ALM

Application Lifecycle Management

Where possible, write lifecycle management.

API

Application Programming Interface

Do not spell out in an administration document or in documentation that is intended for a technical audience. For example, do not spell out API in documentation that is intended for developers.

AT&T

American Telephone & Telegraph

Do not spell out.

CCaaS

Contact Center as a Service

Do not spell out unless your audience is unfamiliar with this term.

CPaaS

Communications Platform as a Service

Do not spell out unless your audience is unfamiliar with this term.

CPU

Central Processing Unit

Do not spell out.

CTI

Computer-Telephony Integration

Only spell out if your audience is unfamiliar with this term. Administrators and technical audiences are generally familiar with this acronym.

DNS

Domain Name System

Do not spell out. This is a common term, especially for administrators and other technical audiences.

DoS

Denial of Service

Spell out unless the acronym is familiar to your audience. Hyphenate the spelled-out term when using it as an adjective, as in denial-of-service attack.

EULA

End User License Agreement

Where possible, write license or license agreement. If you need to use EULA specifically, spell it out at the first instance.

FAQ or FAQs

Frequently Asked Question(s)

Do not spell out. Precede with the indefinite article an.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol

Do not spell out. Use FTP as a noun.

FQDN

Fully Qualified Domain Name

Do not spell out. This is a common term, especially for administrators and other technical audiences.

HA

High Availability

Do not spell out. This is a common term, especially for administrators and other technical audiences.

HTML

Hypertext Markup Language

Do not spell out.

HTTP, HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure

Do not spell out. Write http or https in lowercase when used in an internet address or URL.

IM

Instant Message

Instant Messaging

IM is a common acronym. Do not spell out unless it is unfamiliar to your audience.

I/O

Input/Output

Do not spell out in an administration document or in documentation that is intended for a technical audience.

IP

Internet Protocol

Do not spell out.

ISDN

Integrated Services Digital Network

Spell out at the first instance if your audience is unfamiliar with this term.

LAN

Local Area Network

Do not spell out.

LDAP

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

Do not spell out unless your audience is unfamiliar with LDAP or Active Directory.

MAC

Media Access Control

Avoid using MAC as an acronym, unless you are referring to a MAC address. The acronym MAC can be confused with the Mac operating system.

MIS

Management Information Systems

Spell out at the first instance.

NAC

Network Adapter Card

Spell out at the first instance.

NIC

Network Interface Card

Spell out at the first instance.

NTP

Network Time Protocol

Do not spell out. This is a common term, especially for administrators and other technical audiences.

OEM

Original Equipment Manufacturer

Spell out at the first instance if your audience is unfamiliar with this term.

OOM

Out Of Memory

Write out of memory in full or use a similar phrase.

OS

Operating System

In most cases, write operating system in full. You can use the acronym if you are referring to an operating system often or when space is limited in a table or image.

OVA

Open Virtual Appliance

Do not spell out unless your audience is unfamiliar with this term. Administrators and other technical audiences are familiar with OVA files.

PBX

Private Branch Exchange

Do not spell out.

PDF

Portable Document Format

Do not spell out.

PIN

Personal Identification Number

Do not spell out.

PSTN

Public Switched Telephone Network

Do not spell out unless your audience is unfamiliar with this term. The acronym is more common than the full form, especially for technical audiences.

PW

Password

Always spell out.

RAID

Redundant Array of Independent Disks

Do not spell out for technical audiences. The acronym is more common than the full form. Consider defining RAID in a glossary if it is unfamiliar to your audience.

RAM

Random Access Memory

Do not spell out.

RFID

Radio Frequency Identification

Radio Frequency ID

Spell out at the first instance.

RTF

Rich Text Format

Do not spell out unless your audience is unfamiliar with this term.

RTP

Real-Time Transport Protocol

Do not spell out. This is a common term, especially for administrators and other technical audiences.

SaaS

Software as a Service

Do not spell out unless your audience is unfamiliar with this term.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

Do not spell out. This is a common term, especially for administrators and other technical audiences.

SNMP

Simple Network Management Protocol

Do not spell out. This is a common term, especially for administrators and other technical audiences.

SRTP

Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol

Secure RTP

Do not spell out. This is a common term, especially for administrators and other technical audiences.

TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

Do not spell out. This is a common term, especially for administrators and other technical audiences.

UCaaS

Unified Communications as a Service

Do not spell out unless your audience is unfamiliar with this term.

UI

User Interface

Write UI or interface. Do not use GUI.

If required for clarity, specify what kind of interface you are referring to.

URI

Uniform Resource Identifier

Do not spell out unless the term is unfamiliar to your audience.

URL

Uniform Resource Locator

Do not spell out.

VDN

Vector Directory Number

Do not spell out. This is a common term, especially for administrators and other technical audiences.

VM

Virtual Machine

Spell out at the first instance unless you are referring to a name, such as VMware.

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol

Do not spell out. Note that the o in VoIP is lowercase.

WAN

Wide Area Network

Do not spell out unless the term is unfamiliar to your audience.

XML

Extensible Markup Language

Do not spell out.