data access arrangement (DAA)

Data Access Arrangement (DAA) is a protective device for the telephone connection.

A DAA connection protects customer equipment such as modems, fax machines or set-top boxes from the higher voltage of the telephone network. The Federal Communications Commission ( FCC) mandates the Data Access Arrangement for all equipment that connects to the long distance telephone network. On the other hand, the Data Access Arrangement protects the telephone network from devices that do not comply with the recommendations of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).