Portal:Telephones

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The Telephones Portal

A telephone 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 Greek: τῆλε (tēle, far) and φωνή (phōnē, voice), together meaning distant voice. A common short form of the term is phone, which came into use early in the telephone's history. Nowadays, phones are almost always in the form of smartphones or mobile phones, due to technological convergence.

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 cellphone) 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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The Western Electric hand telephone sets comprise a series of telephones that were produced from 1927 by the Western Electric Company for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) and the Bell System. The series features the mouthpiece (transmitter) and the earpiece (receiver) combined into a hand-held unit, originally named a hand telephone, or handset. The handset would be held against the ear and in front of the mouth simultaneously, in contrast to earlier telephones in the Bell System where only the receiver was held against the ear, while the user spoke into a fixed transmitter mounted on a telephone stand or wall telephone.

Hand telephone sets consist of three principal parts: the handset, a handset mounting, and an apparatus box, called variously desk set box, bell box, subscriber set, or just subset. This box is typically mounted on a wall or desk-side, and contains an electromagnetic bell ringer and a speech transformer, called induction coil, to connect the telephone to the telephone line wiring. The handset mounting is either a desk-top stand to cradle and secure the handset when not in use, or a small box mounted against a vertical surface or wall that featured a switch-hook for hanging the handset.

Other American and foreign telephone manufacturers had already produced this type of telephone, often referred to as French phone. In the Bell System, hand telephones formally replaced the hitherto used deskstand, colloquially called candlestick, by the end of the 1920s, although reconditioned candlestick telephones remained in service for at least another two decades. (Full article...)

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A VoIP phone or IP phone uses voice over IP technologies for placing and transmitting telephone calls over an IP network, such as the Internet. This is in contrast to a standard phone which uses the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Digital IP-based telephone service uses control protocols such as the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP) or various other proprietary protocols. (Full article...)

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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 1E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)
Image 2Tooltip 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 31896 Telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)
Image 4Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
Image 5The LG Prada with a large capacitive touchscreen introduced in 2006 (from Smartphone)
Image 6This 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 7Antonio Meucci, 1854, constructed telephone-like devices. (from History of the telephone)
Image 8A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
Image 9A 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 10The Nokia 9110 Communicator, opened for access to keyboard (from Smartphone)
Image 11A 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 12A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
Image 13A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank) (from Smartphone)
Image 14Several BlackBerry smartphones, which were highly popular in the mid-late 2000s (from Smartphone)
Image 15Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
Image 16Martin 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 17Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
Image 18Apple iPhone smartphone (from History of the telephone)
Image 19The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
Image 20Actor 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 21Mobile/desktop convergence: the Librem 5 smartphone can be used as a basic desktop computer (from Smartphone)
Image 22The back of a Huawei P30. It features three rear-facing camera lenses with Leica optics. (from Smartphone)
Image 23Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1-f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
Image 24"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 25Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
Image 26Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
Image 27Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone)
Image 28The 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 29A Meizu MX4 with Flyme OS (from Smartphone)
Image 301917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
Image 31People using phones while walking (from Mobile phone)
Image 32The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 10, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
Image 33A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
Image 34Antonio Meucci's telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 35Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 36A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
Image 37Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
Image 38A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
Image 39Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 40Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 41Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone)
Image 42A Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, featuring a "hole-punch" camera (from Smartphone)
Image 43The original Apple iPhone; following its introduction the common smartphone form factor shifted to large touchscreen software interfaces without physical keypads (from Smartphone)
Image 44A Moto G7 Power; its display uses a tall aspect ratio and includes a "notch". (from Smartphone)
Image 45A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
Image 46Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
Image 47Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
Image 48A smartphone displaying the homepage of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone)
Image 49Old Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
Image 50The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button (from Smartphone)
Image 51Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)
Image 52Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone)
Image 53Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone)
Image 54A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
Image 55Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone)
Image 56Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola 8900X-2 to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
Image 57Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)
Image 58Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
Image 59IBM Simon and charging base (1994) (from Smartphone)
Image 60A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
Image 61Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone)
Image 62
Bell prototype telephone stamp
Centennial Issue of 1976
(from History of the telephone)

Selected biography

Tivadar Puskás de Ditró (in older English technical literature: Theodore Puskás) (17 September 1844 – 16 March 1893) was a Hungarian inventor, telephone pioneer, and inventor of the telephone exchange. He was also the founder of Telefon Hírmondó. (Full article...)

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

Selected images

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

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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