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 (feature 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 146.8 million subscribers as of March 31, 2026. It has the 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 by Verizon Wireless in April 4, 2000 as a joint venture of American telecommunications firm Bell Atlantic Corporation, 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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A camera phone is a mobile phone that is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built-in digital cameras. It can also send the resulting image wirelessly and conveniently. The first commercial phone with a color camera was the Kyocera Visual Phone VP-210, released in Japan in May 1999. While cameras in mobile phones used to be supplementary, they have been a major selling point of mobile phones since the 2010s.

Most camera phones are smaller and simpler than the separate digital cameras. In the smartphone era, the steady sales increase of camera phones caused point-and-shoot camera sales to peak about 2010, and decline thereafter. The concurrent improvement of smartphone camera technology and its other multifunctional benefits have led to it gradually replacing compact point-and-shoot cameras.

Most modern smartphones only have a menu choice to start a camera application program and an on-screen button to activate the shutter. Some also have a separate camera button for quickness and convenience. A few, such as the 2009 Samsung i8000 Omnia II or S8000 Jet, have a two-level shutter button as in dedicated digital cameras. Some camera phones are designed to resemble separate low-end digital compact cameras in appearance and, to some degree, in features and picture quality, and are branded as both mobile phones and cameras—an example being the 2013 Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom. (Full article...)

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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...)

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

Image 1Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
Image 2Antonio Meucci, 1849, developing a voice-communication apparatus that several sources credit as the first telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 3Mobile payment system (from Smartphone)
Image 4A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
Image 5Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1–f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
Image 6Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
Image 7Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone)
Image 8Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)
Image 9A Nexus 6, an Android smartphone, displaying the Main Page of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone)
Image 10A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
Image 11Actor 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 12Apple iPhone smartphone (from History of the telephone)
Image 13Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)
Image 14A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
Image 15E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)
Image 16A 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 17Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
Image 18Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
Image 19Reis's telephone around 1861, first device called telephone (from History of the telephone)
Image 20A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
Image 211917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
Image 22Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 23Martin 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 24A young woman speaking on a mobile phone in Copenhagen, 2025 (from Mobile phone)
Image 25A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
Image 26A 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 27A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
Image 28Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
Image 29Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone)
Image 30The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has an artificial intelligence-powered feature. (from Smartphone)
Image 31A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
Image 32A pedestrian looking down at a smartphone while crossing a road (from Mobile phone)
Image 33"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 34Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 35Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
Image 36Tooltip 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 37Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
Image 38The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button (from Smartphone)
Image 39Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
Image 40Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010 (from Smartphone)
Image 41Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 42Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
Image 43Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone)
Image 44A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
Image 45A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank) (from Smartphone)
Image 46Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone)
Image 47Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
Image 48Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people (from Mobile phone)
Image 491896 telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)
Image 50Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
Image 51Replica 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 52The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
Image 53The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 7, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
Image 54Blackview A60 Andoid Go mobile phone smartphone cell phone showing the front-facing camera is put in notch display (from Smartphone)
Image 55
Bell prototype telephone stamp
Centennial Issue of 1976
(from History of the telephone)
Image 56Innocenzo Manzetti considered the idea of a telephone in 1844 (from History of the telephone)

Selected biography

Anthony Pollok (c. 1829 – July 4, 1898) was an American patent attorney who, with Marcellus Bailey, helped prepare Alexander Graham Bell's patents for the telephone and related inventions. (Full article...)

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

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Telephones in the news

17 June 2026 –: Afghanistan's Taliban government imposes a ban on smartphone use by government employees, with exemptions requiring approval from supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. (AFP via CTV News)

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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