Future Telephony

What Is Telephony?

Telephony is something that impacts the lives of just about everyone on a daily basis. Here are some basics about telephony, as well as some history about the development of voice communications.

In its simplest form, telephony is simply a collective term for all types of voice equipment that are designed to allow interactive communication between two points. The most commonly identified piece of telephony equipment is the telephone itself. Considered to be an essential in just about every residence and in all businesses, the telephone provides basic point to point audio communication that many of us have come to rely on extensively during the course of the day.

Along with telephones, telephone switching systems or telephone exchanges allow for the processing of all our telephone calls. The basic framework for a telephone calls involves a point of origin, which initiates a signal to a switch that the subscriber wishes to place a call. The switch accepts the inbound signal and delivers the call to the subscriber whom the original caller wishes to speak with, also called the point of termination.

Past Telephone



Bell's Box Telephone of 1877

The first commercial telephone used by Alexander Graham Bell was based on his patent of January 1877. The telephone consisted of a single transmitter/receiver placed within a retangular wooden box. One would speak into the opening in the box and then listen through the same opening. This telephone had essentially the same design as the patent drawing except for the shape. The the patent drawing had a round shape rather than squared.

Two or more of these box phones were connected in series on a line with a ground return. The first telephone line was installed in April 1877 between Charles William's electrical shop on Court Street, Boston and his home about three miles away. A month later the first rented installations were made making this line the first commercial telephone service.

Present Telephone

A videophone, also known by the trademarked name Picturephone, is a telephone which is capable of both audio and video duplex transmission. It differs from videoconferencing in that it expects to serve individuals, not groups.


A pay phone or payphone is a public telephone, with payment by inserting money (usually coins) or a credit card (a special telephone card or a multi-purpose card) or debit card before a call is made. Some telephone companies have termed them, and tried (unsuccessfully) to get the public to identify them as "coin phones", because the term "pay phone" may imply that other phones are free.
Locations

Payphones are often found in public places, transportation hubs such as airports or train stations, and on street corners. By agreement with the landlord, either the phone company pays rent for the location and keeps the revenue, or the landlord pays rent for the phone and shares the revenue. In payphones, particulary at gas stations, payphones are mounted in drive-up structures that can be used without leaving the vehicle. The abandonment of payphones by telephone companies has angered some people who consider them a communication staple for low-income and low-credit consumers.

Payphones that accept coins have been largely discontinued in many places. They are expensive to maintain due to damage caused by vandalism, bodily fluids, or attempted theft of the cashbox Revenues have sharply declined, due to the ubiquitous usage of mobile phones, and most people use some form of email or IM for communication.