Glossary

One Bill uses a 9-digit account number, found at the top right of your One Bill, when linking your account to a bell.ca profile.. It is the same number you use to sign up for pre-authorized payments. You'll also find a 14-character customer ID (i.e. 99999999XXX999) on your bill. Banking institutions require that number when you set up bill payment through their online and telephone banking services.

Bell Satellite TV identifies customers by an account number, which is found on the top-right corner of your paper invoice. It's a 16-character number that starts with 8455."

An independent network that provides usually temporary peer-to-peer connectivity without relying on a complete network infrastructure, which includes one or more access points.

Any key answer is a function that allows a phone to be answered after one ring by pressing any key. This is a function selected by the subscriber and that can be turned on or off.

The ratio of an image's width to its height expressed either as two numbers: Width:height or as a value equal to the height divided by the width. Standard video uses 4:3 0.75 while 24P video uses 16:9 0.56. Film aspect ratios depend on the format and lenses used

Always-on connectivity means you stay connected to the network even when you're not sending or receiving data. Your connection will become a virtual connection, freeing resources so you can receive voice calls or text messages on your cell phone. When information is sent to you, or when you're ready to begin transferring data again, the connection will automatically carry on, as if there was no service interruption. No need to connect again. No waiting.

Automatic hands-free is a feature that can be enabled on a phone that will allow the user to have a conversation without holding the phone. This is typically used with a headset, Bluetooth or a speaker phone.

A software used to protect computers from being infected with malware such as viruses, worms and Trojans while connected online.

A security feature that helps protect a user's privacy by detecting and removing harmful spyware software, which gathers information without the user's consent or knowledge, usually with the intent to relay this information to a third party.

The conventional television system in use today uses analog technology, in which the image, sound, and picture brightness and colour are represented by signals proportional to these values. These signals are vulnerable to interference and noise. Digital television overcomes this vulnerability and delivers much cleaner picture and sound. Cable television systems are primarily analog in nature, though technological advances have allowed cable providers to show some channels digitally if the subscriber has the appropriate receiver. Bell Satellite TV transmits all its channels digitally, even though we receive some local channels originally in analog format.

The horizontal squeezing of a 16:9 image into a full screen 4:3 display, resulting in a picture where everything appears to be “squished.”

Bell Internet customers receive their Bell Internet user ID (b1) and access password in their welcome kits when they sign up for Internet service. The b1 number starts with "b1", e.g. "b1xxxxxx". This ID (looks like b1xxxxxx) was provided to you when you signed up and is needed to: Connect your computer to the Internet; Identify yourself when calling the Bell Internet Customer Service Centre; Identify yourself when registering on the bell.ca web site for the first time; Access your Bell Internet personal Web space.

The capacity of a network connection, measured in bits or bytes per second, for carrying data.

Also known as Internet usage, is the amount of data you send and receive through your Internet connection. Learn more about Internet usage in our What is Internet Usage? tutorial.

The smallest unit of information in the binary system of notation.

The speed at which digital signals are transmitted, usually expressed in bits per second (bps)

The BlackBerry Desktop Manager allows the user to sync email, music and media from their PC or Mac computers with their BlackBerry Smartphone®.

Bluetooth is a low-power radio technology developed to replace the cables and wires currently used to link or connect electronic devices such as personal computers, printers and a wide variety of handheld devices, including mobile phones. Because it uses radio wave connectivity, a Bluetooth-enabled device has a constant, established connection to whatever browser it uses.

bits per second

A data-transmission scheme in which multiple signals share the bandwidth of a medium such as fibre-optic cable. This allows the transmission of voice, data and video signals over a single medium; for example, cable television uses broadband to deliver dozens of channel signals over a single cable.

CDMA is a wireless technology that spreads a signal over a frequency band that is larger than the signal to enable the use of a common band by many users, and to achieve signal security and privacy.

Any company or person authorized to provide local exchange services in competition with an ILEC. A CLEC provides similar or identical telecommunications services to the ILEC.

These cables resemble the red, white and yellow cables of typical RCA connections, except the colours are different. They are red, green and blue instead. The green connection provides a black and white picture and controls the brightness of the image. The red cable is for red level colour information and the blue cable is for blue level colour information. When put together these cables are capable of producing all HD resolutions: 480p, 720p and 1080i. These cables are analogue, meaning that the information passing through them is not digital.

Cookies are small chunks of text that store useful information about the user. A cookie usually gets saved on the computer when the user visits a Web site. Essentially, cookies remember what the user did previously on a site and help customize what the use.

Domain names are used to identify addresses on the Internet. They are used in URLs to identify websites. For example, in the URL www.bell.ca, the domain is "bell.ca". Domain names are also used in email addresses. For example, in the email address username@bell.net, the domain is "bell.net".

For mobile phones, dual-band refers to the functionality that allows a phone to support two frequency bands, which is useful when roaming between different countries with different bands.

Dual SIM provides the convenience of having two phone numbers on a single smartphone. You can have separate personal and business numbers, or add a second line when travelling internationally.

First used primarily with flat-panel LCD’s for personal computers, these digital cables provide equipment connected via DVI with a digital connection, lowering levels of loss associated with faulty or poor analog connections. They are capable of providing all HDTV resolutions. Users with flat-panel displays (LCD, Plasma, DLP) may find this connection superior to the component cables: Try both and see what works best. The 6100 is the only Bell Satellite TV receiver to use this type of connection.

Also known as 3G and part of the CDMA family of standards, EVDO is a 3G wireless radio broadband protocol that delivers data download rates of up 3.1 Mbps. It is suitable for high bandwidth download applications such as enterprise VPN computing, music transfers and video streaming.

An eSIM (short for embedded SIM) is a digital SIM built into recent phones that lets you activate a cellular service instantly and securely, and an associated phone number and plan, without having to use a physical SIM card.

Fibre-optics consist of bundles of super-thin glass strands. Laser-generated pulses of light transmit voice, data and video signals via the fibre at speeds and capacities far exceeding old-fashioned copper cable systems.

A combination of hardware and software used to protect a network from unwelcome traffic. A firewall can be used to separate a LAN into two or more parts or to control network traffic. Content exclusive to AT&T Yahoo! is referred to as "within the firewall" which means that non-members cannot access it.

The three most common frequencies today are 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz. Many people equate a higher cordless phone frequency with a better range. However, range for a cordless phone is difficult to quantify because it ultimately depends on the environment in which the phone is being used and potential interference from other electronic devices.

Or Router. A device that connects two LANs. Routers are similar to network bridges, but provide additional functionality, such as the ability to filter messages and forward them to different places based on various criteria.

Gigabyte

One thousand or actually 1,024 megabytes. A term used to describe RAM or hard disk storage space. Abbreviation: GB, Gig.

Global system for mobile communication. A digital PCS mobile phone standard used in many parts of the world.

High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) is a copy protection system to eliminate copying of data passed between a video source and a television. HDCP is used over HDMI and DVI connections.

HDMI cabling is based on the same video technology as DVI cabling, with two important differences. First, the connectors and cabling are much thinner and smaller, making it easier to use and ensuring better airflow around components using such connections. Second, audio information is also included in the same cable! This allows customers to use one simple cable for both audio and video. It is capable of sending all HDTV resolutions and Dolby Digital surround sound at the same time. It is a digital cable, so there is little to no loss of information when components of a customer’s home theatre are connected using these cables.

This is technology that uses ordinary copper telephone lines to provide Internet speeds ranging from 1.5 to 9 Mbps--speeds that are 30 to 50 times faster than a regular 56-kbps dial-up modem. High speed Internet also allows users to receive voice and data simultaneously since the signal is carried on a higher frequency than normal telephone communications. xDSL refers to all types of Digital Subscriber Lines including: ADSL: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines SDSL: Single-line digital subscriber lines HDSL: High-data-rate digital subscriber lines VDSL: Very-high-data-rate digital subscriber lines

A Wi-Fi wireless access point in a public place

A High Speed Packet Access that extends and improves the performance of existing WCDMA protocols.

High Speed Packet Access Evolution (HSPA+) is a 4G network that offers data speeds of up to 42 Mbps. It is a collection of two mobile telephony protocols: High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA). Bell Mobility was the first carrier in North America to offer peak download speaks of 42 Mbps.

Allows customers to share both their files and Internet connection over multiple computers using either their existing Ethernet cards or by taking advantage of the modem’s wireless capability.

Internet Protocol address; a 32-bit address assigned to hosts using TCP/IP. The address is written as four octets separated with periods (dotted decimal format) that are made up of a network section, an optional subnet section and a host section. Also known as an Internet address.

Television service that uses a two-way digital broadcast signal sent through a switched telephone or other network by way of a broadband connection.

A measure, representing 1,000 bits, generally used to express the speed per second of telecommunications services and equipment. A bit is the smallest unit used to express digital information.

A measurement for data transmission. One kilobit per second is one thousand bits per second.

A telephone circuit that travels over land-based circuits (as opposed to wireless).

Easy viewing in all lighting conditions. Uses dark segments against a lighter background. The characters in this type of display are black, on a grey background. They are lit up by a light shining onto the display from above.

A short-distance data communications network. LANs are typically within a building or campus, and are to link together computers and peripherals under a standard protocol. The network provides high-bandwidth communications over coaxial cable, twisted-pair, fibre, or microwave media. A wired network.

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the latest standard in mobile network technology. It offers theoretical peak speeds of 150 Mbps (download) and 70 Mbps (upload) for data transfer.

A measure, representing 1,000,000 bits, generally used to express the speed per second of telecommunications services and equipment. See Kilobit. A bit is the smallest unit used to express digital information.

Allows wireless customers to send and receive messages that contain much more than text, including formatted text, graphics, photographs, and audio and video clips.

Bell's long distance network charge was introduced in December 2001 to support investments to enhance and expand our network. Most major telecommunications companies charge a similar fee. This monthly charge applies to every customer who subscribes to one of Bell's long distance plans. It appears in the Monthly Services section of your bill. The network charge does not apply to customers who choose to pay Bell long distance base rates -- with time-of-day discounts -- rather than subscribe to a long distance plan.

Allows consumers remaining at the same location to retain their existing telephone numbers when switching from one carrier to another.

Bell Mobility bills by the total amount of data transmitted and received.

Phishing is an email scam designed to capture your personal information, including name, address, phone number, date of birth, Social Insurance Number (SIN), and bank or credit card account number. An authentic looking email will request this sensitive personal information or ask recipients to update their credit card information through links provided within these unsolicited emails. These links lead recipients to fake Web pages in hopes of fooling account owners.

Most companies would never request this type of personal information through an email. If you receive an email that you feel might be "phishing" for your private information, contact the legitimate company named in the email to confirm whether the request is from them.

A PUK code (Pin Unlock Key) is required when you enter an incorrect PIN three times. After entering the wrong PIN three times, the card will be locked and you will need to get a PUK code from your service provider to unlock it.

A security feature that controls and eliminates banner and pop-up ads displayed on a computer browser to reduce unwanted advertisements online.

Random-access memory, sometimes referred to as main memory. The Macintosh RAM provides memory for system software and applications. In sleep mode, the contents of RAM are maintained. Shutting down the computer erases RAM contents. There are various types of RAM, including DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) and SDRAM (synchronous random-access memory).

Extending of connectivity service to a location other than where the service was registered. Roaming ensures that the wireless device stays connected to the network, without losing the connection.

Remote Personal Video Recorder. Bell Remote PVR offers you access to your PVR anytime, anywhere so you can find and record programs from any Internet-connected PC, Mac or mobile device.

A server address is a number or string of characters uniquely identifying an interface to a networked computer that provides one or more services. A server address can be a numeric IP address on private networks or on the Internet, although user-friendly names consisting of alphanumeric characters can also be given.

Subscriber identity module. The SIM card allows users to change phones by simply removing the SIM card from one mobile phone and inserting it into another mobile phone or broadband telephony device.

An advanced mobile device or personal digital assistant (PDA) that provides text messaging, email, multimedia downloads and social networking (e.g. Facebook Mobile) functionality in addition to voice.

A wireless messaging service that permits the transmission of a short text message from and/or to a digital wireless terminal.

Outgoing mail server. A protocol used to send and transfer mail. Its ability to queue incoming messages is limited, so SMTP usually is used only to send mail, and POP or IMAP is used to receive mail.

A soft key is a button flexibly programmable to invoke any of a number of functions rather than being associated with a single fixed function or a fixed set of functions.

Unsolicited email; junk mail.

Delivery of video or audio data over a network in real time, as a stream of packets instead of a single file download.

The system access fee helps recover the costs associated with operating and maintaining a wireless network, including costs for ongoing maintenance, new equipment installations and technology upgrades. The fee is not required by, nor collected for the federal government or any of its agencies.

Spyware is software installed on your computer that can collect and send information stored on your computer without you knowing it and cause computer slowdowns, freezes and crashes.

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, TCP and IP are two open protocol standards used among computers connected to the Internet, allowing different computer systems and platforms to share data seamlessly. TCP/IP forms the foundation for Internet communications, upon which such services as Gopher and World Wide Web, can be provided.

2 to the 40th power 1,099,511,627,776 bytes. This is approximately one trillion bytes or one thousand gigabytes

Touch-tone dialling is a method of dialling in which each character 0-9, #, A, B, C, D is represented by a different tone.

A Turbo Stick is a wireless modem that provides Internet connectivity on 3G and 4G speeds. Once the Turbo Stick is plugged into your laptop USB port, you can receive a wireless Internet connection anywhere you can use your Bell mobile phone.

Bell TV Online enhances your Bell Satellite TV experience with Web access to programming. To register, you must have a bell.ca account linked to your Bell Satellite TV account. Validated viewers can access specific content, like NHL® GameCenter™ LIVE, and The Movie Network™ online - related to their Bell Satellite TV subscription.

Usage Based Billing. The pricing approach adopted for many years by most major network providers to ensure that those who use the most Internet network capacity pay for what they use.

Universal Serial Bus. An industry-wide peripheral bus standard that supports a data speed of 12 megabits per second and that accommodates a wide variety of devices. Most new computers and peripheral devices are equipped with USB.

Abbreviation of video graphics array, a graphics display system developed by IBM. VGA has become one of the de facto standards for personal computers. SVGA stands for Super VGA, a set of graphics standards designed to offer greater resolution than VGA.

Visual Voicemail is a quick and easy way to manage and organize your voice messages. Quickly scan through all of your messages and get a visual summary of who called and when.

Voicemail to Text converts your voice messages into text messages and delivers them to your mobile phone. You can quickly read your messages when you're busy or unable to dial in.

Voice over Internet Protocol: An industry transmission standard that supports voice communications over packet networks, such as the Internet.

Wireless Application Protocol. WAP 1.0 is a text-based infotainment browsing and messaging offering.

Web mail is a way to access your email from any computer that has Internet access.

A network that links multiple locations together. A WAN encompasses a much larger geographic area than that of a Local Area Network (LAN).

A wireless technology brand owned by the Wi-Fi Alliance intended to improve the interoperability of wireless local area network products based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Commonly used to refer to networks based on those standards.

Components of a wireless network include a wireless modem/router and may consist of desktops, laptops and/or printers that have a wireless network card or integrated wireless network card in place of wires.

10-4 lets you use your mobile phone as a walkie-talkie. It's designed for quick conversations. With this service, users can contact other 10-4 subscribers one on one or for group conversations with up to five other people.

This is the shorthand name for a format of high-definition video modes. 1080 denotes the number of horizontal scan lines, also known as vertical resolution, and the letter i stands for interlaced. In the alternate format of high-definition video mode, known as 1080p, the p would stand for progressive scan.

1xRTT is a 2G CDMA network that supports both voice and data services with a peak download data rate of 144 Kbps. The 1xRTT network access offered by Bell covers over 98% of the Canadian population with 1.5 million km² of coverage.

Also known as EVDO and part of the CDMA family of standards, 3G is a wireless radio broadband protocol that delivers data download rates of up to 3.1 Mbps. It is suitable for high bandwidth download applications such as enterprise VPN computing, music transfers and video streaming.

Also known as HSPA+, 4G is a collection of two mobile telephony protocols (High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSPDA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) ) that offers data speeds of up to 42 Mbps.

A universal telephone number that gives the public direct access to the Public Safety Answering Point for emergency calls. Basic 9-1-1 service collects 9-1-1 calls from one or more local exchange switches that serve a geographic area, and sends each call to the appropriate designated authority.