AAA (Article about Acronyms)—Xerox’s Language of Choice

I find it hard to believe that it was 2002 when the first AAA “Article about Acronyms” was published in ENX Magazine!  Thirteen years…wow.  Amazingly most of the acronyms mentioned in that article are still in play today.  Xerox and other manufacturers have had thirteen long glorious years to create hundreds of new acronyms for us all to scratch our heads over.  I figured it’s high time we return to the subject. It’s time to stop guessing and actually figure out what some of these things stand for.

First off, I should acknowledge that, in all fairness, the acronym in the title of this article “AAA” was already taken, and I don’t mean by the Automobile Association of America.  Xerox has its own idea about what AAA means: “Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting”—try that one on for size.

You can find acronyms right from the start, in the names of the machine models.  It’s now pretty well known that ‘WC’ in front of a model number is short for “WorkCentre,” ‘WCP’ is for “WorkCentre Pro,” and ‘CC’ is for “CopyCentre.”  Then there are some which are preceded by ‘DC’ which meant “DocumentCentre” on many models, although nowadays it usually refers to “DocuColor.”  Also there are a few models which are ‘DCP’ models (Digital Color Press).

The acronyms certainly don’t end there. Equipment and parts are plagued with acronyms.  For example, an ‘SE’ (Service Engineer) or technician, who is equipped with a ‘PWS’ (Portable Work Station) has a clear advantage over other techs.  A PWS is a laptop computer which has special software on it to interface with many of the Xerox copier and printer models.  Fortunately the PWS is not as necessary as it once was.  It is still useful for updating firmware and such, but the days of not being able to get into diagnostics without one are gone (thank goodness for that).  For most newer models, a majority of the diagnostic functions can be accessed from the ‘UI’ (User Interface or control panel).  If you have a drum cartridge, ‘IU’ (Imaging Unit), or ‘CRU’ (Customer Replaceable Unit) which has run its full yield, you’ll want to pick up a ‘CRUM’ (Customer Replaceable Unit Monitor) to reset the drum count and extend the yield of the cartridge.

One thing which has changed a bit over the years are the various market regions which Xerox occasionally redefines.  A few regional acronyms which are relatively new include ‘MX’ for “Modi Xerox” (India), ‘XAP’ for “Xerox Asia Pacific,” and ‘XMEX’ for “Xerox Mexico.”  Perhaps the most confusing market designation is the one called ‘DMO’ (Developing Market Operations) which seems to have constantly shifting borders.  For some series of machines, this region is broken down further into East and West (DMO-E & DMO-W).  The European market used to be called ‘RX’ for “Rank Xerox,” but today that region is instead called ‘XE’ for “Xerox Europe,” or ‘ESG’ for “European Service Group.”

In Europe the laws call for excluding some known hazardous materials from machines and parts.  Parts which follow these rules are said to be ‘ROHS’ compliant (Restriction of Hazardous Substances).

It’s amazing how many acronyms can be found in the text of a service manual which are not defined in the glossary of terms. This glossary is usually found in section 6, “GP,” (General Procedures) in the service manuals.  I guess if every acronym were listed, the books would have to be quite a bit longer.  LOL (Laugh Out Loud).  Ok, I did not need to tell you what LOL meant, did I?   I did eventually find most of the acronyms I was curious about by going through the glossaries of several service manuals.

Where are acronyms really at home?  Computer and IT (Integrated Technology) fields need these because often the names of processes and protocols are very long and cumbersome.  Besides, folks get to learn the acronyms as if they are words of their own.  For example ‘PING’ means “Packet Internet Groper,” but almost anyone even the least bit involved with setting up a computer network will know what it means to “try pinging the controller.”  Another example would be TCP / IP, which sounds a lot more graceful than saying “Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol.”  I guess I get it.  I also can see why someone texting a friend might shorten things to well known acronyms (like that LOL and LMAO).  Beyond that, acronyms are a bit of a nuisance and a way to communicate to a select group of people who have been trained to know what you’re talking about.

Check this list out. Here are about 50 acronym meanings sifted out of a much longer list that I personally found to be the most enlightening. 

ACRONYM LIST:

I think that about covers the subject!  I hope I didn’t miss any really good ones.  Have a great month everyone!  I hope 2015 is treating all of you really well.