Security & IT Glossary

CCTV & surveillance

CCTV & video surveillance terms

ADMCC

Abu Dhabi Monitoring and Control Centre — the authority that sets the standards for CCTV and security systems in Abu Dhabi. Commercial premises must use an ADMCC-approved contractor, and ADMCC makes the final approval decision; private villas are treated differently (see do I need approval for villa CCTV).

NVR (Network Video Recorder)

Records footage from IP cameras over the network, with remote viewing and AI features. See NVR vs cloud vs hybrid storage.

DVR (Digital Video Recorder)

Records footage from analogue cameras over coaxial cabling.

ONVIF

An open standard that lets IP cameras and video management software from different brands work together.

VMS (Video Management Software)

A platform that records, manages and analyses many cameras across one or more sites — for example Milestone, Genetec and Avigilon. See our VMS comparison.

ANPR / LPR

Automatic Number Plate Recognition — reads vehicle plates from CCTV to control barriers, log entries and match watchlists. See ANPR systems.

AcuSense

Hikvision's edge-AI feature that classifies people and vehicles to cut false alarms from animals, foliage and lighting.

WizMind / WizSense

Dahua's AI analytics lines for person/vehicle classification, perimeter protection and behaviour detection.

ColorVu / Full-Color

Full-colour low-light camera technology that uses large apertures and warm LEDs to produce colour images at night. See night-vision technologies compared.

PTZ

Pan-Tilt-Zoom — a camera that can rotate, tilt and zoom, often with AI auto-tracking.

WDR (Wide Dynamic Range)

Camera processing that balances very bright and very dark areas in the same scene.

H.264 / H.265

Video compression codecs. H.265 (HEVC) uses roughly half the storage and bandwidth of H.264 for the same image — see the codec comparison.

AI video analytics

On-camera or server software that detects objects, behaviour and events. See AI video analytics and how AI CCTV works.

IP66 / IP67

Ingress-protection ratings for outdoor cameras and readers. IP66 (dust-tight, powerful water jets) is a common choice for exposed outdoor positions; IP67 also withstands temporary immersion, which helps where water can pool. Salt spray at coastal sites affects housing materials and seals, so the rating alone is not the whole answer. See NEMA vs IP ratings explained.

Megapixel (MP) resolution

Camera resolution tiers — commonly 2MP, 4MP and 8MP — chosen by balancing forensic detail against bandwidth and storage cost for each camera position. See the 2MP vs 4MP vs 8MP comparison.

EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance)

RF or AM antenna gates at store exits paired with tag/label deactivation at the till, used for retail loss prevention. Not a SIRA/ADMCC-regulated category. See EAS retail anti-theft systems.

Access control

Access control & biometric terms

Access control

Systems that govern who can open which door, gate or lift using cards, PINs, mobile credentials or biometrics. See biometric access control.

Biometric

Identification by a physical trait — fingerprint, face, iris or palm vein — used for access control and time attendance.

OSDP

Open Supervised Device Protocol — a secure, encrypted (AES-128), bidirectional reader-to-controller standard that replaces legacy Wiegand. See the Wiegand-to-OSDP migration guide.

Wiegand

A legacy one-way reader wiring protocol; unencrypted and being replaced by OSDP for security.

EM lock / Maglock

An electromagnetic lock that holds a door shut with a magnet; fail-safe, so it unlocks on power loss for safe egress. See electric lock types compared.

REX (Request to Exit)

A button or sensor that releases a door from the inside without a credential.

Gate barrier

A boom or barrier that controls vehicle entry, often paired with ANPR. See gate barrier systems.

Anti-passback (APB)

An access-control rule that blocks a credential from re-entering an area without first recording an exit, preventing card-sharing and tailgating on the same badge. See anti-passback & mantrap systems.

Mantrap / Airlock

A single-occupancy vestibule with two interlocked doors that only releases the second once the first is fully closed, often with sensors to block more than one person entering per credential. See mantrap & airlock access control.

Tailgating / Anti-piggyback detection

Overhead depth-sensing detection that counts how many people pass through a door on a single credential swipe and raises a discreet alarm if more than one is detected. See tailgating detection.

Turnstile / Speedgate

Pedestrian access barriers — tripod, full-height and slim flap-barrier speedgates — sized to the required security level, from economical lobby control to high-security perimeter turnstiles. See turnstile & speedgate installation.

MFA (Multi-factor access control)

Combining two or more credential types — card, PIN and biometric — at a single door, scaled from simple two-factor checks up to full three-factor vault-grade access. See multi-factor access control.

NFC/QR checkpoint

Fixed NFC tags or QR codes mounted along a guard's patrol route; scanning each one with a handheld device creates a timestamped, GPS-tagged record of the round on a cloud reporting dashboard. See guard patrol & tour verification.

Networking & IT

Networking, IT & infrastructure terms

ELV (Extra-Low Voltage)

Low-current systems — CCTV, access control, fire alarm, PA, BMS, data and intercom infrastructure in a building. See ELV & smart building.

PoE (Power over Ethernet)

Delivers power and data to cameras and access points over a single network cable. See PoE injector vs PoE switch.

Cat6 / Cat6A

Twisted-pair structured-cabling categories for Gigabit and multi-Gigabit Ethernet; the standard channel limit is 100 metres. See structured cabling.

Fibre optic (OS2 / OM3)

Glass cabling that carries data as light over long distances and is immune to electromagnetic interference. See fibre optic cabling.

VLAN

Virtual LAN — logically separates one physical network into isolated segments for security and performance.

Layer 2 / Layer 3

Switching layers. Layer 2 forwards by MAC address within a VLAN; Layer 3 routes between VLANs and subnets. See L2 vs L3 switches.

NGFW / UTM

Next-Generation Firewall / Unified Threat Management — firewalls that add deep packet inspection, intrusion prevention and application control. See UTM vs NGFW.

SD-WAN

Software-Defined WAN — an application-aware overlay that connects branch sites over broadband and other links, often replacing MPLS. See MPLS vs SD-WAN.

ZTNA

Zero Trust Network Access — grants per-application access based on verified identity, replacing broad legacy VPN access. See ZTNA vs VPN.

NAS / SAN

Network-Attached Storage (file-level) and Storage Area Network (block-level) — two ways to provide shared storage. See NAS vs SAN.

Hypervisor

Software that runs virtual machines on one physical server — VMware vSphere, Hyper-V or Proxmox. See the hypervisor comparison.

RTO / RPO

Recovery Time Objective (how fast you must recover) and Recovery Point Objective (acceptable data loss) — the two disaster-recovery targets. See RTO vs RPO.

BMS (Building Management System)

The plant-monitoring system covering chillers, air-handling units, lifts and water-leak detectors; its alarms can be correlated with the nearest CCTV camera so staff can visually verify an alert before responding. See CCTV-BMS event integration.

UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

Battery backup that keeps servers and network equipment running through a power cut, sized by load and required runtime, with online, line-interactive, N+1 and 2N configurations for higher-availability server rooms. See the UPS sizing guide.

Telephony & compliance

Telephony & compliance terms

PABX / IP-PBX

The private telephone exchange that routes an organisation's calls; modern systems are IP-based. See PABX systems and the 3CX phone system.

SIP

Session Initiation Protocol — the standard that sets up voice and video calls over IP networks and SIP trunks.

AMC (Annual Maintenance Contract)

Scheduled preventive maintenance, support and rapid repairs that keep systems operational year-round. See AMC plans.

UAE PDPL

The UAE Personal Data Protection Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021), which governs personal data — including biometric data, which the law treats as sensitive personal data.

NESA / ADHICS

UAE information-assurance standards — NESA / UAE IA at federal level and ADHICS for Abu Dhabi healthcare — that CCTV and IT systems are aligned to.

WPS (Wages Protection System)

The UAE's mandatory salary-disbursement compliance scheme. Emirtech supplies the biometric time-attendance data feed only — Salary Information File generation and bank submission stay with the customer's own payroll provider. See WPS & time attendance.

Electrical & power

Electrical & power terms

MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker)

A protective device in a distribution board that trips to cut power on an overload or short circuit. See distribution board installation & upgrades, or our guide to a breaker that keeps tripping.

RCD / RCBO

Residual-current protection devices that cut power on an earth leakage fault, protecting against electric shock; tested for correct trip time on every distribution-board handover. See distribution boards, or our guide to RCCB/earth-leakage tripping.

Distribution board (DB)

The panel housing a property's final-circuit and sub-main protection (MCBs, RCDs/RCBOs and surge protection). Emirtech installs single-phase consumer units, sub-main boards and three-phase DBs with balanced phase loading. See distribution board installation.

Single-phase / Three-phase

Two electrical supply configurations. Single-phase suits villas and small units; three-phase distributes larger industrial and commercial loads more evenly across balanced circuits. See single-phase & three-phase wiring.

EV charger connector (Type 2 / CCS)

The vehicle-connector standards used for UAE EV charger installs — Type 2 for AC charging, CCS Combo for DC fast charging — installed to IEC 61851/62196, from 7.4kW single-phase units up to DC fast chargers. See EV charger installation.

Net metering

The utility scheme (DEWA in Dubai; ADDC and AADC in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain) that credits a grid-tied solar system's exported power. Emirtech installs and commissions solar PV; the net-metering application itself is filed by the client's own DoE-Abu Dhabi-licensed solar contractor of record. See solar panel installation.

Home automation

Home automation & smart home terms

KNX

An internationally standardised wired bus protocol for home automation — devices from many manufacturers share one twisted-pair cable and are programmed with a single tool by a certified engineer. Its bus cable must go in before walls close, so it suits new builds and major refits rather than quick retrofits. See the KNX vs Control4 vs smart Wi-Fi comparison.

Control4

A dealer-installed whole-home automation platform unifying lighting scenes, multi-room AV, climate, blinds, locks and cameras under one interface. Core logic runs on a local controller, so scenes keep working through an internet outage. See Control4 home automation.

Zigbee / Z-Wave

Wireless mesh smart-home protocols suited to retrofit and apartment projects — devices are added incrementally over radio with no dedicated cabling, at lower cost but shallower programming depth than KNX or Control4. See home automation solutions.

Automation scene

A preset — such as "Good Morning", "Cinema" or "Away" — that adjusts lighting, blinds, AV and climate simultaneously, either on a schedule or on demand. See Control4 home automation.

Smart lock

A door lock with biometric or remote-access control, integrated into the same automation and security platform as cameras and intrusion alerts. See home automation solutions.

Control4 touchscreen

An in-wall or tabletop panel that turns a room into a single control point for lighting scenes, climate, AV, blinds, security cameras and video door-phone video. See Control4 touchscreens.

Fire & life safety

Fire & life safety terms

ADCD

Abu Dhabi Civil Defence — the authority that inspects and certifies fire-alarm compliance in Abu Dhabi. The compliance certificate is issued only by ADCD after its own inspection, never by the installing contractor. See the ADCD compliance guide.

Conventional fire alarm system

A zone-based, budget-tier panel design that identifies which zone is in alarm, not the individual device — suited to small commercial units, warehouses and low-rise residential buildings. See the fire alarm cost guide.

Addressable fire alarm system

A loop-based system where every detector, call point and sounder reports its own unique address to the panel, pinpointing the exact device in alarm. Commonly specified for commercial and high-rise buildings in Abu Dhabi; confirm the requirement for your building with your fire-alarm contractor and ADCD. See the fire alarm cost guide.

Analogue addressable

An addressable variant where devices report measured smoke or heat values rather than a simple on/off state, giving earlier pre-alarm sensitivity — used in data centres, labs and server rooms.

Aspirating smoke detection (ASD / VESDA)

A premium detection method that actively samples air through sampling pipes for ultra-early smoke detection, used in data centres, laboratories and archival stores.

Cause-and-effect matrix

The documented programming logic linking fire-alarm panel inputs — detectors, call points — to defined outputs such as sounders, door releases and AHU shutdown, required as part of ADCD design submission and commissioning records. See the ADCD compliance guide.

AV & conferencing

AV & conferencing terms

DSP (Digital Signal Processor)

Audio/video processing hardware or software that combines signal processing, routing and control in one platform, commissioned as part of every boardroom AV build. See boardroom AV design.

Ceiling-array / beamforming microphone

A ceiling-mounted microphone that tracks active speakers across a table without desktop units, for clean audio to remote Teams, Zoom or Webex participants. See boardroom AV design.

Teams Rooms / Zoom Rooms / Webex Rooms

Vendor-certified room systems that let a room join its native meeting platform with one touch, with calendar and scheduling integration. See the Teams Rooms vs Zoom Rooms vs Webex comparison.

AV control system

A programmable room-control platform (Crestron, Extron or QSC Q-SYS) driving displays, sources, lighting and blinds from one interface, scaled from simple source switching to fully programmed boardrooms. See boardroom AV design.

Room scheduling panel

A touch panel mounted outside a meeting room showing bookings pulled from Microsoft 365, Zoom or Webex calendars. See Teams Rooms vs Zoom Rooms vs Webex.

Digital signage CMS

The content-management platform used to schedule and push content to displays and monitor screen health across multiple sites. See digital signage solutions.

Websites & web development

Website & web development terms

CMS (Content Management System)

Software that lets non-developers edit a website's pages and content through an admin screen; WordPress is a common example. See our website planning guide.

Hosting

The server space where a website's files and database live so that it can be reached online. Hosting is arranged separately from design and build; see servers and hosting.

Domain name

The web address of a site, such as example.ae, registered through a registrar. It should be registered in your company's name; see the website ownership guide.

SSL certificate

A digital certificate that enables HTTPS, encrypting traffic between visitors and the website and showing the padlock in the browser. It must be renewed before it expires.

Responsive design

A layout approach in which the same page adapts to phone, tablet and desktop screen sizes. See our website redesign page.

Ecommerce

Selling products or services online through a website with a catalogue, cart, checkout and payments. See the website cost guide for what shapes an online-store quote.

Electrical testing & protection

Electrical testing and protection terms

SPD (Surge Protective Device)

A device at the distribution board that diverts voltage spikes from switching or lightning away from your appliances. Our board upgrades include a Type 2 SPD where the installation warrants it; it reduces the risk but cannot guarantee that no appliance is ever damaged. See distribution board upgrades.

Insulation resistance test

A test that measures the resistance of a circuit's cable insulation; a low reading points to damage or moisture. It is part of the test sequence recorded at handover. See electrical inspection and testing.

Earth-loop impedance

A measurement of how easily fault current can flow back through the earth path. It decides whether a breaker or RCD will trip quickly enough when there is a fault.

Polarity test

A check that live, neutral and earth are connected to the right terminals at every socket and switch.

Circuit schedule

A labelled list of every circuit on the distribution board showing what it feeds, handed over with the test sheet so the installation is easy to maintain.

Test sheet

The document that records the measured results for each circuit: continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth-loop impedance and RCD trip-time. It is a condition record, not a stamped consultant certificate. See the new villa handover checklist.

Isolator

A switch that disconnects a piece of equipment, such as an air-conditioning unit or water heater, from its supply so it can be worked on safely.

Thermal imaging (electrical)

Scanning distribution boards and connections with a thermal camera while they carry load, to find hot spots that point to loose connections or overloaded circuits. It complements, and does not replace, electrical testing.

Load balancing

Spreading single-phase loads evenly across the three phases of a three-phase supply so that no phase is overloaded. See electrical wiring and cabling.

Can't find a term, or want it explained for your project? Contact our Abu Dhabi team or request a free consultation — we'll translate the spec into plain language and a written quotation.