Glossary

Airtime - Actual time spent talking on the wireless phone. Most carriers bill customers based on how many minutes of airtime they use each month.

Antenna - A device for transmitting or receiving signals. The size and shape of antennas is determined, in part, by the frequency of the signal they receive. Wireless phones and the base station must have antennas.

Base station - The fixed radio transmitter/ receiver that maintains communications with mobile radio telephones within a given area. (Typically called a cell or cell site)

CDMA - (Code Division Multiple Access) A spread- spectrum approach to digital transmission. With CDMA, each conversion is digitized and then tagged with a code. The mobile phone deciphers only a particular code to pick the right conversation off the air. The transmitted signal is just above noise level across the available bandwidth.

Channel - Communications signals transmit along paths called channels.

Codec - Compression & Decompression.

Deactivation - The process of rendering a wireless phone inactive.

DTMF - (Dual-tone Multi-Frequency) You send DTMF signals when you enter numbers by pressing the digit keys.

Glossary

EVRC - (Enhanced Variable Rate Codec) EVRC is a new global standard for compressing and decompressing voice signals. EVRC uses a lower bit rate (the number of bits sent per second) than existing CDMA vocoders, while providing significant improvements in voice quality. This technology enables your phone to provide superb voice quality while benefiting from the ability to process more cellular voice calls using less bandwidth than the voice codecs in CDMA networks today.

Frequency - A measure based on time, as one or more waves per second, in an electrical or light wave information signal. A signal’s frequency is stated in cycles-per-second or Hertz (Hz).

Hands-free- A feature that permits a driver to use a wireless phone without lifting or holding the handset - an important safety feature for automobiles, tractors and most other motorized vehicles.

LCD - (Liquid Crystal Display) Commonly used to refer to the screen display on the wireless phone.

LED - (Light Emitting Diode) Commonly used to refer to a small light on the wireless phone or on the Desktop Charger. The LED lights on the phone to indicate an incoming call. The lights on the charger indicate that battery charging is taking place.

Prepend - The addition of a prefix, such as an area code, to a phone number.

RF - Radio Frequency

Roaming - The ability to use a wireless phone to make and receive calls in places outside of the home service area.

100

101