Working with Telecommunications Dictionaries

Learn about working with telecommunications dictionaries for understanding telecom terms
By Adah Chung Telecommunications dictionaries, both print and online, are a resource to help technology professionals in learning the complex telecom terminology and abbreviations related to the telecommunications field. They contain a glossary of telecom terms with definitions, explanations and relationships to other networking terms.
 

Telecommunications dictionaries can be useful for all levels of learning, whether for the beginner trying to understand new terms or for the experienced professional as a reference for terms that people do not commonly use. In order to know how to use a telecommunications dictionary, you will need to determine your level of learning and how the publishers have organized the dictionary.

When working with a telecom dictionary, here are some things you will need to know:

1. Ways in which you can search for terms in the telecom dictionary

2. How publishers use abbreviations and acronyms in a glossary of telecommunications

3. The telecom glossary's ability to cross-reference, link or provide more detailed descriptions of definitions

Use keyword or first letter searches for telecom terms with an online telecommunications dictionary

Like all dictionaries, publishers organize telecommunications dictionaries alphabetically. Online telecommunications dictionaries vary in their search functions. Some allow you type partial or full words to search, while others only provide you an alphabetical heading for which they have listed terms.
Try: Verizon's glossary iis an example of a telecommunications dictionary that allows you to click on the first letter of the term you are looking for. The International Telecommunications Union allows you to search by keyword or abbreviation for full or partial matches.

Search for abbreviations and acronyms in telecommunications glossaries

Often, the term that you are searching for is an abbreviation or acronym. A telecommunications glossary can help you with the full term and definition of these, but you must know how the dictionary organizes these. Most commonly, publishers list abbreviations in parenthesis after the term.
Try: Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions’ dictionary shows telecom abbreviations in parenthesis after the term. For searching glossaries without knowing the full term, the National Telecommunication and Information Administration's Federal Standard provides an appendix at the end of their glossary that contains a list of abbreviations and their telecom term.

Get simple or more in-depth definitions of telecom terminology

When using a telecom dictionary, you will find that the amount of information that they provide can vary. Some telecommunications glossaries give one sentence definitions, while others can provide you with external links to other sources and full descriptions with diagrams.
Try: TeleCom Dictionary is an example of a dictionary that provides detailed definitions and some diagrams of telecommunications terms. Cellular Networking Perspectives provides definitions of terms with external links for more information and also links to similar terms to allow you to understand telecommunications terminology in relation to other terms. Similarly, the Telecommunications Illustrated Dictionary allows more in-depth study of telecom terms with charts and illustrations.