Here at NEWT we sometimes feel like we’re swimming through a bowl of alphabet soup. Yeah, we use a lot of acronyms: PBX, DID, ANA, CLEC, VOIP, CDR, PRI, DSL, DISA…LMNOP…X, Y, and Z!
It can be pretty overwhelming for the average Joe who isn’t part of the telecom world. You almost need a special dictionary to understand what we’re referring to. But you don’t, because that’s what we’re here for. So we thought we’d take a minute and explain one of the acronyms in our feature menu. DID stands for Direct Inward Dialing.
Direct inward dialing is a popular feature that many telephone companies offer customers utilizing private branch exchange (PBX) systems. Initially the term referred to the ability of extensions on a private branch exchange to be reached directly from outside the system through the use of a regular outside number. Today those direct numbers are referred to by voice-over-IP providers as DIDs. The system works through the use of trunk lines provided by the phone company. Calls enter through the trunk lines and are routed automatically to the desired extension.
This saves customers money by reducing the number of phone lines they need.
Old DIDs used analog circuits powered by equipment on the customer’s premises. Today DIDs tend to be delivered through the use of PRI circuits. Modern DID service can also be used in combination with fax servers and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications. DID numbers are linked to a communications gateway. Companies that need international DID numbers can purchase them in bulk from international providers.
Hungry for more info? NEWT’s DID’s are provided by our wholesale division. You can contact us here. We’d be happy to spoon-feed you (get it?) all the answers you need to navigate the sometimes soupy waters of telecom acronyms.
