NOC

Meanings

1. 1abbreviationcountablecomputing

   A central room or team where staff watch over a company's network around the clock and fix faults or attacks as they appear.

   Grammar: Said letter by letter, and usually takes an or the: the NOC called us.

   Patterns

   • the NOC monitors something
   • escalate something to the NOC

   When the website went down at midnight, the engineer phoned the NOC to find out what was failing.

   Large screens on the wall of the NOC showed traffic levels across every data center.

   Our NOC works in three shifts so someone is always watching the servers.

2. 2abbreviationcountableIndianformal

   Short for no objection certificate, an official letter saying that a person or body does not object to a particular request or action.

   Grammar: Common in Indian and Gulf English: apply for a NOC.

   Patterns

   • a NOC from someone
   • apply for a NOC

   Before changing jobs she needed a NOC from her previous employer.

   The builder obtained a NOC from the fire department before opening the shop.

3. 3abbreviationcountablesport

   Short for National Olympic Committee, the organization that represents one country within the Olympic movement.

   Grammar: Usually appears with a country code: the Kenyan NOC.

   Patterns

   • the NOC of a country

   Each NOC decides which athletes will travel to the Games.

   The NOC announced its team for the winter competition on Monday.

Word forms

Common combinations

NOC engineer

A NOC engineer spotted the unusual traffic within minutes.

NOC team

The NOC team rotated shifts during the holiday week.

call the NOC

If the link drops, call the NOC straight away.

NOC dashboard

The NOC dashboard turned red when the router failed.

NOC certificate

He submitted the NOC certificate with his visa papers.

Synonyms and how they differ

control room

Control room is a general term for any monitoring space, while NOC specifically means one watching computer networks.

operations center

Operations center is the broader, plain-English phrase; NOC is the short form used by network staff for their own room.

help desk

A help desk answers users' questions, whereas a NOC watches the network itself and normally does not deal with the public.

Word family

SOC abbreviation

security operations center, a similar team focused on threats

network noun

the connected systems a NOC supervises

monitoring noun

the constant watching a NOC performs

Commonly confused: NOC or SOC?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “NOC”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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