BlackBerry : GLOSSARY

CRM

Customer relationship management: Software to aid businesses in tracking and organising contact with current and prospective customers.

ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning: A network-based solution that manages and coordinates a company's resources, information, and functions.

SFA

Sales Force Automation: Software that allows a company to automate sales force management. Sometimes part of a CRM system.

FS

Held Service: Applications, services and peripherals to help employees who often work away from the office. Includes barcode scanners, printers, GPS and signature capture.

BI

Business Intelligence: Allows users to keep constantly up to date with company sales, product and organisational data while away from the office.

GSM

Global System for Mobile communications: the most widely used digital mobile-phone system and Europe's de facto wireless telephone standard.

GPRS

General Packet Radio Service: an 'always on' data connection for GSM mobile-phone services.

EDGE

Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution: can provide near-3G data rates on a GSM network. Speeds of up to 384Kbps are possible.

3G (UMTS)

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System: the European version of the 3G wireless phone system. Offers data rates of up to 384Kbps.

HSDPA

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access: an 'always on' improvement on standard 3G/UMTS data services. Offers download rates of up to 14.4 Mbps, though most networks in the UK and the US offer 1.8, 3.6 or 7.2Mbps.

Wi-Fi

Generic term commonly used for wireless LAN technology, also known as 802.11a, b, g and n. Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, which ensures the Wi-Fi compatibility of hardware.

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol: the process by which voice telephone calls are made and carried across a data network rather than a conventional telephony system. Popular VoIP services include Skype, Vonage and Google Talk. Long-distance and international calls are usually much cheaper using VoIP than a conventional phone system.

BES

BlackBerry Enterprise Server: a software plug-in for the most popular business email servers (Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino) that syncs email, calendar and address-book information between the server and any BlackBerry devices authorised to communicate with it.

BIS

BlackBerry Internet Service: allows BlackBerry users to access the internet and P0P3/IMAP email accounts Without connecting through a BES. The service is usually provided by mobile-phone operators.

POP

Post Office Protocol, also known as POP3: the most common and most basic form of consumer email account. Messages are downloaded from a server onto the client from a single mailbox.

IMAP

Internet Message Access Protocol, also known as IMAP4: an improved standard for email used by consumers and businesses. Allows for multiple setver-side folders and virtual mailboxes. Mail is retained on the server and synced with the client, so you always have access to the same set of emails. IMAP is the system behind most popular webmail services.

Java

Industry standard, object-oriented language and virtual machine, invented by Sun Microsystems. Popular as a platform for mobile-phone applications because it can run as a virtual machine, making applications hardware-independent and able to run on multiple devices from different manufacturers.

PDA

Personal Digital Assistant: a handheld computer, also known as a palmtop computer, which was considered to be the forerunner of smartphones as we know them today.

OS

Operating system: the core software, also referred to as firmware, that allows a mobile phone to function.

PIM

Personal Information Manager: a software application that functions as a personal organiser.

SIM

Subscriber Identity Module: a SIM card is the smartcard in all GSM and 3G phones. It identifies the user account to the network and provides data storage for basic user and network information, such as contacts.

Bandwidth

The data capacity of a connection. A higher bandwidth can transmit more data over a given period of time.

Bluetooth

A wireless standard that enables data connections between electronic devices such as desktop computers, phones, hands-free headsets and remote controls, usually within a 10m range, although some devices support over 100m.

GPS

Global Positioning System: a receiver that communicates with satellites orbiting the earth to determine the position of people and objects on the ground.

A2DP

A Bluetooth (see above) protocol that allows mobile users to stream music or video, wirelessly.