Glossary

Better Business Bureau

Contract: a written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.

Duty: amoral or legal obligation; a responsibility.
Wage: income derived from human labor. Technically, wages and salaries cover all compensation made to employees for either physical or mental work.
Resign: voluntarily leave a job or other position.
Duties: a task or action that someone is required to perform.
Chairwoman: is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group.

In some organizations, the chairperson is also known as president.

Collateral: refers to an asset that a lender accepts as security for a loan. Collateral may take the form of real estate or other kinds of assets, depending on the purpose of the loan.
Withdraw: to take back or away, to remove (money) from a place of deposit.
Efficiency: effective operation as measured by a comparison of production with cost (as in energy, time, and money).

Guarantee: A warranty is a term of a contract. Depending on the terms of the contract, a product warranty may cover a product such that a manufacturer provides a warranty to a consumer with which the manufacturer has no direct contractual relationship. A warranty may be express or implied.
Debit: an entry recording an amount owed, listed on the left-hand side or column of an account: The opposite of credit.
Compliant: inclined to agree with others or obey rules, especially to an excessive degree; acquiescent.
FFC: Federal communications commission
Federal communications commission: The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States.
Manager: A business manager is a supervisor who leads and oversees an organization or a department's employees and operations.
Superintendent: A superintendent performs some or all of the project management duties for a construction project or employer.

Accident

Emergency

Accident and Emergency

Fire

I’ve been robbed

I’ve been mugged

I’ve been attacked

I’ve been raped

I'm sick

Emergency Glossary

I’ve been molested

I’ve been stabbed

I’ve been shot

I’m bleeding

I think I’ve broken a bone

I’ve been followed

I’m being followed by someone

I’ve been threatened / someone has threatened me

I’ve been hurt

Business Acronyms & Terms

ARPU – Average Revenue Per Subscriber – The average revenue we make for each subscriber.

CCPU – Cash Costs Per User – The costs of maintaining each customer or account, such as fees to use the billing system and supply basic service.

CPGA – Cost Per Gross Add – The cost to obtain each new subscriber, such as marketing and registration costs.

RES – Rating Evaluation Service – This analyzes customer profitability. Customers are ranked on a score of 1-4 where 4 is the least profitable. More profitable customers are generally given more flexibility if they need courtesy minutes added or phone replacements, where possible.

Churn – The biggest issue our industry faces. Churn is the rate at which customers leave us compared to our overall customer base or rate of new subscribers.

Common Acronyms:

ACP – Affordable Connectivity Program
API – Application Programming Interface
BYOD – bring your own device
CAT – Catalyst
CD – complete
CGM – An Atlanta based compliance company that helps with government reimbursement and audits
EBB – Emergency Broadband Benefit
ECP – Enrollment Compliance Platform – Verifies customer info as we sign them up for use in auditing later, including proof of eligibility.
ESN – Electronic Serial Number
ETC – Eligible Telecom Carrier – The government term for a Lifeline provider
ICCID – Integrated Circuit Card Identification – Sim card number – starts with 8901
IMEI – International Mobile Equipment Identity – think of this like a device serial number
IVR – Interactive Voice Response
LL – Lifeline
MDN – Mobile Directory Number – means phone number
MVNO – Mobile Virtual Network Operator – a company that does not own their own network, like us
NLAD – National Lifeline Accountability Database
NLEV – National Lifeline Eligibility Database
PBI – PowerBI
PN – pending (usually an action on our part is pending, like finishing a port out)
PP – prepaid
PWG – Prepaid Wireless Group – The mobile virtual network aggregator that sells service to MVNOs like SUW, not direct to consumers.
SMS – Short Message Service (text)
SNA – shipped not activated
SUW – us! StandUp Wireless
USAC – Universal Service Administrative Company – A nonprofit that administers Lifeline through the use of NLAD
USF – Universal Service Fund – A fund that subsidizes carrier expenses for Lifeline so everyone can access basic wireless service.

Lifeline Statuses

AP – approved
BP – benefit port (switched to another Lifeline carrier)
DE – de-enrolled
DN – denied
FC – first call (customer hasn’t called to activate)
GP – grace period
NF – NLAD fail
PE – pending eligibility
SR – system removal
TD – suspended
VR – voluntary removal/customer cancel

CPNI and PII

CPNI and PII are two acronyms you will likely hear often working in the telecom industry. They are both important for data security and the protection of customer privacy.

Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) is personal information carriers have about customers, such as their call history. In most cases, this should never be shared with the customer verbally (though it’s OK for them to access their own history online via MyAccount if available) or with other parties. There are some exceptions for internal use, for instance, if you need to provide information to another team for troubleshooting.

More information: https://www.fcc.gov/general/customer-privacy

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) includes things like the customer’s name, address, phone number, and birthday. PII should always be blacked out or obscured on screenshots used for training or other purposes, unless essential to troubleshooting. It should never be shared with a customer unless you have verified who you are speaking with and there’s a valid reason for sharing.

What’s a PUK?

PUK stands for Personal Unlocking Key. It may also be known as a PIN Unblocking Key. PUK codes are unique to each SIM card. They are used for unblocking and resetting a SIM PIN if a customer chooses to set one. Most customers do not set one but sometimes may do so by accident when trying to set up a screen lock.

If a customer’s phone is prompting them for a code, it’s important to ask good questions to help them understand. Is it a screen lock? A pin? Or does it say PUK or something about a SIM? You can share this number from Catalyst with the customer.

If a customer enters a PUK incorrectly too many times, the SIM card may need to be replaced due to security.

Answers

1. Always follow your department’s specific guidance on this. The safest practice is to show the customer how to find this information themselves, such as in their phone’s settings or on MyAccount. You could also text them their phone number. However, in some cases, this is something you can share with a customer whose identity you have verified over the phone. Take a moment to think – What are some reasons we wouldn’t want an unverified caller to have the customer’s phone number?

2. No, but you can show them how to find it themselves in their call logs.

3. It’s best practice to obscure the customer’s name, or at least enough of it to not make them easily identifiable. If your training requires a name, “John” or “Smith” would be OK. The customer’s full name would not unless it’s a common name and all other information that could point to a specific account (like address or MDN) is obscured.

4. All questions about the handling of CPNI/PII should be addressed to your manager for guidance from your specific department’s rules for customer data handling. You can also leave feedback on this article for general questions.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse