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...)

The Samsung Galaxy Z series are foldable smartphones.

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...)

Selected article -

The telephone booth, November 2012

The Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth is a telephone booth installed at the southwest corner of East Douglas and Parker Streets in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, United States. It is an early example of the Airlight, the first American mass-produced weather-resistant metal telephone booth, which made possible widespread installation of outdoor payphones. In 2015, it became the first phone booth on the National Register of Historic Places. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Types of phones -

Grillo telephone designed by Richard Sapper and Marco Zanuso

The Grillo telephone is a 1960s flip-phone telephone from Italy. It was designed by Richard Sapper and Marco Zanuso, and manufactured by Siemens for Italtel. Introduced in 1966, the "Grillo" remained in production until 1979, and was a popular and iconic symbol of 1960s Italian design. (Full article...)

List of phone types

Selected audio -

The reorder tone, also known as the fast busy tone, or the congestion tone, or all trunks busy (ATB) tone is an audible call progress tone in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) that is returned to a calling party to indicate that the call cannot be processed through the network. (Full article...)

List articles

Related portals

General images -

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

Image 1Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1–f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
Image 2Replica 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 3Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
Image 4Reis's telephone around 1861, first device called telephone (from History of the telephone)
Image 5Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 6E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)
Image 7Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
Image 8A 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 9Mobile payment system (from Smartphone)
Image 10A 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 11Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 12A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
Image 131896 telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)
Image 14Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
Image 15Tooltip 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 16Innocenzo Manzetti considered the idea of a telephone in 1844 (from History of the telephone)
Image 17Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
Image 18The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has an artificial intelligence-powered feature. (from Smartphone)
Image 19A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
Image 20A young woman speaking on a mobile phone in Copenhagen, 2025 (from Mobile phone)
Image 21A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
Image 22The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 7, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
Image 23Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone)
Image 24A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank) (from Smartphone)
Image 25Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010 (from Smartphone)
Image 26The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button (from Smartphone)
Image 27"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 28Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone)
Image 29A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
Image 30Actor 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 31Antonio Meucci, 1849, developing a voice-communication apparatus that several sources credit as the first telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 32
Bell prototype telephone stamp
Centennial Issue of 1976
(from History of the telephone)
Image 33A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
Image 34Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
Image 35Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone)
Image 36Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
Image 371917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
Image 38Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 39A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
Image 40The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
Image 41Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)
Image 42A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
Image 43Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
Image 44Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
Image 45Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
Image 46Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
Image 47A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
Image 48Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
Image 49A Nexus 6, an Android smartphone, displaying the Main Page of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone)
Image 50Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)

Selected biography

"A shirt pocket phone to call anyone in the world, at any time" - George Harry Sweigert, The Plain Dealer (June 1966)

George H. Sweigert (1920–1999) is credited as the first inventor to patent the cordless telephone.

Born in Akron, Ohio, Sweigert served five years in the US Army as a radio operator in World War II in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Fiji and New Georgia assigned to the 145th Headquarters Company under the 37th Infantry Division (United States). Following the war, Sweigert attended Bowling Green State University near Toledo, Ohio.

Sweigert credited his military experience for invention of the cordless telephone, citing experimentation with various antennas, signal frequencies, and types of radios. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

Selected images

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

Topics

Subcategories

Category puzzle

Select [►] to view subcategories

Mobile phones

Mobile phones by company

Mobile phones by shape

Mobile phones by year of introduction

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

Smartphones

Mobile software

Solar-powered mobile phones

Mobile phone standards

Mobile phones with stereo camera

Watch phones

Works about mobile phones

Mobile phone stubs

Moved

Select [►] to view subcategories

Smartphones

Smartphones by brand

Smartphones by operating system

CyanogenMod

Discontinued smartphones

Flagship smartphones

Foldable smartphones

Japan-exclusive smartphones

Mobile software

Modular smartphones

MyTouch

N-Gage (service) compatible devices

Phablets

S60 (software platform)

Smartphone operating systems

Smartphone patent wars

Videotelephony

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
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Telephony
Types	Landline Mobile telephony Cable telephony Photophone
Accessories	Answering machine Caller ID
Connectivity	Cable protection system Cellular network Communications satellites Fibre-optical Free-space optical ISDN Mobile phone signal POTS PSTN Submarine cables Telecommunication circuit Telephone exchange Business telephone system Telephone network VoIP
Calls	Missed call Misdialed call Nuisance call Phone tag Call screening
Calling	Telephone Mobile phone Satellite phone Payphone Call setup Clearing Dialling Dial tone Direct distance dialing DTMF signaling International direct dialing Pulse dialing Push-button telephone Rotary dial Telephone keypad Operator assistance
Numbers	Telephone directory Telephone exchange names Telephone number Emergency telephone number Toll-free telephone number Telephone numbering plan Vertical service code
Applications	Fax transmission Telephone calls International call Local call Long-distance calling Telephone newspapers Théâtrophone Video calls
History	History of the telephone Invention of the telephone Timeline of the telephone History of mobile phones History of videotelephony Carrier telephony Party line Phreaking Telephone switchboard Switchboard operator
Telecommunication portal Telephones 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)
Telephones portal Telecommunication portal List article Category Wikimedia Commons