Low toll calling rates, great value broadband, wireless broadband and more at Compass

Phone lines, toll free and toll calls at unbeatable rates to high speed wireless Internet connections, Compass Communications has a practical solution to suit.

If you don't understand some of the terms used within our site, click on the first letter of the word below.

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

If still unsure, call our Compass Consumer Care Team on 0800 640 840, they will be happy to explain.

A
ADSL	(Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line.) Sometimes just called DSL is a technology for transmitting digital information at high speeds on an existing phone line.
ADSL	A normal telephone call or a dialup modem only uses a small portion (or frequency range) of the capacity of most phone lines. ADSL is a way to use the full potential of you phone line.

B
Broadband	Broadband is a term for a high speed internet connection. High speed can mean anywhere from a 4 times as fast as a standard 56k dial up connection to several hundred times as fast.

C
Capped Call	A call that is charged per minute until the maximum advertised value is reached. This rate will stand until the maximum advertised time duration is reached. The call is then charged at a per minute rate.
Compass Communications	A NZ owned telecommunications company offering high quality and low price toll calls, phone, internet and wireless internet services,

D
data	Information or raw facts.
data	Information in a form that can be used by a computer can include text, numbers, sounds and pictures etc. Data is measured using units such as Kilobyte(kb), Megabyte(Mb) and Gigabyte(Gb).
Data Allowance	The amount of data allowed under the cost of your internet plan.
data usage	The amount of data/information/files that is downloaded or uploaded via your internet account. You can check your Compass internet data usage by logging in to your 'My Compass' page.
Dial-up Internet	Connecting a computer to the internet via a phone line. Dial-up differs to broadband as it has slower speeds than that of a broadband connection. A Dial-up connection can have speeds of up to 56 kilobytes per second.
Download	To download means to receive files or data from an internet source or other computer. For example every time you instruct your computer system to retrieve your mail, you are downloading your mail to your computer. To upload means to transmit.

E
email	a system for sending messages from one individual to another via telecommunications links between computers or terminals.

F
FAQ's	Frequently Asked Questions
flagfall	A fee incurred for using a service.
Full Speed Broadband	High Speed internet that is as fast as your connection to the local exchange will allow.

G
Gb	Giga Byte. (also known as Gig) A unit of measure for Data. Compass measures 1 Giga Byte as 1,000 megabytes or 1 billion characters of information.
Giga Byte	(also known as Gig or Gb) A unit of measure for Data. Compass measures 1 Giga Byte as 1,000 megabytes or 1 billion characters of information.

H
Hardware	Hardware is the physical part of a computer system; the machinery and equipment.

I
Internet	Also known as the ‘Worldwide Information Highway’ or ‘World Wide Web’ , the internet is comprised of thousands of interconnected computer networks, and reaches millions of people in many different countries. The Internet makes possible almost instantaneous exchange of information by linking documents, video, music and other files around the world.
Internet dialler	An Internet dialler allows you to access "premium content" on the Internet and pay for such access via an 0900 number or an international toll number charged to the bill of your phone line or toll provider. Please be aware that Internet diallers may be installed on your computer without your knowledge. For more information click here.

J
Jitter	variation in latency (delay in transmission of data)

K
Kb	Kilobyte. One thousand bytes. A unit of measurement used for data.
kbps	Kilobits per second. A data transfer rate.

L
landline	A circuit of wire or cable connecting your home phone with the local switchboard.
Latency	delay in transmission of data
Local Exchange	Telephone Exchange

M
Mb	Megabyte = 1,000 kilobytes A unit of measurement used for data. Compass measures 1 Megabyte as 1,000 kilobytes.
Mbps	Megabyte per secound. A data transfer rate.
Megabyte	A unit of measurement used for data. Compass measures 1 Megabyte as 1,000 kilobytes.
modem	A simple communications device for transmitting data over a telephone line. Used to gain access to the internet.

N
Net Jet	Net Jet is the name of Compass's broadband internet service.
O
Online	being connected to the internet.

P
PIN	Personal Identification Number - A series of numbers known only by the user to access accounts or personal/confidential information.
Router	A system responsible for making decisions about which paths Internet traffic will follow. Routers are also called "gateways" in Internet terminology.

S
Software	Software is the programs that tell a computer what to do. Hardware is the physical part of a computer system; the machinery and equipment.
Spam	The electronic equivalent of junk mail often in the form of commercial announcements. The act of sending a spam is called, naturally, "spamming." Also, to cause a person or newsgroup to be flooded with irrelevant or inappropriate messages.
Spam filtering	Software to weed out any SPAM emails.

U
UBS	(Unbundled Bit Stream.) High speed internet via phone lines. Also known as ADSL
Upload	To transfer files or data from your computer to another via the internet. For exampled every time you instruct your computer system to send an email, you are uploading. To download means to receive.

V
Virus	A software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer. A virus can be sent via email or downloaded unintentionally while downloading other files. The virus will aim to install itself to you computer. Some viruses are only pranks, and perform harmless actions like displaying a screen with a joke message on it. Others can destroy files or wipe out a hard drive. For more information on computer viruses click here.
Virus filtering	Software to weed out any emails that potentially have viruses and either disable of destroy them to protect your computer.
VoIP	Voice Over Internet Protocol, the transmission of real-time voice calls over a data network or internet.

W
web mail	Compass' email account service provided free of charge to Compass internet customers.
Wireless Broadband	Using VoIP technology high speed internet is transmitted from broadcast points through the air to a device on your roof. This device is connected to your computer to access the internet. This technology can also provide telephone services bypassing the traditional in ground network.

Legal

Privacy

Site Map