> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hologram.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Glossary of Hologram temininology

> Plain-language definitions of the terms you'll see across Hologram, including organizations, active SIMs, pre-deployment, monthly recurring charge (MRC), billing types, and the difference between a paused and a suspended SIM.

## Platform and account terms

<ResponseField name="Hologram dashboard">
  Hologram's IoT management portal at [dashboard.hologram.io](https://dashboard.hologram.io) where you manage SIMs, usage, billing, and users. When support refers to "your dashboard," this is the whole app — not a single page. The dashboard is divided into **sections** in the main menu, such as **SIMs**, **Usage**, **Billing**, and **Settings**. See the [dashboard overview](/dashboard/get-started).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Organization">
  The shared account for your company or team, and the single entity that owns SIMs and is billed. An organization is not a "workspace," "team," or "profile" — those aren't Hologram terms. One login can belong to more than one organization, and every user also has a personal organization by default. See [organization details](/dashboard/orgs-and-users/organization-overview).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Account">
  Your business "account" is represented by an **organization**. Billing, SIM management, data usage, and user management is performed at the organization level.

  Your **user account** is your personal login (name, email, password) managed in **Settings → My account**. API keys are associated with a user account. Your user account can be associated with multiple organizations.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Owner">
  The user who owns an organization and is its primary billing contact. Billing notifications are sent to the Owner's email address. See [billing email recipients](/dashboard/billing/billing-email-recipients).
</ResponseField>

## SIM state terms

<ResponseField name="Active SIM">
  Any SIM that able to use data and is registered on the Hologram network, including SIMs in a **Ready**, **Connected**, or **Paused** status. Active SIMs are charged a [monthly recurring charge (MRC)](/guides/billing/breakdown-of-billing-and-sim-charges) whether or not they used data in the current billing period. A SIM becomes active once it is activated. A SIM configured with **Test Mode** is not an active SIM until it exits testing. See [SIM states and statuses](/dashboard/sims/sim-states-and-statuses).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Pre-deployment SIMs">
  This is a blanket term for **all SIMs that have not yet been activated** and are not charged a monthly recurring charge (MRC). This includes Test Mode SIMs **In testing**, **Inactive**, and other SIMs that are not active. See [SIM states and statuses](/dashboard/sims/sim-states-and-statuses).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Paused by user">
  A SIM that a member of your organization manually paused. It cannot send or receive data or SMS until someone resumes it. This is reversible by your team at any time. See [pause or resume SIMs](/dashboard/sim-actions/pause-resume-sims). For organizations with an active contract, these SIMs can qualify for zero-data rates if they use 0 B of data in a billing period.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Paused by system">
  A SIM the system paused automatically because of an insufficient account balance, reaching a data usage limit, reaching an SMS limit, or missing contractual payments. These SIMs resume automatically once the underlying cause is resolved. See [what causes the "Paused by system" status](/guides/troubleshooting/paused-by-system-sim-status).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Suspended SIM">
  The industry term for a "suspended" SIM isn't an exact match for how Hologram's billing works, as Hologram SIMs can operate across multiple mobile cores and profiles. When paused, SIMs are still charged a monthly recurring charge (MRC) unless it was due to missing account balances. Talk with our Sales team to see if you qualify for "suspended rates" (zero-data rates) for SIMs that use 0 bytes of data in a billing period.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Deactivated">
  A SIM that has been permanently deactivated. Deactivated SIMs are not charged a monthly recurring charge, unlike a paused SIM. However, **deactivation is permanent and cannot be undone**. See [deactivate SIMs](/dashboard/sim-actions/deactivate-sims).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="In testing (Test Mode)">
  A pre-deployment state that lets you validate a SIM on the network before it activates. A SIM in testing auto-activates when the testing period ends, it uses 100 KB of data, or it sends 10 SMS messages. See [Test Mode](/guides/sims/test-mode).
</ResponseField>

## Billing terms

<ResponseField name="Monthly recurring charge (MRC)">
  The fixed monthly per-SIM charge that reserves your SIM's access to the network and the Hologram platform. It is billed on a 30-day cycle starting the day the SIM activates, and applies to every active SIM regardless of data usage — including paused SIMs. For **Included data** plans, the MRC also covers the plan's included data. For organizations with monthly invoicing, this charge is billied at the beginning of each calendar month instad. See [breakdown of billing and SIM charges](/guides/billing/breakdown-of-billing-and-sim-charges).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Data usage rate">
  The per-megabyte cost for data, billed by the kilobyte at the close of each session. On **Pay as you go** plans it applies to all usage; on **Included data** plans and **Data pools** it applies only to overage above the included amount. See [breakdown of billing and SIM charges](/guides/billing/breakdown-of-billing-and-sim-charges).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Data usage limit">
  A cap on the data a SIM can use in a billing period. When the SIM reaches it, data usage is paused (the SIM moves to **Paused by system**). Limits are checked at the *close of each data session*, not in real time, so a SIM can pause slightly before or after the exact number.  Data usage limits are checked against the SIM's 30-day billing period that began on the day it was activated (making it an Active SIM), which may not align to billing perios for organizations with monthly invoicing. See [set data usage limits](/dashboard/sim-actions/set-usage-limits).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Billing period">
  The 30-day cycle for a SIM's charges, beginning at the time and day that SIM was activated. This is per-SIM and is separate from the reporting windows in the **Usage** section. See [how billing works](/guides/billing/how-billing-works).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Prepaid vs. postpaid billing">
  Most organizations pay-as-you-go (**prepaid**) for all charges, and draw down from an account balance like a transit card, debit, or checking account. Contracted organizations can instead receive monthly invoices (**postpaid**). See [billing overview](/dashboard/billing/billing-overview).
</ResponseField>

## Reporting terms

<ResponseField name="Recent vs. historical usage">
  **Recent** data usage covers the last 90 days in near-real-time. **Historical** usage covers at least 365 days, updates every 60 minutes, and is available to contracted accounts and self-service accounts with over \$100 USD in monthly recurring charges. Data usage reporting is independent from a SIM's billing period. See [view and track fleet data usage](/dashboard/usage/usage-overview).
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Event">
  A record of something that happened for a SIM. Events include messaging, IMEI changes, data limits reached, Conductor configuration changes, and more. Each event is tracked with event tags you can subscribe to with [alerts](/dashboard/event-monitoring/alerts-and-notifications) to receive **webhook or email notifications**. Per-SIM events appear on the [Events tab](/dashboard/sims/sim-details-events-tab); fleet-wide events appear in [event history](/dashboard/event-monitoring/event-history).

  Events are different from and do not include state changes like activation, deactivations, data plan changes, and SIM or profile state changes.
</ResponseField>

<Note>
  **Note:** Can't find a term? Is something in your dashboard not clear? [Contact our Support team](/guides/get-started/contact-support) and we'll point you to the right page, or send our Product team direct feedback in your dashboard using the **Support menu**.
</Note>