Cordless telephone

A cordless telephone or portable telephone is a telephone with a wireless handset which communicates with a base station connected to a fixed telephone landline (POTS) via radio waves and can only be operated close to (typically less than 100 metres of) its base station, such as in and around the house. Unlike a standard telephone, a cordless telephone needs household mains electricity to power the base station. The cordless handset is powered by a battery which is recharged by the base station when the handset is connected to the base station when not in use. There are also some advanced cordless phone systems that can operate without power. In the event of a power outage, the phone will convert itself into a standard telephone that gets its power from the landline. However, in this mode, only a handset attached directly to the base could work. All wireless handsets would not function.

Related Topics:
Telephone - Wireless - Base station - Landline - POTS - Radio waves - Metre - House - Mains electricity - Battery

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Modern cordless telephone standards, like PHS and DECT, have blended the once clear-cut line between cordless and mobile telephones by supporting cell handover, various advanced features like data transfer and even, on a limited scale, international roaming. In these deployment models, base stations are maintained by a commercial mobile network operator and users subscribe to the service.

Related Topics:
PHS - DECT - Handover - Roaming - Mobile network operator

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~