Quick summary
- A call center and WhatsApp Business glossary with 60+ terms explained in plain language.
- Grouped by topic: telephony and numbers, call center operations, KPIs, outbound dialing, WhatsApp Business, and channels, systems and AI.
- Bookmark it for new agents and team leaders.
Comparing call center systems or WhatsApp providers means wading through acronyms: ACD, AHT, FCR, SIP trunk, BSP. Here they are in one place, with links to deeper articles.
Telephony and numbers
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cloud PBX | A business phone system run over the internet instead of office hardware; staff answer from browser, mobile or desk phone. See what is a cloud PBX. |
| IP PBX | A PBX based on internet protocol, on-premise or cloud. |
| Extension | A short internal number per user or department, e.g. 101. |
| SIP | The standard protocol for setting up and managing voice calls over the internet. |
| SIP trunk | A digital line connecting the PBX to a carrier network, carrying multiple simultaneous calls. |
| DID | An external phone number routed directly to an extension, department or queue. |
| Unified number (9200) | One company-wide number in Saudi Arabia; the call cost is shared between the caller and the company. |
| Toll-free (800) | Free for the caller; the company pays. |
| Caller ID | The number shown to the other party; configurable per extension or campaign. |
| CDR | Call Detail Record: who called whom, when, how long, and how it ended. |
| Concurrent calls | Calls that can run at the same moment on a line or system. |
| Softphone / WebRTC | A phone app on a computer or mobile; WebRTC enables calls straight from the browser. |
| Call recording / Voicemail | Saving call audio for QA and training; voice messages left when nobody answers. |
Call center operations
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ACD | Automatic Call Distribution: routes incoming calls to agents by rules such as priority and availability. |
| IVR | Interactive Voice Response: a voice menu that routes callers by keypress. See what is IVR. |
| Queue / Ring strategy | Callers waiting for the next free agent; strategies include ring-all, round-robin, least-recent and priorities. |
| Position announcement / Call-back | Telling callers their place in line; letting them leave a number instead of waiting. |
| Overflow | Moving calls to another queue or channel (e.g. WhatsApp) when busy. |
| Music on hold / Time conditions | Audio while waiting; routing rules by business hours and holidays. |
| Blind / Attended transfer | Transferring directly, or after speaking to the colleague first. |
| Call pickup / DND | Answering a colleague's ringing call; pausing calls to an extension. |
| Wrap-up | After-call work (notes, follow-up) before the next call; wrap-up codes record the outcome. |
| Wallboard | A live screen of waiting callers, available agents and wait times. |
| Listen / Whisper / Barge | Supervisor silently listens, coaches the agent unheard by the customer, or joins the call. |
| QA evaluation | Scoring agent calls against defined criteria. |
See how these come together in the cloud call center.
KPIs
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| AHT | Average Handle Time: talk + hold + after-call work. |
| ASA | Average Speed of Answer: average queue wait before an agent answers. |
| FCR | First Contact Resolution: share of requests solved in the first contact. |
| SLA | Service Level Agreement: a time target, e.g. share of calls answered within set seconds, or ticket resolution time. |
| Abandonment rate / Missed calls | Callers who hang up before an answer; unanswered calls needing follow-up. |
| Occupancy / Peak hour | Share of logged-in time spent handling customers; the busiest period, used for staffing. |
| CSAT | Post-interaction satisfaction rating, often 1-5. |
| NPS | Net Promoter Score: likelihood to recommend (0-10), promoters minus detractors. |
| Schedule adherence | How closely agents follow shifts and breaks. |
Outbound dialing
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Auto dialer | Dials campaign lists automatically. |
| Predictive / Progressive / Preview | Dials ahead and connects answered calls only / one number per free agent / agent reviews the record first. See what is a predictive dialer. |
| AMD | Answering Machine Detection: tells humans from voicemail. |
| Caller-ID rotation | Using several company numbers in a campaign by rule. |
| DNC list | Numbers that asked not to be called, excluded from all campaigns. |
| IVR campaign | Automated calls playing a recorded message with options. |
WhatsApp Business
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| WhatsApp API | Meta's official business platform; unlimited agents on one number. See official WhatsApp API. |
| BSP | Business Solution Provider: a Meta-approved partner that activates the API. Etisalna is a Meta Business Partner. |
| 24-hour window | Free-form replies are allowed for 24 hours after the customer's last message; after that, use a template. |
| Template / Categories | Pre-approved messages to start conversations; categories are marketing, utility and authentication. |
| Green tick | Verification badge for eligible businesses. |
| Quality rating / Messaging limit | Meta's green/yellow/red score per number; the cap on new conversations, which grows with good quality. |
| Opt-in | Explicit customer consent to receive your WhatsApp messages. |
| Interactive messages | Messages with buttons or lists. |
| Linked devices (QR) | Unofficial linking of a number to extra devices, for small teams. |
| Chatbot / Campaigns | Automated flows (chatbot guide); template sends to a list (bulk without bans). |
Channels, systems and AI
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Omnichannel / Shared inbox | All channels (calls, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram, web chat) in one customer view; one screen for the team. See omnichannel inbox. |
| Canned responses / Labels / Internal note | Saved replies; tags for sorting and reports; team-only comments. |
| Human handover | Moving a chat from bot or AI to a person. |
| Ticket / Escalation | A tracked customer request; raising it when time limits are exceeded. See ticketing and SLA. |
| CRM / Lead | System for customers, deals, tasks and history; an interested prospect who has not bought yet. |
| Knowledge base | Company Q&A and policies used by AI and agents. |
| AI voice agent | An AI that answers or makes calls in natural speech. See AI voice agent in Saudi dialect. |
| STT / Diarization / Sentiment | Speech-to-text; separating agent and customer speech; estimating customer mood. See AI call analysis. |
| API / Webhook | Programmatic data exchange; automatic event notifications to your system. |
FAQ
ACD vs IVR?
IVR talks to the caller and routes to a department; ACD distributes calls among that department's agents.
CSAT vs NPS?
CSAT rates one interaction; NPS measures overall willingness to recommend.
SIP trunk vs DID?
The trunk carries calls between PBX and carrier; the DID is a number delivered over it to a destination.
Want to see these in action? Contact us or call 920031338.
