Portal:Telephones

The Telephones Portal

A telephone, commonly shortened to phone, is a telecommunications device that enables 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 wireless telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones (landline phones). This radio frequency link connects to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, providing access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephony relies on a cellular network architecture, which is why mobile phones are often referred to as 'cell phones' in North America. (Full article...)

A smartphone 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. Smartphones are distinguished from older-design feature phones by their more advanced hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, access to the internet, business applications, mobile payments, and multimedia functionality, including music, video, gaming, radio, and television. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the aggregate of the world's telephone networks that are operated by national, regional, or local telephony operators. It provides infrastructure and services for public telephony. The PSTN consists of telephone lines, fiber-optic cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks, communications satellites, and undersea telephone cables interconnected by switching centers, such as central offices, network tandems, and international gateways, which allow telephone users to communicate with each other.

Originally a network of fixed-line analog telephone systems, the PSTN is now predominantly digital in its core network and includes terrestrial cellular, satellite, and landline systems. These interconnected networks enable global communication, allowing calls to be made to and from nearly any telephone worldwide. Many of these networks are progressively transitioning to Internet Protocol to carry their telephony traffic.

The technical operation of the PSTN adheres to the standards internationally promulgated by the ITU-T. These standards have their origins in the development of local telephone networks, primarily in the Bell System in the United States and in the networks of European ITU members. The E.164 standard provides a single global address space in the form of telephone numbers. The combination of the interconnected networks and a global telephone numbering plan allows telephones around the world to connect with each other. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Types of phones - show another

A secure telephone is a telephone that provides voice security in the form of end-to-end encryption for the telephone call, and in some cases also the mutual authentication of the call parties, protecting them against a man-in-the-middle attack. Concerns about massive growth of telephone tapping incidents led to growing demand for secure telephones.

The practical availability of secure telephones is restricted by several factors; notably politics, export issues, incompatibility between different products (the devices on each side of the call have to use the same protocol), and high (though recently decreasing) price of the devices. (Full article...)

List of phone types

edit

Selected audio - show another

Example of Last-call return from Verizon Home Phone Service

Listen to last-call return (with a fake NANP number, 987-654-3210), voiced by Pat Fleet.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

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...)

More selected audio

List articles

Related portals

General images - show new batch

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

Image 1Martin 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 2A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
Image 3Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1–f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
Image 41917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
Image 5Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
Image 6Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone)
Image 7A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
Image 8E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)
Image 9Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
Image 10Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
Image 11
Bell prototype telephone stamp
Centennial Issue of 1976
(from History of the telephone)
Image 12Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)
Image 13Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (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 151896 telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)
Image 16Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone)
Image 17A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
Image 18A 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 19Reis's telephone around 1861, first device called telephone (from History of the telephone)
Image 20A Nexus 6, an Android smartphone, displaying the Main Page of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone)
Image 21Innocenzo Manzetti considered the idea of a telephone in 1844 (from History of the telephone)
Image 22Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
Image 23The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
Image 24Antonio Meucci, 1849, developing a voice-communication apparatus that several sources credit as the first telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 25A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
Image 26"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 27Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone)
Image 28A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
Image 29The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 7, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
Image 30A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank) (from Smartphone)
Image 31A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
Image 32Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
Image 33Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 34Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 35Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
Image 36Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
Image 37Blackview A60 Andoid Go mobile phone smartphone cell phone showing the front-facing camera is put in notch display (from Smartphone)
Image 38The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has an artificial intelligence-powered feature (from Smartphone)
Image 39A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
Image 40A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
Image 41Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
Image 42A 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 43Replica of the telettrofono at Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci of Milan, Italy, invented by Antonio Meucci and credited by several sources as the first telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 44Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
Image 45Tooltip 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 46People using phones while walking (from Mobile phone)
Image 47Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone)
Image 48Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
Image 49The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button (from Smartphone)
Image 50Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)
Image 51Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
Image 52Apple iPhone smartphone (from History of the telephone)
Image 53Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 54Top of cellular telephone tower (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

Selected images

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

Topics

Subcategories

Category puzzle

Select [►] to view subcategories

Mobile phones

Mobile phones by company

Active noise control mobile phones

Mobile telephone broadcasting

Mobile phone companies

Mobile phone culture

History of mobile phones

Mobile phone industry

Lists of mobile phones

Mobile device management

Mobile device accessory companies

Mobile phones with 4K video recording

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

Mobile phone recycling

Mobile phones by shape

Smartphones

Mobile software

Solar-powered mobile phones

Mobile phone standards

Mobile phones with stereo camera

Watch phones

Works about mobile phones

Mobile phones by year of introduction

Mobile phone stubs

Moved

Select [►] to view subcategories

More

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Stubs : E x p a n d telephone stub articles: Telephony stubs • Mobile phone stubs • Telephone number stubs

WikiProjects

WikiProject Telecommunications
Bell System task force

WikiProject Electronics

Telephones in the news
No recent news

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Purge server cache

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