Glossary

Glossary

AAS

Avaya Application Simulator.

ADR

See application detail record (ADR).

ANI

See automatic number identification (ANI).

API

See application program interface (API).

application detail record (ADR)

Data records which contain historical information about an application used as part of a session. These records include information such as the session ID number, a timestamp, and a "friendly name" string determined by the developer who created the application.

application program interface (API)

A set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks.

application server

A computer on which the Avaya Dialog Designer speech application resides and runs. This computer is also where the Dialog Designer run-time libraries are installed, thus making it possible to run Dialog Designer applications on that server. The IVR system must be configured to start the speech application from this location.

ASR

See automated speech recognition (ASR).

automatic number identification (ANI)

A service that provides the originating telephone number of a call coming in to the system.

automated speech recognition (ASR)

Technology that employs a computer to recognize spoken words and respond appropriately.

call flow

As implemented in speech applications, the call flow determines how a call is handled when it enters an interactive voice response system, based on options offered to callers and their responses to those options.

CCXML

Call Control eXtensible Markup Language.

An emerging XML specification, being developed to work in conjunction with VoiceXML and which addresses some of the technical limitations of VoiceXML. It enables the processing of asynchronous events, filtering and routing of incoming calls, and placement of outbound calls. Note that it is not intended to replace VoiceXML but rather to supplement it. See Ian Moraes's excellent article, "VoiceXML, CCXML, SALT: Architectural Tools for Enabling Speech Applications," on the Internet.

Computer Telephony Integration (CTI)

Software technology that integrates the use of telephones and computers without the need for special telephones, connectors, computer circuit packs, or other specialized hardware.

CTI

See Computer Telephony Integration (CTI).

dialed number identification service (DNIS)

A service that identifies for the receiving system what telephone number was dialed by the caller. In the Voice Portal system this is often used to direct the call to a particular speech application, which is identified with that dialed number.

DNIS

See dialed number identification service (DNIS).

DTMF

See dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF).

dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF)

The system used by touchtone telephones, DTMF assigns a specific frequency (consisting of two separate tones) to each telephone key on the keypad, so that it can easily be identified by a microprocessor.

Eclipse

A Java-based open-source extensible IDE (integrated development environment) that provides application developers a feature-rich interface to develop their applications. Avaya Dialog Designer is designed as a set of Eclipse plug-in modules that make it possible for application developers to design and build speech applications without having to write the code manually.

gateway

A network point that acts as an entry point to another network. In the context of Avaya Dialog Designer and VoIP applications, a gateway is the entry point, often associated with one or more switches, to the interactive voice response (IVR) system application environment.

grammar

In the context of Dialog Designer, a grammar is are speech elements used in conjunction with automated speech recognition (ASR) technology. Grammars are lists of possible responses that callers might make when they respond to prompts using spoken replies. Grammars define which words or phrases the ASR engine can recognize and respond to.

H.323

A hierarchical, IP-based telephony standard for connecting IP telephones and speech applications to switches.

See Interaction Center (IC).

IDE

See integrated development environment (IDE).

integrated development environment (IDE)

A software application that usually provides a GUI environment, a text and/or code editor, a compiler and/or interpreter, and a debugger. This environment means that application or web developers can develop, test, and build their applications or Web sites within a single integrated space.

Interaction Center (IC)

A multichannel contact management platform that enables businesses to align real-time contact center operations with business objectives.

interactive voice response (IVR) system

A system, such as Avaya Voice Portal or Avaya IR, in which callers interact with a self-service application to get information, conduct transactions, or help with problems.

IVR system

See interactive voice response (IVR) system.

JDBC

An application program interface (API) specification in which programs written in Java connect with and access data contained in database programs using Structured Query Language (SQL).

localization

The process of modifying an application to operate and be understood in a different language, or locale. This usually involves modifying any phrases, prompts, and grammars associated with an application.

notebook

(Also known as a tabbed or stacked notebook) In the Eclipse context, a notebook is a set of views "stacked" on top of one another as a space saving measure. The views in the notebook are accessible by clicking tabs arranged along the top of the notebook. See the Eclipse documentation.

Open Speech Dialog Module (OSDM)

Speech application modules produced by Nuance software products, similar to application modules created with Dialog Designer. OSDMs can be used in Dialog Designer applications. (Dialog Designer supports the following OSDM versions: Address OSDM 2.0.3, Core OSDM 2.0.4, and Name OSDM 2.0.1.)

OSDM

See Open Speech Dialog Module (OSDM).

palette

In the Avaya Dialog Designer Editor views, this is the pane to the left of the view, in which editor options are displayed and selected.

Real-time Transfer Protocol (RTP)

A protocol for transmitting "real-time" data, such as audio or video data, across the Internet. This protocol does not guarantee "real-time" delivery of such data, but it does provide mechanisms to support data "streaming."

RTP

See Real-time Transfer Protocol (RTP).

SCE

See service creation environment (SCE).

service creation environment (SCE)

A set of software tools used to develop, test, and debug speech applications. Avaya Dialog Designer is an SCE.

servlet

A small program that runs on a server, often Java-based.

servlet engine

A program that coordinates the overall operation and integration of a number of servlets. In the context of Avaya Dialog Designer, the supported servlet engines are Apache Jakarta Tomcat and IBM WebSphere/WebSphere Express.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)

A signaling protocol for the Internet that makes it possible to set up conferencing, telephony, events notification, and instant messaging. Within a VoIP framework, it initiates call setup, routing, authentication, to endpoints within an IP domain.

SIP

See Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

speech user interface (SUI)

Any software interface in which the user interacts with the system using speech commands and audio prompts.

speech recognition

See automated speech recognition (ASR).

speech synthesis

See text-to-speech (TTS).

SQL

See Structured Query Language (SQL).

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer.

A protocol for transmitting private data securely over the Internet. By convention, URLs that use SSL require a connection using the HTTPS protocol, rather than just HTTP.

SSML

Speech Synthesis Markup Language.

A W3C standard designed to provide an XML-based markup language for assisting with the generation of synthetic speech in Web and other applications. The essential role of the markup language is to provide authors of synthesizable content a standard way to control aspects of speech such as pronunciation, volume, pitch, rate, and so forth, across different synthesis-capable platforms.

stacked notebook

See notebook.

Structured Query Language (SQL)

A standard interactive and programming language for getting data to and from a database.

SUI

See speech user interface (SUI).

tabbed notebook

See notebook.

TDD

See Telecommunications Display Device (TDD).

Telecommunications Display Device (TDD)

Sometimes designated as a teletypewriter (TTY) device, a telephone equipped with a keyboard and display, used by hearing- or speech-impaired callers to send and receive typed messages.

telephone user interface (TUI)

Any software interface in which the user interacts with the system using a telephone or similar device.

teletypewriter (TTY) device

See Telecommunications Display Device (TDD).

text-to-speech (TTS)

Technology by which information in text format is rendered as audio output using a speech synthesis engine to simulate human speech.

TTS

See text-to-speech (TTS).

TTY

See Telecommunications Display Device (TDD).

TUI

See telephone user interface (TUI).

VoiceXML

(Sometimes presented as VXML) Voice eXtensible Markup Language.

A specification which provides for a user to interact with Internet-based resources using voice recognition technology. Instead of a typical Web browser that requires a combination of HTML, keyboard, and mouse device, VoiceXML relies on an Internet voice browser and/or telephone. Using VoiceXML, the user interacts with the Web "page" by listening to audio outputs (either pre-recorded or using a technology such as TTS) and by submitting input in the form of the user's natural speaking voice and/or manual responses, such as telephone key presses.

Web service

A standardized way of offering Web-based applications or services. Since they are Web- and standards-based applications, delivered over the Internet, Web services make it possible for organizations to communicate and share data that use different file formats and programming languages.

workspace

In Avaya Dialog Designer, the area within the Editor view used to build the functionality for the selected editor. For example, in the Call Flow Editor, this is the space to the right of the palette, in which you place the nodes that represent application functions.

WSDL

Web services Description Language.

An XML-formatted language used to describe a Web service's capabilities.

XML

eXtensible Markup Language.

A specification for the presentation of Internet documents, one which expands on the capabilities of HTML. A pared-down version of SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language), XML makes it possible for designers to create their own customized tags, which in turn makes it possible to do things over the Internet that cannot be done using simple HTML.