Print Is What You Fax," also "The Way You Print Is the Way You Fax." Coined by Intel to describe its one-step pop-up menu that makes sending faxes from the PC as easy as sending a document to a printer.

WYSIWYG

(pronounced Whiz-i-wig) What You See Is What You Get. A word processing term meaning what you see on your computer screen is what you will see printed on paper. The exact typeface, the correct size, the right layout, etc. Some word processors do WYSIWYG. Others don't. You usually need a screen with graphics to get the full effect.

WZ1

World Zone One. The part of the earth covered by what used to be called The North American Numbering Plan. It includes the U.S., Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Caribbean islands, but does not include Mexico or Cuba.