Jargon

There is a good chance that if you are reading this blog you are well-versed in a fair amount of telecommunications industry jargon. Every segment of the industry has its own jargon. Wireless folks know what’s meant when a colleague talks about MIMO, QAM, and RAN. Fiber folks understand what is meant by OLT, jitter, and backscattering. Cable company folk can talk about DAA, CMTS, and DOCSIS. The folks that finance broadband networks talk about yield, basis points, and acid tests. Regulators all know what is meant by NARUC, NOI, and CPNI. It’s hard to avoid using jargon. But jargon can quickly get in the way when we want to communicate with somebody who doesn’t know our shorthand. Most folks assume everybody in the industry understands their jargon, but I know this isn’t so. Just listen to the way that a field technician and a customer service representative answer the same question from a customer – they are likely to use very different words. But this blog is a reminder to industry folks that we need to take a step back from jargon if we want folks to understand us.