Portal:Telephones

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A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into electronic signals that are transmitted via cables and other communication channels to another telephone which reproduces the sound to the receiving user. The term is derived from Ancient Greek: τῆλε, romanized: tēle, lit. 'far' and φωνή (phōnē, voice), together meaning distant voice.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be granted a United States patent for a device that produced clearly intelligible replication of the human voice at a second device. This instrument was further developed by many others, and became rapidly indispensable in business, government, and in households. (Full article...)

A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while the user is moving within a telephone service area, as opposed to a fixed-location phone (landline phone). The radio frequency link establishes a connection to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, which provides access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephone services use a cellular network architecture, and therefore mobile telephones are called cellphones (or "cell phones") in North America. In addition to telephony, digital mobile phones support a variety of other services, such as text messaging, multimedia messaging, email, Internet access (via LTE, 5G NR or Wi-Fi), short-range wireless communications (infrared, Bluetooth), satellite access (navigation, messaging connectivity), business applications, payments (via NFC), multimedia playback and streaming (radio, television), digital photography, and video games. Mobile phones offering only basic capabilities are known as feature phones (slang: "dumbphones"); mobile phones that offer greatly advanced computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones. (Full article...)

A smartphone, often simply called a phone, is a mobile device that combines the functionality of a traditional mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multimedia playback and streaming. Smartphones have built-in cameras, GPS navigation, and support for various communication methods, including voice calls, text messaging, and internet-based messaging apps. (Full article...)

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A telephone exchange, also known as a telephone switch or central office, is a crucial component in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or large enterprise telecommunications systems. It facilitates the interconnection of telephone subscriber lines or digital system virtual circuits, enabling telephone calls between subscribers.

The terminology used in telecommunications has evolved over time, with telephone exchange and central office often used interchangeably, the latter term originating from the Bell System. A central office typically refers to a facility that houses the inside plant equipment for one or several telephone exchanges, each catering to a specific geographical region. This region is sometimes known as the exchange area. In North America, the term wire center may be used to denote a central office location, indicating a facility that provides a telephone with a dial tone. Telecommunication carriers also define rate centers for business and billing purposes, which in large cities, might encompass clusters of central offices to specify geographic locations for distance measurement calculations.

In the 1940s, the Bell System in the United States and Canada introduced a nationwide numbering system that identified central offices with a unique three-digit code, along with a three-digit numbering plan area code (NPA code or area code), making central office codes distinctive within each numbering plan area. These codes served as prefixes in subscriber telephone numbers. The mid-20th century saw similar organizational efforts in telephone networks globally, propelled by the advent of international and transoceanic telephone trunks and direct customer dialing. (Full article...)

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An emergency telephone is a phone specifically provided for making calls to emergency services and is most often found in a place of special danger or where it is likely that there will be a need to make emergency calls. It is also sometimes known as blue lights. (Full article...)

List of phone types
Payphone Courtesy telephone Secure telephone Smartphone Mobile phone Satellite phone Phablet Car phone Windows Phone Camera phone Feature phone VoIP phone iPhone Tin can telephone Sound-powered telephone Grillo telephone Golden telephone Reis telephone Cordless telephone Shoe phone Field telephone IBM Simon Mobile radio telephone Foldable smartphone Modular smartphone Prepaid mobile phone

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Example of a North American busy signal

Listen to a busy signal from North America.

Example of an old North American busy signal

Listen to a busy signal from North America used prior to 1980.

Example of a European busy signal

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Example of a French busy signal

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Example of a United Kingdom busy signal

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A busy signal (or busy tone or engaged tone) in telephony is an audible call-progress tone or audible signal to the calling party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection of that particular telephone call. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various telephone-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1
Bell prototype telephone stamp
Centennial Issue of 1976
(from History of the telephone)
Image 2The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button (from Smartphone)
Image 3A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
Image 4The Nokia 9110 Communicator, opened for access to keyboard (from Smartphone)
Image 5A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
Image 6Tooltip in Kiwi Browser, a Google Chromium derivative, reveals the full URL by hovering over the tab list using the stylus on a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. (from Smartphone)
Image 7Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)
Image 8Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1-f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
Image 9Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 10Several BlackBerry smartphones, which were highly popular in the mid-late 2000s (from Smartphone)
Image 11The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
Image 12Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
Image 13Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)
Image 14Actor portraying Alexander Graham Bell in a 1932 silent film. Shows Bell's second telephone transmitter (microphone), invented 1876 and first displayed at the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia. (from History of the telephone)
Image 15E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)
Image 16Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
Image 17Apple iPhone smartphone (from History of the telephone)
Image 18Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
Image 19The back of a Nokia 9 PureView. It features a five-lens camera array with Zeiss optics, using a mixture of color and monochrome sensors. (from Smartphone)
Image 20Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
Image 21Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 22A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
Image 23This layout of the camera viewfinder was first introduced by Apple with iOS 7 in 2013. Towards the late 2010s, several other smartphone vendors have ditched their layouts and implemented variations of this layout. (from Smartphone)
Image 24Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
Image 25Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone)
Image 26Mobile/desktop convergence: the Librem 5 smartphone can be used as a basic desktop computer (from Smartphone)
Image 27Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
Image 28A sign in the US restricting cell phone use to certain times of day (no cell phone use between 7:30–9:00 am and 2:00–4:15 pm) (from Mobile phone)
Image 29Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone)
Image 30A sign along Bellaire Boulevard in Southside Place, Texas (Greater Houston) states that using mobile phones while driving is prohibited from 7:30 am to 9:00 am and from 2:00 pm to 4:15 pm. (from Smartphone)
Image 31The back of a Huawei P30. It features three rear-facing camera lenses with Leica optics. (from Smartphone)
Image 32Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone)
Image 33A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
Image 34IBM Simon and charging base (1994) (from Smartphone)
Image 35Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
Image 361917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
Image 37Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
Image 38Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 39Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
Image 40A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank) (from Smartphone)
Image 41The original Apple iPhone; following its introduction the common smartphone form factor shifted to large touchscreen software interfaces without physical keypads (from Smartphone)
Image 42The LG Prada with a large capacitive touchscreen introduced in 2006 (from Smartphone)
Image 43People using phones while walking (from Mobile phone)
Image 44Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
Image 45"Device options" menu of Samsung Mobile's TouchWiz user interface as of 2013, accessed by holding the power button for a second (from Smartphone)
Image 46A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
Image 47A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
Image 48Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone)
Image 49Antonio Meucci, 1854, constructed telephone-like devices. (from History of the telephone)
Image 50Martin Cooper of Motorola, shown here in a 2007 reenactment, made the first publicized handheld mobile phone call on a prototype DynaTAC model on 3 April 1973. (from Mobile phone)
Image 51Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone)
Image 52A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
Image 53Antonio Meucci's telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 54A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
Image 55The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 10, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
Image 56A Moto G7 Power; its display uses a tall aspect ratio and includes a "notch". (from Smartphone)
Image 57A Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, featuring a "hole-punch" camera (from Smartphone)
Image 581896 Telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)
Image 59Old Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
Image 60A smartphone displaying the homepage of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone)
Image 61A Meizu MX4 with Flyme OS (from Smartphone)
Image 62Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone)

Selected biography

Fleet in studio, 2008

Pat Trumble Fleet is an American voice actress. Widely recognized for the tens of thousands of recordings she has made for US telephone companies such as AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, the former Bell System companies, and others since 1981, she is still most recognized as the person who says "AT&T" in the company's sound trademark, which played prior to any operator assisted or credit card paid call, and on answer when calling AT&T customer service numbers.

She is also the voice for most "star" services (e.g. last-call return, call blocking, etc.) for AT&T local telephone companies, and the voice heard when making AT&T handled calls through 1-800-CALL-ATT (225-5288) and through international AT&T access numbers such as USADirect. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
Alexander Graham Bell Thomas Edison Innocenzo Manzetti Charles Bourseul Johann Philipp Reis Antonio Meucci Tivadar Puskás Douglas H. Ring W. Rae Young Martin Cooper (inventor) Thomas Cowherd Gardiner Greene Hubbard Anthony Pollok Thomas A. Watson Elisha Gray George Sweigert John Draper

Selected images

Image 1Track-side emergency brake and emergency telephones at the platform of the metro station Aspern Nord, Donaustadt, Vienna, Austria
Image 2Foldable smartphones
Image 3Public telephone, Bucharest, Romania
Image 4Photograph of the interior of the Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Image 5Push-button telephone
Image 6A historic telephone booth in Skansen, Stockholm
Image 7Emergency telephones, on the Paris-Bordeaux railway line, Saint-Saviol station, Vienne, France
Image 8A Funke + Huster telephone inside the Idrija Mine, Slovenia
Image 9An Italian gettone telefonico (telephone token) from 1945, which was used in Italian phone booths
Image 10Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French
Image 11Apple iPhones
Image 12A police box outside Earl's Court tube station in London, built in 1996 and based on the 1929 Gilbert Mackenzie Trench design
Image 13Telephone booth box art outside the Tower of London, 2012
Image 14Automatic electric Rotary dial telephone
Image 15Android smartphones
Image 16The AUTOVON was a worldwide American military telephone system that was built starting in 1963.
Image 17Mailbox and public telephone in Haßfurt, Germany
Image 18A Western Electric candlestick phone from the 1920s
Image 19A traditional North American rotary phone dial. The associative lettering was originally used for dialing named exchanges but was kept because it facilitated memorization of telephone numbers.
Image 20Landline call blocking in use
Image 21Wooden wall telephone with a hand-cranked magneto generator
Image 22Historical telephone with the German imperial eagle and the heraldic shield of the House of Hohenzollern dynasty; Vollmer's Mill, Seebach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Image 23Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French
Image 24A cordless phone
Image 25Acoustic telephone ad, The Consolidated Telephone Co., Jersey City, New Jersey, 1886
Image 26An example of a K6, the most common red telephone box model, photographed in London in 2012
Image 27A Northern Electric telephone, model number N415H, circa 1950 (probably)
Image 28A Bell Canada payphone with digital display

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WikiProject Telecommunications
Bell System task force

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Telephones in the news

2 July 2024 –: Floods in northern Myanmar trap thousands of people in their homes and cause power outages and disruptions to telephone services. (Barron's)

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v t e Telephony
Types	Landline Cable telephony Mobile phone Satellite phone Photophone
Accessories	Answering machine Caller ID
Connectivity	Cable protection system Communications satellites Fibre-optical Free-space optical ISDN Mobile phone signal POTS PSTN Submarine cables VoIP
Calls	Missed call Misdialed call Nuisance call Phone tag
Applications	Fax transmission Telephone calls Telephone newspapers Théâtrophone Video calls
Telecommunication portal Telephones portal

v t e Emergency telephone numbers
Emergency telephone Harmonised service of social value
000 (Australia) 102 (India) 106 (Australia) 108 (India) 110 (Iran, Japan, China) 111 (New Zealand) 112 (Europe and others, worldwide GSM mobile networks) 119 (parts of Asia and Jamaica) 120 (China) 122 (Austria, Egypt, and Bosnia and Herzegovina) 123 (Colombia, Egypt) 128 (Mercosur member states) 190 (Brazil) 911 (Iraq, North America E-911 system, Philippines) 988 (North America Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) 999 (Bangladesh, UK and others) 1122 (Pakistan)
Telephones portal Telecommunication portal List article Category Wikimedia Commons