Portal:Telephones

The Telephones Portal

A telephone, colloquially referred to as a 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 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 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...)

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Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divisions Verizon Consumer and Verizon Business, and stopped using the Verizon Wireless name. Verizon is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, with 146 million subscribers as of March 31, 2025. It currently has the second-largest network in the United States with their LTE network covering 2.68 million sq. miles of the United States.

The company is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. It was founded in 2000 as a joint venture of American telecommunications firm Bell Atlantic, which would soon become Verizon Communications, and British multinational telecommunications company Vodafone. Verizon Communications became the sole owner in 2014 after buying Vodafone's 45-percent stake in the company.

It operates national 5G and 4G LTE networks covering about 99 percent of the U.S. population, which in the first half of 2024 won top honors in five out of eight categories of the RootMetrics RootScore Reports, along with the most awards in both state and metro testing. Notably, Verizon won the United States Overall and Data RootScore Awards outright, along with outright wins for accessibility and video performance. Verizon Wireless offers mobile phone services through a variety of devices. Its LTE in Rural America Program, with 21 rural wireless carriers participating, covers 2.7 million potential users in 169 rural counties. Verizon Wireless announced in 2015 that it was developing a 5G, or fifth-generation, network. In 2020, 230 million people were able to access Verizon's 5G, or fifth-generation, dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) technology network; by 2024, 250 million people were covered by Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network. (Full article...)

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Types of phones -

A feature phone (also spelled featurephone), brick phone, or dumbphone, refers to a mobile phone with basic functionalities, as opposed to more advanced and modern smartphones. The term has been used for both newly made mobile phones that are not classed as smartphones as well as to refer to older mobile phones from eras before smartphones became ubiquitous.

The functions of feature phones are limited compared to smartphones: they tend to use an embedded operating system with a small and simple graphical user interface (unlike large and complex mobile operating system on a smartphone) and cover general communication basics, such as calling and texting by SMS, although some may include limited smartphone-like features as well. Additionally, they may also evoke the form factor of earlier generation of mobile phones, typically from the 1990s and 2000s, with press-button based inputs and a small non-touch display.

Since the growing use of smartphones and concerns among its addiction, there has been a growing movement of users opting for feature phones as part of a digital detox. This is because feature phones have either limited or no access to apps and social media. (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 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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The TeleZapper is a device designed to reduce the number of telemarketing-related phone calls a household receives by imitating the tone signal normally played by a phone company to indicate a line has been disconnected. The Telezapper was created by Privacy Technologies. (Full article...)

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Related portals

General images -

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

Image 1The Nokia 9110 Communicator, opened for access to keyboard (from Smartphone)
Image 2A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
Image 3People using phones while walking (from Mobile phone)
Image 4Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
Image 5Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
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 7Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone)
Image 8Antonio Meucci, 1849, developing a voice-communication apparatus that several sources credit as the first telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 9E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)
Image 10Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
Image 11A 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 121917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
Image 13The original Apple iPhone; following its introduction in 2007, the common smartphone form factor shifted to large touchscreen software interfaces without physical keypads (from Smartphone)
Image 14A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
Image 15Replica 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 16Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 17A Meizu MX4 with Flyme OS (from Smartphone)
Image 18Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
Image 19Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone)
Image 20Tooltip 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 21Apple iPhone smartphone (from History of the telephone)
Image 22Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)
Image 23Oppo Find X6 features software-based tuning co-developed with Hasselblad (from Smartphone)
Image 24Reis's telephone around 1861, first device called telephone (from History of the telephone)
Image 25A Moto G7 Power; its display uses a tall aspect ratio and includes a "notch". (from Smartphone)
Image 26Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone)
Image 27Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
Image 28A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
Image 29A 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 30Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone)
Image 31The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
Image 321896 telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)
Image 33Mobile/desktop convergence: the Librem 5 smartphone can be used as a basic desktop computer (from Smartphone)
Image 34
Bell prototype telephone stamp
Centennial Issue of 1976
(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 36The LG Prada with a large capacitive touchscreen introduced in 2006 (from Smartphone)
Image 37Several BlackBerry smartphones, which were highly popular in the mid-late 2000s (from Smartphone)
Image 38Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)
Image 39A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
Image 40A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
Image 41A Nexus 6, an Android smartphone, displaying the Main Page of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone)
Image 42A Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, featuring a "hole-punch" camera (from Smartphone)
Image 43Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1–f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
Image 44Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
Image 45A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
Image 46A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
Image 47The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button (from Smartphone)
Image 48Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
Image 49A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
Image 50IBM Simon and charging base (1994) (from Smartphone)
Image 51Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
Image 52A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank) (from Smartphone)
Image 53Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone)
Image 54The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 7, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
Image 55Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
Image 56Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
Image 57Xiaomi 13 Ultra featured a Leica Summicron camera system (from Smartphone)
Image 58"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 59Innocenzo Manzetti considered the idea of a telephone in 1844 (from History of the telephone)
Image 60Actor 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 61Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 62The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has an artificial intelligence-powered feature (from Smartphone)
Image 63Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone)
Image 64Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
Image 65Martin 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)

Selected biography

Bell, c. 1917

Alexander Graham Bell (/ˈɡreɪ.əm/ ^ⓘ; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.

Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech, and both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell's life's work. His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices, which eventually culminated in his being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone, on March 7, 1876. Bell considered his invention an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study.

Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including ground-breaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. Bell also had a strong influence on the National Geographic Society and its magazine while serving as its second president from 1898 to 1903. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
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 Pat Fleet John Draper

Selected images

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

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Telephony

Telecommunications systems

Bulletin board systems

Call centre

Call recording

Telephone crimes

Digital subscriber line

Telephony equipment

Telephone exchanges

Fixed mobile convergence

History of the telephone

Information by telephone

Voice over IP

Local loop

Modems

Telephone numbers

Telephony in popular culture

Privacy of telecommunications

Secure communication

Telephone services

Telephony signals

Telephony software

Telemarketing

Telephone voiceover talent

Telephony stubs

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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

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Solar-powered mobile phones

Mobile phone standards

Mobile phones with stereo camera

Watch phones

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Mobile phones by year of introduction

Mobile phone stubs

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Smartphones

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CyanogenMod

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N-Gage (service) compatible devices

Phablets

S60 (software platform)

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Telephones in the news

7 July 2025 – Ramses Exchange fire: Four people are killed and at least 22 others are injured in a fire at the Ramses Exchange building in Cairo, Egypt. National connectivity data is brought down to 62% of ordinary levels, including banking and phone calls. Trading on the Cairo Stock Exchange is halted the following day. (NOS) (CNN)

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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

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)
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