telephone exchanges
Line switching centers
Telephone exchanges are facilities where telephone lines connect to enable calls between subscribers.
Originally staffed by human operators who physically connected calls by plugging cables into switchboards, exchanges became automated through the 20th century.
The term also refers to the first three digits of a local phone number, which historically identified which exchange served that line: What exchange are you on?
- dial toneSound indicating phone readiness
- dialingEntering a phone number
- centralIn the middle, primary
- switchboardTelephone routing panel
- telecommunicationsRemote signal transmission technology
operator · landline · rotary dial · area code · busy signal · wrong number · subscriber · party lines · connection · multiplexing · mobile networks · VoIP · trunk lines · central office · POTS · hold music · area codes · patch panels
- telephone switchboardsoperators, PBX, central office
- telephone thingsrotary phones, handsets, receivers, switchboards, cordless phones
telephone exchangescellular networks
Wireless communication infrastructure for phones
telephone exchangesmobile phones
Portable wireless communication devices
smartphones · cellular technology · wireless communication · satellite phones · 5G networks
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