busy Hear it!

busy definition - telecom
The condition that exists when a central office (CO), PBX, destination telephone circuit, or other voice telecommunications component is in use at its full capacity and not available to accept additional calls. If a caller attempts to place a call to a device that is in a busy condition, the device returns a busy signal in the backward direction. For a telephone, busy is the same as off hook. See also busy signal.

Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.
Related Discussions (1)
TopicRepliesLatest Post
How busy is Dr. L?166 years ago

Browse Forums