Glossary
The front-desk glossary, in plain English.
Short, accurate definitions of the phone, texting, compliance and AI terms that come up when you run a front desk.
- AI receptionist
- Software that answers a business phone with a natural voice, understands what the caller needs, and completes tasks such as booking an appointment, taking a message or answering common questions, handing the call to a person when needed. Learn more
- Answering service
- A service that answers calls on behalf of a business, traditionally staffed by live operators who take messages and follow a script. Newer services use AI to answer and complete tasks directly. Learn more
- Virtual receptionist
- A remote receptionist, human or AI, who answers calls for a business without being on site. Live virtual receptionist services bill per minute or per call. Learn more
- Missed-call text back
- An automatic text message sent to a caller the moment a business misses their call, so the conversation continues by text instead of the caller dialing a competitor. Learn more
- Two-way business texting
- Sending and receiving text messages with customers from a business phone number, with conversations shared by the whole team in one inbox. Learn more
- 10DLC
- Ten-digit long code: a standard local phone number registered with US mobile carriers for business texting. Businesses register a brand and a messaging campaign so legitimate traffic is not filtered as spam. Learn more
- A2P messaging
- Application-to-person messaging: texts sent by a business system to a person, as opposed to texts between two people. US carriers require A2P traffic to be registered. Learn more
- The Campaign Registry
- The organization US carriers use to register the brands and campaigns behind 10DLC business text messaging. Learn more
- TCPA
- The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the US federal law that governs telemarketing calls, automated calls and texts, consent and opt-out rights. It applies alongside state laws. Learn more
- HIPAA
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the US law that sets privacy and security rules for protected health information held by healthcare providers and their business associates. Learn more
- Business Associate Agreement (BAA)
- A contract required by HIPAA between a healthcare provider and a vendor that handles protected health information on its behalf, setting out how that information is safeguarded. Learn more
- Minimum necessary standard
- The HIPAA principle that uses and disclosures of protected health information should be limited to the minimum needed for the purpose, which shapes what belongs in a text message or voicemail. Learn more
- Text to pay
- Collecting a payment by texting the customer a secure link to a hosted payment page, so the business never handles the card number. Learn more
- Speed to lead
- How quickly a business responds to a new inquiry. In local services the first company to respond usually wins the job. Learn more
- No-show rate
- The share of booked appointments where the customer does not arrive and does not cancel. Reminders, confirmations and waitlist backfill reduce it. Learn more
- Recall
- A reminder sent to a customer who is due to come back, such as a six-month dental cleaning or a seasonal HVAC tune-up. Learn more
- Quick Fill
- Offering a newly opened appointment slot to customers on a waitlist by text so a cancellation does not become lost revenue. Learn more
- Review gating
- Asking customers how they feel first and sending only the happy ones to a public review site. It violates Google policy, and Talos Connect does not do it. Learn more
- Call intelligence
- AI analysis of recorded business calls that produces a transcript, a summary, the caller's sentiment, the reason for the call and any follow-up needed. Learn more
- Screen pop
- Customer details shown on screen while the phone is still ringing: name, next appointment, balance and notes. Learn more
- VoIP
- Voice over Internet Protocol: business phone service delivered over the internet instead of copper lines, with extensions, voicemail, routing and mobile apps. Learn more
- Auto attendant
- A phone menu that greets callers and routes them by keypress or by schedule, such as press 1 for scheduling. Learn more
- Call queue
- A feature that holds callers in line with music and announcements until a team member is free. Learn more
- Number porting
- Moving an existing phone number from one carrier to another so a business keeps its number when it changes phone service. Learn more
- Call-tracking number
- A dedicated phone number used for one advertising source so a business can see which marketing makes the phone ring. Learn more
- Conversational AI
- Technology that lets software hold a natural spoken or written conversation, combining speech recognition, a language model and speech synthesis. Learn more
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