Telephone call

"Phone call" redirects here. For the 2013 British film, see The Phone Call.
An early 20th century candlestick telephone used for a phone call

A telephone call or telephone conversation (or telcon[1][a]), also known as a phone call or voice call (or simply a call), is a connection over a telephone network between the called party and the calling party. Telephone calls started in the late 19th century. As technology has improved, a majority of telephone calls are made over a cellular network through mobile phones or over the internet with Voice over IP.[2] Telephone calls are typically used for real-time conversation between two or more parties, especially when the parties cannot meet in person.

A telephone call historically was between two live people. It has progressed to also include a live person and a recorded message, or a live person with an AI generated message. The term "call" is now broadly used for other connections over a network when you are using your voice to communicate (as opposed to typing text), including audio calls and video calls.

  1. ^ a b "TELCON". thefreedictionary.com. Farlex, Inc. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  2. ^ Zagorsky, Jay L. (2019-03-14). "Rise and fall of the landline: 143 years of telephones becoming more accessible – and smart". The Conversation. Retrieved 2023-05-20.


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