touchtone
Not rotary dialing
Touchtone describes the telephone dialing system that uses audible tones generated by pressing buttons, rather than the rotary dial mechanism it replaced.
Each button produces a distinct dual-tone frequency that the phone system recognizes.
The term often appears as an adjective: touchtone phone, touchtone keypad.
By extension, touchtone refers to any automated phone system that responds to keypad input: Press 1 for customer service is a touchtone prompt.
Button array for input
- buttonsSmall disc fasteners
- dialingEntering a phone number
- phoneHandheld communication device
- handsetHeld telephone component
receiver · landline · call · numbers · tone · pushbutton · cordless · telecommunication
Button array for input
- inputData received for processing
- buttonsSmall disc fasteners
- numericExpressed in digits
- menuList of available dishes
prompts · navigation · automated · IVR · voicemail · options · selection · enter
Quality of sound
- frequencyRate of recurrence
- beepShort electronic tone
- audioTransmitted sound content
- pitchFrequency of sound
sound · transmission · modulation · decoding · recognition · waveform · hertz · acoustics
keypad
Button array for input
handset · receiver · landline · call · numbers · tone · pushbutton · cordless · telecommunication · voice
keypad
Button array for input
menu · prompts · navigation · automated · IVR · voicemail · options · selection · enter · press
tone
Quality of sound
pitch · sound · transmission · modulation · decoding · recognition · waveform · hertz · acoustics · resonance
vintage
Quality from past eras
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
- classicOf lasting excellence
- twentieth-centuryYears 1901-2000
analog · landline · corded · eighties · nineties · payphone · obsolete · bygone · Bell · AT&T
- telephonytelephone, telephone network, call, dial tone, phone lines
- phone systemsPBX, extension, phone line, handset, main menu
touchtonerotary
Involving circular motion
rotary dial · rotary phone · dial phone · pulse · voice-activated