Getting Firm with an FOC

The term FOC stands for Firm Order Commitment. You can pronounce it by its individual letters (eff-oh-see) or call it a fawk. The FOC is the document that tells you the date on which your order will be completed. This goes for all orders in telecom, from the installation of huge dedicated circuits to the conversion of a single phone line to a new long-distance carrier.

 Tip  Say, “Our order has been pending for a few days, do we have a FOC yet?” The same question is sometimes asked, “Did we get FOCed on the new T-1s yet?” (This sentence is generally spoken using the second pronunciation.)