Glossary
Software and AI terms, in plain English.
82 definitions written by our engineers, for buyers, managers and anyone who needs to understand the jargon.
A
- ACD (Automatic Call Distribution)
- Telephony logic that queues incoming calls and routes them to the most appropriate available agent based on rules such as skills and priority. Learn more about ACD (Automatic Call Distribution)
- AI agent
- An AI system that can decide on and carry out steps toward a goal, such as looking up an order or creating a ticket, by calling tools and APIs, ideally with permissions, logging and human approval for sensitive actions. Learn more about AI agent
- API (Application Programming Interface)
- A defined way for one software system to request data or actions from another. Modern business systems expose APIs so they can be connected without manual data entry, for example an ERP sending order updates to a WhatsApp platform. Learn more about API (Application Programming Interface)
- Asterisk
- A widely used open-source software platform for building telephone systems, PBXs and contact centers, running on standard servers. Learn more about Asterisk
- Audit trail
- A tamper-resistant record of who did what and when in a system, used to demonstrate accountability and support audits and investigations. Learn more about Audit trail
- Average handle time (AHT)
- The average time an agent spends on a contact, including talk or chat time, hold time and after-contact work. Learn more about Average handle time (AHT)
B
- Business intelligence (BI)
- Tools and practices for turning business data into reports and dashboards that support decisions, for example Power BI or Apache Superset. Learn more about Business intelligence (BI)
C
- CAFM (Computer-Aided Facility Management)
- Software for managing maintenance requests, preventive maintenance, assets, space and contractors across buildings and sites. Learn more about CAFM (Computer-Aided Facility Management)
- CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action)
- Actions taken to fix an identified problem (corrective) and to address its root cause so it does not recur (preventive), tracked to verified closure. Learn more about CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action)
- Chatbot
- Software that conducts a conversation with users through text or voice, from simple menu-driven flows to AI assistants that understand free text. Learn more about Chatbot
- CI/CD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery)
- A practice in which every code change is automatically built and tested (CI) and approved changes are deployed through an automated pipeline (CD), making releases smaller, safer and more frequent. Learn more about CI/CD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery)
- Compliance management
- The processes and tools an organization uses to identify its legal, regulatory and policy obligations, implement controls and prove they are being met. Learn more about Compliance management
- Container (Docker)
- A lightweight, portable package containing an application and everything it needs to run, so it behaves the same on a developer's laptop, a test server and production. Learn more about Container (Docker)
- Core Web Vitals
- Google's metrics for real-world page experience: Largest Contentful Paint (loading), Interaction to Next Paint (responsiveness) and Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability). Learn more about Core Web Vitals
- CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
- Software that records interactions with customers and prospects, including contacts, deals, activities and support history, to help sales and service teams manage relationships.
D
- Dashboard
- A visual display of the most important metrics for a role or team, ideally refreshed automatically from trusted data. Learn more about Dashboard
- Data residency
- Requirements about the country or region where data must be stored and processed, often set by regulators for financial, health or government data. Learn more about Data residency
- Data warehouse
- A database designed for reporting and analysis that consolidates cleaned data from many operational systems, so dashboards are fast and consistent. Learn more about Data warehouse
- Design system
- A shared library of design tokens, components and guidelines that keeps products consistent and speeds up design and development. Learn more about Design system
- DevOps
- A way of working that combines software development and IT operations through automation, shared responsibility and fast feedback, so teams can release and run software reliably. Learn more about DevOps
- Discovery phase
- A short initial engagement in which requirements are researched, key screens prototyped and the architecture designed, producing a reliable scope and estimate. Learn more about Discovery phase
- Document management system (DMS)
- Software that stores, organizes, secures and tracks documents with metadata, version control, permissions, workflows and retention policies. Learn more about Document management system (DMS)
E
- Embedding
- A list of numbers that represents the meaning of a piece of text, image or audio, so that similar items have similar numbers. Embeddings power semantic search and recommendations.
- EOBI
- The Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution in Pakistan, which runs a contributory pension scheme funded by employer and employee contributions for covered establishments. Learn more about EOBI
- ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
- Software that runs core business processes, such as accounting, inventory, purchasing, sales, manufacturing and HR, on a single shared database so every department works from the same information. Learn more about ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
- ETL / ELT
- Extract, transform, load (or extract, load, transform): the process of copying data from source systems, cleaning and reshaping it, and loading it into a warehouse for analysis. Learn more about ETL / ELT
F
- Fine-tuning
- Further training an existing AI model on a smaller, specific dataset so it follows a particular style, format or domain vocabulary more consistently. Learn more about Fine-tuning
- First contact resolution (FCR)
- The share of customer issues resolved in the first interaction without the customer needing to contact the business again about the same issue. Learn more about First contact resolution (FCR)
- Fleet management system
- Software that tracks vehicles, drivers, trips, fuel and maintenance, usually with GPS, to improve utilization, safety and cost control. Learn more about Fleet management system
- Flutter
- Google's open-source framework for building natively compiled mobile, web and desktop apps from a single Dart codebase. Learn more about Flutter
G
- Geofence
- A virtual boundary on a map. Systems can trigger alerts or actions when a vehicle or phone enters or leaves it, for example for attendance or delivery confirmation. Learn more about Geofence
H
- Hallucination (AI)
- When an AI model produces information that sounds plausible but is not supported by its sources or is simply wrong. Grounding, citations and evaluation reduce it. Learn more about Hallucination (AI)
- Helpdesk / ticketing system
- Software that turns each customer or employee request into a tracked ticket with an owner, priority, status and history. Learn more about Helpdesk / ticketing system
- HRMS (Human Resource Management System)
- Software that manages employee records, attendance, leave, payroll, recruitment and performance in one place, often with self-service apps for employees and managers. Learn more about HRMS (Human Resource Management System)
- Hypervisor
- Software that runs multiple virtual machines on one physical server, giving each its own isolated operating system. KVM, Hyper-V and VMware ESXi are common examples. Learn more about Hypervisor
I
- Infrastructure as code
- Managing servers, networks and cloud resources through version-controlled configuration files instead of manual setup, so environments are reproducible and changes are reviewable.
- Issabel
- An open-source unified communications distribution built on Asterisk that provides PBX, call-center features and web-based administration. Learn more about Issabel
- ITIL
- A widely used framework of best practices for IT service management, describing processes such as incident, problem, change and service request management. Learn more about ITIL
- ITSM (IT Service Management)
- Practices and tools for delivering IT services, including incident, request, problem and change management, often based on ITIL guidance. Learn more about ITSM (IT Service Management)
- IVR (Interactive Voice Response)
- An automated phone menu that lets callers choose options or enter information with their keypad or voice before being routed or served. Learn more about IVR (Interactive Voice Response)
K
- KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
- A measurable value that shows how well an organization or team is achieving a specific objective, such as service level in a contact center or on-time delivery in logistics.
- Kubernetes
- An open-source system for running and managing containers across many servers, handling scaling, restarts, networking and rolling updates.
L
- LLM (Large Language Model)
- An AI model trained on very large amounts of text that can understand and generate language, used for drafting, summarizing, answering questions and powering chat assistants. Learn more about LLM (Large Language Model)
- LMS (Learning Management System)
- Software for creating, delivering and tracking learning, such as courses, quizzes, assignments and certificates, used by schools, universities and corporate training teams. Learn more about LMS (Learning Management System)
M
- Machine learning
- A branch of AI in which systems learn patterns from historical data to make predictions or classifications, such as forecasting demand or routing tickets, rather than following hand-written rules. Learn more about Machine learning
- Message template (WhatsApp)
- A pre-approved message format with placeholders that businesses must use to start conversations or message customers outside the 24-hour customer service window. Learn more about Message template (WhatsApp)
- Multi-tenancy
- An architecture in which one software instance serves multiple customers (tenants), keeping each tenant's data and configuration isolated.
- MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
- The smallest version of a product that delivers real value to early users and lets the team learn what to build next. Learn more about MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
N
- Next.js
- A React framework for building web applications with server rendering, static generation and API routes, widely used for fast, search-friendly sites and portals. Learn more about Next.js
O
- OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
- Technology that converts text in scanned documents and images into machine-readable text, making paper archives searchable and enabling data extraction. Learn more about OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
- Odoo
- An open-source, modular business software suite covering ERP, CRM, inventory, accounting, manufacturing, HR and more. It is available as a free Community edition and a licensed Enterprise edition. Learn more about Odoo
- Omnichannel
- An approach in which customer conversations across email, phone, chat, WhatsApp and social media are handled in one connected system, so context follows the customer between channels. Learn more about Omnichannel
P
- Payroll
- The process of calculating employees' pay, including salary, allowances, overtime, deductions, taxes and statutory contributions, and paying it on schedule with the required records. Learn more about Payroll
- Penetration testing
- An authorized simulated attack on a system by security specialists to find vulnerabilities before real attackers do. Learn more about Penetration testing
- Predictive dialer
- An outbound calling system that automatically dials numbers and connects answered calls to available agents, adjusting dialing pace to agent availability. Learn more about Predictive dialer
- Preventive maintenance
- Planned maintenance performed on a schedule or usage basis to prevent equipment failures, as opposed to reactive repairs after breakdowns. Learn more about Preventive maintenance
- Progressive web app (PWA)
- A website that behaves like an app, installable on a home screen and capable of offline use and notifications, without an app store download. Learn more about Progressive web app (PWA)
- Prompt
- The instructions and context given to a language model to produce a response. In production systems, prompts are versioned and tested like code.
- Proof of delivery (POD)
- Evidence that a delivery was completed, such as a signature, photo, timestamp and location captured on a driver's device. Learn more about Proof of delivery (POD)
R
- RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
- An AI pattern in which a system first retrieves relevant passages from a specific knowledge base and then has a language model answer using only those passages, reducing invented answers and enabling citations. Learn more about RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
- React Native
- A framework for building iOS and Android apps with React and JavaScript or TypeScript, sharing most code across platforms. Learn more about React Native
- Regression testing
- Re-testing existing functionality after changes to confirm that nothing that previously worked has broken. Learn more about Regression testing
- REST API
- A common style of web API in which resources such as customers or orders are accessed through URLs using standard HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT and DELETE, usually exchanging JSON data.
- Risk-based audit
- An audit approach that allocates effort according to the level of risk in each area, focusing resources where failures would have the greatest impact. Learn more about Risk-based audit
- Role-based access control (RBAC)
- A security model where permissions are assigned to roles, such as agent, supervisor or auditor, and users receive access through their roles.
S
- School management system
- Software that handles admissions, student records, fees, attendance, timetables, examinations and parent communication for schools and school networks. Learn more about School management system
- SCORM
- A widely used technical standard for packaging e-learning content so it can run in, and report progress to, any compliant learning management system. Learn more about SCORM
- Self-hosted agent
- A build and deployment worker that an organization runs on its own machine, for example inside a private network, so pipelines in tools like Azure DevOps can reach internal servers. Learn more about Self-hosted agent
- Service level (contact center)
- The percentage of contacts answered within a target time, for example 80 percent of calls answered within 20 seconds. Learn more about Service level (contact center)
- Single sign-on (SSO)
- A login method that lets users access several applications with one set of credentials from an identity provider such as Microsoft Entra ID or Google Workspace.
- SIP trunk
- A virtual phone line delivered over the internet using the Session Initiation Protocol, connecting a phone system to a telecom carrier. Learn more about SIP trunk
- SLA (Service Level Agreement)
- A commitment that defines expected service levels, such as response and resolution times or system availability, and what happens if they are missed.
T
- Technical debt
- The future cost of shortcuts taken in software design or code today. Like financial debt, it accumulates interest in the form of slower changes and more bugs.
- Test automation
- Using software to run tests on an application automatically, typically on every code change, to catch regressions quickly. Learn more about Test automation
U
- UX (User Experience) design
- The practice of designing how a product works for its users, including tasks, flows, information structure and usability, based on research and testing. Learn more about UX (User Experience) design
V
- Vector database
- A database that stores numeric representations of text or images (embeddings) and finds items with similar meaning, which is how RAG systems search by meaning rather than exact keywords. Learn more about Vector database
W
- WCAG
- The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, an international standard for making web content usable by people with disabilities. Level AA is the common target. Learn more about WCAG
- Webhook
- An automatic HTTP message that one system sends to another when an event happens, such as a new WhatsApp message or a payment. Webhooks let systems react in real time instead of repeatedly asking for updates. Learn more about Webhook
- WhatsApp Business Platform
- Meta's official API-based offering for medium and large businesses to send and receive WhatsApp messages from software, supporting multiple agents, chatbots, notifications and integrations. Learn more about WhatsApp Business Platform
- WhatsApp Cloud API
- The version of the WhatsApp Business Platform hosted by Meta. It is the recommended option for new integrations because Meta manages infrastructure and updates. Learn more about WhatsApp Cloud API
- White-label software
- Software produced by one company that another company rebrands and offers under its own name. Learn more about White-label software
Z
- Zero-downtime deployment
- A release technique in which a new version is started and health-checked alongside the old one, and traffic is switched only when it is ready, so users never experience an outage. Learn more about Zero-downtime deployment