Telephone

:This article is about telephone technology. For the game of telephone, see Telephone (game). For the band, see Téléphone.

Related Topics:
Telephone (game) - Téléphone

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The telephone or phone (Greek: tele = far away and phone = voice) is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sound (most commonly voice and speech) through great distances. Most telephones operate by means of electric signals over a complex public switched telephone network of equipment which allows almost any phone user to speak to almost any other.

Related Topics:
Greek - Telecommunication - Public switched telephone network

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Until relatively recently the word telephone could generally be assumed to refer to a landline phone. Now, cordless telephones and cell phones have become sufficiently common that no such presumption can be made. There are four principal means by which telephone signals are transmitted: through a traditional landline which uses physical dedicated wire connections; wireless or Radiotelephony, which transmits messages using either analog or digital radio signals; satellite telephones which bounce signals off of telecommunications satelites; and voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephones, which use broadband internet cables.

Related Topics:
Cordless telephone - Cell phone - Landline - Radiotelephony - Radio - Satellite - Voice over internet protocol - Broadband

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The electric telephone is attributed to various inventors. The actual history is a subject of complex dispute. Among others Antonio Meucci, Philip Reis, and Alexander Graham Bell are all credited with inventing.

Related Topics:
Antonio Meucci - Philip Reis - Alexander Graham Bell

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