All About Telephone

• The telephone became an important part of modern life in the 20th century. It still has a prominent place in our lives today. It is a global tool of communication and information exchange.
• It was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The first ever telephone appeared in 1877 in Wisconsin.
• Soon people installed this device in their homes. The first phone call was between Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson.
• Bell initially recommended answering the phone with the term ‘ahoy’ but later Thomas Edison suggested the use of ‘hello’.

Working components of Telephone:

Cordless telephones:

• Cordless telephones are devices that take the place of a telephone instrument within a home or office and permit very limited mobility—up to 100 meters (330 feet).
• Because they communicate with a base unit that is plugged directly into an existing telephone jack, they essentially serve as a wireless extension to existing home or office wiring.
• These phones employed either analog modulation, digital modulation, or spread-spectrum modulation.

Personal communication systems:

• In a number of countries throughout the world, a wireless service called the personal communication system (PCS) is available.
• PCS includes all forms of wireless communication that are interconnected with the public switched telephone network, including mobile telephone and aeronautical public correspondence systems.
• The first PCS to be implemented was the second-generation cordless telephony (CT-2) system, which entered service in the United Kingdom in 1991.

• The CT-2 system was designed at the outset to serve as a telepoint system. Because of its limited coverage, the CT-2 system went out of service, giving way to the popular GSM digital cellular system.
• In Japan the Personal Handy-Phone System (PHS), was introduced to the public in 1994. The PHS became popular throughout urban areas as an alternative to cellular systems.
• Supporting data traffic at 32 and 64 kilobits per second, it could perform as a high-speed wireless modem for access to the Internet.

Uses of Telephones in Business:

• Sales: One way that companies use the telephone is to promote sales. Outgoing telemarketing phone calls seek new business.
• Customer Service: Businesses use the telephone to provide technical support and answer billing questions related to the services they provide.
• Training: Businesses sometimes conduct training over the telephone. When a hands-on instruction is not required, this approach can save money on travel costs and other expenses.
• Conference Calls: When two or more departments need to coordinate an effort, the telephone may provide the perfect solution. You can quickly and effectively communicate with each other via a conference call.

Interesting Facts:

• An earlier version of the telephone called ‘teletofrono’ had been registered by an Italian-American inventor Antonio Meucci.
• The first phone book was just one page long. It was published in 1878 just two years after the telephone’s invention.
• In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was offered to sell his invention patent to Western Union for $100,000 but he declined.
• In 1880, Bell invented a wireless phone as well. He used a technology that was a rudimentary version of what we know as fiber optics today.
• Mark Twain was one of the first to have a phone in his home.
• When Bell died in 1922, all phones stopped ringing for one full minute.
• There are roughly 150 million phone lines all over the world. This figure increases by thousands daily.