Portal:Telephones

The Telephones Portal

A rotary dial telephone, c. 1940s

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.

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...)

The Samsung Galaxy Z series are foldable smartphones

A mobile phone (cellphone, etc.) 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, video games and digital photography. Mobile phones offering only basic capabilities are known as feature phones; mobile phones which offer greatly advanced computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones. (Full article...)

A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone functions and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from older-design feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which facilitate wider software, access to the internet (including web browsing over mobile broadband), and multimedia functionality (including music, video, cameras, and gaming), alongside core phone functions such as voice calls and text messaging. Smartphones typically contain a number of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) chips, include various sensors that can be leveraged by pre-installed and third-party software (such as a magnetometer, a proximity sensor, a barometer, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and more), and support wireless communication protocols (such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or satellite navigation). More recently, smartphone manufacturers have begun to integrate satellite messaging connectivity and satellite emergency services into devices for use in remote regions where there is no reliable cellular network. (Full article...)

Selected article -

The National Do Not Call Registry is a database maintained by the United States federal government, listing the telephone numbers of individuals and families who have requested that telemarketers not contact them. Certain callers are required by federal law to respect this request. Separate laws and regulations apply to robocalls in the United States.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) opened the National Do Not Call Registry in order to comply with the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003 (Pub. L. 108–10 (text) (PDF), was H.R. 395, and codified at 15 U.S.C. § 6101 et seq.), sponsored by Representatives Billy Tauzin and John Dingell and signed into law by President George W. Bush on March 11, 2003. The law established the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry in order to facilitate compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. A guide by FTC addresses a number of cases.

Registration for the Do-Not-Call list began on June 27, 2003, and enforcement started on October 1, 2003. Since January 1, 2005, telemarketers covered by the registry have up to 31 days (initially the period was 90 days) from the date a number is registered to cease calling that number. Originally, phone numbers remained on the registry for a period of five years, but are now permanent because of the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, effective February 2008. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Types of phones -

A mobile radio telephone

Mobile radio telephone systems were mobile telephony systems that preceded modern cellular network technology. Since they were the predecessors of the first generation of cellular telephones, these systems are sometimes retroactively referred to as pre-cellular (or sometimes zero generation, that is, 0G) systems. Technologies used in pre-cellular systems included the Push to Talk (PTT or manual), Mobile Telephone Service (MTS), Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS), and Advanced Mobile Telephone System (AMTS) systems. These early mobile telephone systems can be distinguished from earlier closed radiotelephone systems in that they were available as a commercial service that was part of the public switched telephone network, with their own telephone numbers, rather than part of a closed network such as a police radio or taxi dispatching system.

These mobile telephones were usually mounted in cars or trucks (thus called car phones), although portable briefcase models were also made. Typically, the transceiver (transmitter-receiver) was mounted in the vehicle trunk and attached to the "head" (dial, display, and handset) mounted near the driver seat.

They were sold through WCCs (Wireline Common Carriers, a.k.a. telephone companies), RCCs (Radio Common Carriers), and two-way radio dealers. (Full article...)

List of phone types
Payphone Courtesy telephone Emergency 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 Foldable smartphone Modular smartphone Prepaid mobile phone

Selected audio -

Last-call return, automatic recall, or (on PBX and centrex service) camp-on, is a telecommunication feature offered by telephony service providers to subscribers to provide the subscriber with the telephone number, and sometimes the time, of the last caller. The service may also offer the facility to place a call to the calling party. (Full article...)

List articles

Related portals

General images -

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

Image 1The Huawei P30 features three rear-facing camera lenses with Leica optics. (from Smartphone)
Image 2
Bell prototype telephone stamp
Centennial Issue of 1976
(from History of the telephone)
Image 3Several BlackBerry smartphones, which were highly popular in the mid-late 2000s (from Smartphone)
Image 4A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
Image 5A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
Image 6Antonio Meucci, 1854, constructed telephone-like devices. (from History of the telephone)
Image 7Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1-f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
Image 8A person using a Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone. (from Smartphone)
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 10Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
Image 11Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
Image 12Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola 8900X-2 to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
Image 13Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
Image 14A 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 15Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone)
Image 16E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)
Image 17A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
Image 18Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
Image 19A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
Image 20Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)
Image 21A 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 22Antonio Meucci's telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 23A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank). (from Smartphone)
Image 24A Moto G7 Power; its display uses a tall aspect ratio and includes a "notch". (from Smartphone)
Image 25Martin 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 26The Nokia 9110 Communicator, opened for access to keyboard (from Smartphone)
Image 27The LG Prada with a large capacitive touchscreen introduced in 2006 (from Smartphone)
Image 28The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button. (from Smartphone)
Image 29A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
Image 30Modern Apple iPhone. This phone is considered a smartphone (from History of the telephone)
Image 31The Nokia 9 PureView features a five-lens camera array with Zeiss optics, using a mixture of color and monochrome sensors. (from Smartphone)
Image 32Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
Image 33Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
Image 34Old Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
Image 35Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. (from Mobile phone)
Image 36Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone)
Image 37Actor portraying Alexander Graham Bell in a 1926 silent film. Shows Bell's first telephone transmitter (microphone), invented 1876 and first displayed at the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia. (from History of the telephone)
Image 38People using phones while walking (from Mobile phone)
Image 391917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
Image 40Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone)
Image 41A Meizu MX4 with Flyme OS (from Smartphone)
Image 42The original Apple iPhone; following its introduction the common smartphone form factor shifted to large touchscreen software interfaces without physical keypads (from Smartphone)
Image 43A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
Image 44Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 45A Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, featuring a "hole-punch" camera (from Smartphone)
Image 46Mobile/desktop convergence: the Librem 5 smartphone can be used as a basic desktop computer (from Smartphone)
Image 47Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone)
Image 48"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 49IBM Simon and charging base (1994) (from Smartphone)
Image 50Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone)
Image 51The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 10, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
Image 52A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
Image 53Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 54The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
Image 55Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
Image 56This 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 57Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
Image 58Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)
Image 59Tooltip in Kiwi Browser, a Google Chromium derirative, reveals the full URL by hovering over the tab list using the stylus on a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. (from Smartphone)
Image 60A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
Image 61Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
Image 621896 Telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)

Selected biography

Thomas C. Cowherd (March 20, 1817 – April 4, 1907) was a British-born tinsmith and poet, and father to 16 children in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, including James H. Cowherd, the second earliest manufacturer of telephones to Alexander Graham Bell. (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) Gardiner Greene Hubbard Anthony Pollok Thomas A. Watson Elisha Gray George Sweigert Pat Fleet John Draper

Selected images

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

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Telephony

Telecommunications systems

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Call centre companies

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Digital subscriber line

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Fixed mobile convergence

History of the telephone

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Mobile phones

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Mobile phones with 8K video recording

Mobile phones with an integrated hardware keyboard

Mobile phones with infrared transmitter

Mobile phones with mechanical zoom lens

Mobile phones with pressure-sensitive touch screen

Mobile phones with self-capacitive touch screen layer

Mobile phones with stylus

Mobile phones with user-replaceable battery

Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras

Open-source mobile phones

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Telephones in the news

23 April 2023 –: The United Kingdom launches its UK Emergency Alert System, sending a test emergency population warning to all 4G and 5G mobile phones for the first time. Many people do not receive the alert, particularly users of the Three mobile network. The Cabinet Office acknowledges that the emergency alert did not reach some people, saying that it is "reviewing the test". (BBC News)

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Telephony
Types	Landline Mobile phone Satellite phone Photophone
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

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) 123 (Colombia, Egypt) 128 (Mercosur member states) 190 (Brazil) 911 (Iraq, North America E-911 system, Philippines) 988 (United States Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) 999 (UK and others) 1122 (Pakistan)
Telephones portal Telecommunication portal List article Category Wikimedia Commons