GSM

(mobile telephony) Initialism of Global System for Mobile communications.


mobile

→ Japanese: モバイル (mobairu)

→ Kurtöp: མོ་བའིལ (mobail)

→ Persian: موبایل (mobâil)

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mōbilis (“easy to be moved, moveable”), from moveō (“move”).

der

Mobiles squerking, mobiles chirping / Take the money and run

2000, “Idioteque”, in Kid A, performed by Radiohead:

(telephony, UK, Ireland) Ellipsis of mobile phone.


port

en-verb

port (third-person singular simple present ports, present participle porting, simple past and past participle ported)

ports (present singular third-person)
porting (participle present)
ported (participle past)
ported (past)

From Old French porter, from Latin portāre (“carry”). Akin to transport, portable.

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

If you submit a request to port a number, and you list the name on the account as Bob Smith, but your local carrier has the number listed under your wife's name Mary Mahoney, the porting request is rejected.

2011, Stephen P. Olejniczak, Telecom For Dummies, page 131:

(telephony, transitive) To carry or transfer (an existing telephone number) from one telephone service provider to another.


leg

→ Finnish: legi

→ Hungarian: leg

From Middle English leg, legge, from Old Norse leggr (“leg, calf, bone of the arm or leg, hollow tube, stalk”), from Proto-Germanic *lagjaz, *lagwijaz (“leg, thigh”) (see it for more).
Cognate with Scots leg (“leg”), Icelandic leggur (“leg, limb”), Norwegian Bokmål legg (“leg”), Norwegian Nynorsk legg (“leg”), Swedish lägg (“leg, shank, shaft”), Danish læg (“leg”), Lombardic lagi (“thigh, shank, leg”), Latin lacertus (“limb, arm”), Persian لنگ (leng). Upon borrowing, mostly displaced the native Old English term sċanca (Modern English shank).

der

piss on someone's leg and tell them it's raining

(telephony) A branch or lateral circuit connecting an instrument with the main line.


machine

→ Ainu: マシン

→ Bengali: মেশিন (meśin)

→ Cowlitz: məšín

→ Hindustani: मशीन (maśīn) / مشین (maśīn)

→ Irish: meaisín

→ Japanese: マシン (mashin)

→ Korean: 머신 (meosin)

→ Maori: mīhini

→ Punjabi

Gurmukhi script: ਮਸ਼ੀਨ (maśīn)

Shahmukhi script: مشین (maśīn)

→ Swahili: mashine

→ Tok Pisin: masin

Borrowed from Middle French machine, from Latin māchina (“a machine, engine, contrivance, device, stratagem, trick”), from Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́ (mākhanā́), cognate with Attic Greek μηχᾰνή (mēkhanḗ, “a machine, engine, contrivance, device”), from which comes mechanical. Displaced native Old English searu.

cog

perpetual motion machine of the first kind

perpetual motion machine of the second kind

Outline of machines on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

I called you earlier, but all I got was the machine.

(telephony, abbreviation) An answering machine or, by extension, voice mail.


NSA

(mobile telephony) Initialism of non-standalone architecture.


signal

From Old French segnal, seignal or Medieval Latin signāle; noun use of the neuter of Late Latin signālis, from Latin signum; verb use from 1805, as a shortened from signalize (1650s).

My mobile phone can't get a signal in the railway station.

(of a radio, TV, telephone, internet, etc.) An electromagnetic action, normally a voltage that is a function of time, that conveys the information of the radio or TV program or of communication with another party.

сигна́л

telecommunication: electromagnetic action that conveys information


spim

en-noun

spim (usually uncountable, plural spims)

(telephony) Unsolicited messages sent to cellular phones.


telephone

telephone (countable and uncountable, plural telephones)

First used by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 to refer to the modern instrument, but previous devices had been given this name, which was borrowed from French téléphone. Ultimately from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “afar”) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice, sound”).

ателефон

a device used for two-way talking with other people

talk to Ralph on the big white telephone

(countable, telephony) A telecommunication device (originally mechanical, and now electronic) used for two-way talking with another person (now often shortened to phone).


Based on the telephone number used in North America to obtain telephone numbers of listed subscribers.

(Canada, US, telephony) The telephonic information service.


rubber

en-verb

rubber (third-person singular simple present rubbers, present participle rubbering, simple past and past participle rubbered)

rubbers (present singular third-person)
rubbering (participle present)
rubbered (participle past)
rubbered (past)

"There's a lot of nostalgia about the phone and how it was the way to get the local news," said Jane Beck of the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury. One way was "rubbering," or listening in on a neighbor's conversations ...

1999, Los Angeles Times, "Party's Over for Rural Phone Customers in Green Mountain State," (Jan. 31, 1999)

(telephony) To eavesdrop on a telephone call


exchange

en-noun

exchange (countable and uncountable, plural exchanges)

From Middle English eschaunge, borrowed from Anglo-Norman eschaunge, from Old French eschange (whence modern French échange), from the verb eschanger, from Vulgar Latin *excambiāre, present active infinitive of *excambiō (from Latin ex with Late Latin cambiō). Spelling later changed on the basis of ex- in English. By surface analysis, ex- + change.

The 555 exchange is reserved for use by the phone company, which is why it's often used in films.

NPA-NXX-1234 is standard format, where NPA is the area code and NXX is the exchange.

(telephony, US) The fourth through sixth digits of a ten-digit phone number (the first three before the introduction of area codes).


data

→ Turkish: data

Borrowed from Latin data, nominative plural of datum (“that is given”), neuter past participle of dō (“I give”). Doublet of date.

run out of data

(mobile telephony) Ellipsis of mobile data: digital information transmitted using the cellular telephone network rather than Wi-Fi.


paster

(telephony) A diagram of the circuitry of a telephone, glued inside the telephone itself.


release

en-verb

release (third-person singular simple present releases, present participle releasing, simple past and past participle released)

releases (present singular third-person)
releasing (participle present)
released (participle past)
released (past)

From Middle English relesen, relessen, from Old French relaisser (variant of relascher).

If you continue to use abusive language, I will need to release the call.


speaking

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

nonlemma

(telephony) Indication that the person requested is the same as the one who is currently speaking.

на телефона

indication that the person requested is the same as the one who is currently speaking


STD

en-noun

STD (countable and uncountable, plural STDs)

subscriber trunk dialling
subscriber trunk dialling#English

subscriber toll dialing
subscriber toll dialing#English

(telephony) Initialism of subscriber trunk dialling or subscriber toll dialing.


VoIP

The VoIP Forum is dedicated to enabling and promoting industry-wide interoperability between products that send telephony over the Internet and private IP enterprise networks. This interoperability will allow seamless transmission of Internet phone calls regardless of the telephony application used by callers and call recipients. At present, applications from different vendors are incompatible due to fundamental differences in voice coding, silence suppression, addressing and dialing plans, call management and other related functions.

1996 November 12, IMTC, Inc., comp.dcom.telecom (Usenet), retrieved 2016-11-03, message-ID <telecom16.627.2@massis.lcs.mit.edu>:

VoIP "represents a group of competing companies who've gotten together to agree on standards," Pulver says. "It's very important," and is good news for users, because their co-operation will move Internet telephony forward, he says.

1996 November 13, Rebecca Sykes, “Group forms to spur Internet telephony”, in Computerworld New Zealand, archived from the original on 2016-11-03:

(Internet, telephony) Voice over Internet Protocol, a telecommunications system that uses the Internet or other Internet Protocol network to transmit telephone calls.


engaged tone

(UK, Ireland, telephony) An audible signal to the calling party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection; a busy signal


ERC

(telephony) Initialism of easily-recognizable code.


unlock

en-verb

unlock (third-person singular simple present unlocks, present participle unlocking, simple past and past participle unlocked)

unlocks (present singular third-person)
unlocking (participle present)
unlocked (participle past)
unlocked (past)

From Middle English unloken, unlouken, onlouken, from Old English onlūcan (“to unlock”), equivalent to un- + lock. Cognate with Dutch ontluiken (“to unlock”).

(transitive, mobile telephony) To configure (a mobile phone) so that it is not bound to any particular carrier.


glare

en-noun

glare (countable and uncountable, plural glares)

From Middle English glaren, from Old English glærian, from Proto-West Germanic *glāʀōn. Cognate with dialectal Middle Dutch glariën (“to glisten; sparkle”), Low German glaren (“to shine brightly; glow; burn”), Middle High German glaren (“to shine brightly”). Related to glower, glass.

cog

(telephony) A call collision; the situation where an incoming call occurs at the same time as an outgoing call.


hunting

en-noun

hunting (countable and uncountable, plural huntings)

desc

→ Korean: 헌팅 (heonting, “flirting with strangers, pickup”)

From Middle English hunting, from Old English huntung, equivalent to hunt + -ing.

(telephony) The process of determining which of a group of telephone lines will receive a call.


Android

(computing, mobile telephony) A mobile operating system currently developed by Google.


Android

Both Androids and iPhones have a timer that can delay taking a photo by up to 10 seconds.

2016, Technology Made Easy: Simple Ways to Use Your Computer, Phone, and Other Electronic Devices, Peachtree City, Ga.: FC&A Publishing, →ISBN, page 317:

(computing, mobile telephony) A mobile phone running on Android OS.


TCAP

en-noun

TCAP (countable and uncountable, plural TCAPs)

(telephony) Transaction Capabilities Application Part (SS7)


WP

(mobile telephony) Initialism of Windows Phone.


UC

UC (countable and uncountable, plural UCs)

(mobile telephony) Initialism of ultra capacity.


telephone exchange

telephone exchange (plural telephone exchanges)

(telephony) Any equipment that establishes connections between telephones.

(telephony) The rooms housing such equipment.


locked

(mobile telephony, of a phone) Bound to a carrier.


app

A visual tool can be thought of as a graphics app that generates most of your program's GUI code for you

1999 February, Maximum PC, volume 4, number 2:

So is a spreadsheet app, but I'm not going to put those on a web site any time soon.

1999, Jerry Bradenbaugh, JavaScript application cookbook, page xi:

The Web browser was the killer app that kickstarted the Internet and, in turn, enabled it to be embedded in everything

1999 November, AUUGN, volume 20, number 4, page 9:

Want realtime flight and gate updates? A calorie counter? A remote for your DVD player? Chances are there's an app for it. Smartphones separate themselves in another key area: connectivity

2005 May, Popular Science, volume 266, number 5, page 78:

(computing, mobile telephony) An application (program), especially a small one designed for a mobile device.


pulse dialing

(US, telephony) A system of telephone dialing in which each digit is transmitted as the equivalent number of pulses.


touch-tone dialing

(US, telephony) A system of telephone dialing in which each digit is transmitted as a tone or combination of tones of specific pitch.


double talk

From double + talk. Compare Middle English twispeche, Old English twīspǣċ, twīsprǣċ.

(telephony) A situation when two people talk at the same time, causing overlapping audio signals.


unlocked

an unlocked iPhone

(mobile telephony, of a phone) Not bound to any particular carrier.


GPRS

General Packet Radio Service
General Packet Radio Service#English

(mobile telephony) Initialism of General Packet Radio Service.


tone dialing

(US, telephony) A system of telephone dialing in which each digit is transmitted as a burst of a single audio frequency.


UMTS

w:Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

(mobile telephony) Initialism of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System.


blocked

en-adj

blocked (comparative more blocked, superlative most blocked)

more blocked (comparative)
most blocked (superlative)

Blocked users will be unable to access their accounts indefinitely.

The phone will reject calls from blocked numbers.

(of a person, telephone number, IP address, etc.) Banned or barred from connecting or logging on.


trunk call

(telephony, dated, chiefly British) a long-distance telephone call, especially one connected by the operator


answering machine

en-noun

answering machine (plural answering machines)

(telephony) A device that automatically records voice mail from unanswered telephone calls.


caller

From Middle English callar, equivalent to call + -er.

Coordinate term: callee

―I’ve got someone on the line.
―Who’s the caller?

Thaler was arrested in Orono last May when a caller reported that the car she was driving had a shattered rear window and a blown-out tire.

2023 February 16, WCCO Staff, “Julissa Thaler sentenced to life in prison for murdering 6-year-old son, Eli Hart”, in cbsnews.com:

(telephony) The person who makes a telephone call.


ring cadence

(telephony) The ringing pattern heard by the dialer before the called party picks up the call.


DMS

DMS (countable and uncountable, plural DMSs)

digital multiplex system
w:digital multiplex system

(uncountable, telephony) Initialism of digital multiplex system.

donors message service
donors message service#English

(uncountable, telephony, rare) Initialism of donors message service.


call history

call history (countable and uncountable, plural call histories)

(telephony) An itemised list of the telephone numbers called from a particular account.

(telephony) A sorted list, derived from the above, showing those numbers called most often.


CDR

CDR (countable and uncountable, plural CDRs)

(telephony) Initialism of call detail record: a computer record representing a unit of traffic handled by a telephone exchange.


ring off

en-verb

ring off (third-person singular simple present rings off, present participle ringing off, simple past rang off, past participle rung off)

rings off (present singular third-person)
ringing off (participle present)
rang off (past)
rung off (participle past)

I thanked him and rang off.

2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 68:

(intransitive, telephony, British, Australia) To disconnect at the end of a phone call.


DSC

en-noun

DSC (countable and uncountable, plural DSCs)

(nautical, radio telephony) Initialism of digital selective call, a feature that allows a VHF radio to call another VHF selectively (as opposed to a call that is repeated by all receivers that are on within the range of the caller).


call center

→ German: Callcenter

(business, telephony) A communications facility where phone calls are handled; especially, a commercial one for customer service, sales and telemarketing.


fast busy signal

fast busy signal (plural fast busy signals)

(telephony) An audible signal on a voice phone line that sounds more frequently than a standard busy signal, indicating that no transmission path to the called phone number is available.


callback

For example, multiple callbacks might be made to a nonanswered number to increase the response rate.

2007, James M. Lepkowski, Clyde Tucker, J. Michael Brick, Advances in Telephone Survey Methodology, page 318:

(telephony) A return telephone or radio call; especially one made automatically to authenticate a logon to a computer network.


smartphone

From smart + phone, first usage in the mid-1990s.

(mobile telephony) A mobile phone with more advanced features and greater computing capacity than a featurephone.


hardline

(telephony) A physical wire or cable connection; landline.


callee

(telephony) The person who is called by the caller (on the telephone).

volaný

the person who is getting called by the caller


ANI

(US, telephony) Initialism of automatic number identification.


party line

(telephony) A single telephone line which is shared by two or more households.


hello girl

/həˈləʊ ˌɡɜːl/

/hɛˈloʊ ˌɡɝl/

From the fact that the telephone operators would greet callers with “Hello” when contacted.

The latest model of the multiple switch-board is in position, and in a few days the "Hello" girls will render complete the inside view of a modern telephone exchange.

1884 September, “The International Electrical Exhibition at Philadelphia, Sept. 2, 1884”, in F. L. Pope, editor, The Electrician and Electrical Engineer. A Monthly Review of Theoretical and Applied Science, volume III, New York, N.Y.: Electrical Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, page 193, column 2:

Surely, we must include the Long-Distance Telephone among the electrical achievements of the year. And if we may add the automatic switch-board, by which the services of the "hello-girl" are to be dispensed with; and if the new company, just formed in Chicago, fulfill its promise to give us telephone service at half the present rates, it will afford us an illustration of "applied science," which I am sure we shall be quick to appreciate.

1893, J[ohn] T. Pettee, “Annual Address: A Review of the Year 1892 by the President”, in Transactions of the Scientific Association, Meriden, Conn., Meriden, Conn.: Press of E. A. Horton & Co., →OCLC, page 17:

The humblest hello-girl along ten thousand miles of wire could teach gentleness, patience, modesty, manners, to the highest duchess in Arthur's land.

1889, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “Sandy’s Tale”, in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, New York, N.Y.: Charles L. Webster & Company, →OCLC, page 177:

Now imagine that the main automatic exchange is out of service and all those calls have to be made the old-fashioned way, by hello girls, taking ten times as long.

2001, Ken Follett, chapter 17, in Jackdaws, London: Macmillan, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Dutton, 2002, →ISBN, page 162:

(telephony, informal, dated) A female telephone operator.

sentraalisantra

(informal) female telephone operator — see also telephone girl


ring out

en-verb

ring out (third-person singular simple present rings out, present participle ringing out, simple past rang out, past participle rung out)

rings out (present singular third-person)
ringing out (participle present)
rang out (past)
rung out (participle past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-ring out.wav

You can ring out if you dial 9 first and wait for the tone before dialling the number.

(telephony) To make a phone call from an internal phone system to a general telephone network number.


(mobile telephony) Abbreviation of 3rd generation, a cellular phone communication standard.


(mobile telephony, retronym) Referring to standards before 2.5G. Includes GSM, DMA, TDMA, iDEN, and PDC.


CNA

(mobile telephony) Initialism of cloud native architecture.


data rate

(telephony) The fee that a cell phone customer is charged for data traffic (sending and receiving data).


VoSIP

(Internet, telephony) Voice over Secure IP.


SVoSIP

(Internet, telephony) Secure Voice over Secure IP.


SVoIP

(Internet, telephony) Secure Voice over IP.


busy signal

(US, telephony) An audible signal to the calling party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection; an engaged tone


selfie

→ Arabic: سِلْفِي (silfī)

→ Gulf Arabic: سلفي (silfi, salfi)

→ Armenian: սելֆի (selfi)

→ Assamese: চেল্ফি (selphi)

→ Azerbaijani: selfi

→ Belarusian: сэ́лфі (sélfi)

→ Czech: selfíčko

→ Danish: selfie

→ Dutch: selfie

→ Finnish: selfie

→ French: selfie

→ Georgian: სელფი (selpi)

→ German: Selfie

→ Greek: σέλφι (sélfi)

→ Hebrew: סֶלְפִי (sélfi)

→ Hungarian: szelfi, selfie

→ Irish: féinín (calque)

→ Italian: selfie

→ Japanese: セルフィー (serufi)

→ Hebrew: סֶלְפִי (sélfi)

→ Korean: 셀피 (selpi)

→ Latvian: selfijs

→ Lithuanian: selfis

→ Norwegian Bokmål: selfie

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: selfie

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: sjølvi (calque)

→ Papiamentu: selfie

→ Persian: سلفی (selfi)

→ Polish: selfie

→ Portuguese: selfie, sélfie

→ Romanian: selfie

→ Russian: се́лфи (sɛ́lfi)

→ Scottish Gaelic: fèineag (calque)

→ Serbo-Croatian: selfie

→ Slovak: selfie

→ Slovak: svojka (calque)

→ Spanish: selfie, selfi

→ Swedish: selfie

→ Thai: เซลฟี (seel-fîi)

→ Turkish: selfie, özçekim

→ Ukrainian: се́лфі (sélfi)

From self + -ie. Attested since 2002, originally Australian English.

Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie.

2002 September 13, N. "Hopey" Hope, "re: Dissolvable stitches" https://web.archive.org/web/20131123194231/http://www2b.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/archives/archive32/newposts/169/topic169861.shtm, ABC Online Forum selfie photo

Pre. Nice rooftop selfie. […] No Hair. Another nice rooftop selfie.

2004 October 21, Brian McGuirk, "bmcguirk's photos." https://web.archive.org/web/20041126014124/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcguirk/, Flickr

That's not to imply that it's "wrong" for your arm or hand to show up in a selfie.

2005, Jim Krause, Photo Idea Index, HOW Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 148:

2012 December 27, Andrew Prince, “The Mars Rover Takes A Selfie” http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2012/12/27/168139129/the-mars-rover-takes-a-selfie, the picture show, National Public Radio

Barack Obama was talking to David Cameron and with the Danish Prime Minister, and that’s when she actually reached into her purse and brought out a cell phone and stretched her arms and did a selfie with them.

2013 December 13, Roberto Schmidt (guest), Brooke Gladstone (interviewer and editor), “The Photographer Behind ‘Selfie-Gate’”, On the Media, National Public Radio

I shall take this photograph myself. This must be what they call a selfie.

2017, Lord Stag, “Say Cheese”, in Lily's Driftwood Bay:

take a selfie

(informal, mobile telephony) A photographic self-portrait, especially one taken manually (not using a timer, tripod etc.) with a small camera or mobile phone.


selfie

selfie (third-person singular simple present selfies, present participle selfying, simple past and past participle selfied)

selfies (present singular third-person)
selfying (participle present)
selfied (participle past)
selfied (past)

(intransitive, informal, mobile telephony) To take a selfie.


unhold

unhold (third-person singular simple present unholds, present participle unholding, simple past unheld, past participle unheld or unholden)

unholds (present singular third-person)
unholding (participle present)
unheld (past)
unheld (participle past)
unholden (participle past)

From Middle English unholden, equivalent to un- + hold.

Scroll to Hold, and press the trackball. Your call is now on hold. Follow these steps to unhold your call: […]

2009, Dante Sarigumba, Robert Kao, BlackBerry Bold For Dummies, page 120:

(transitive, telephony) To remove from a "hold" or "on hold" state.


speed-dial

speed-dial (third-person singular simple present speed-dials, present participle speed-dialing or speed-dialling, simple past and past participle speed-dialed or speed-dialled)

speed-dials (present singular third-person)
speed-dialing (participle present)
speed-dialling (participle present)
speed-dialed (participle past)
speed-dialed (past)
speed-dialled (participle past)
speed-dialled (past)

(transitive, telephony) To dial using speed dial.


LEC

local exchange carrier
local exchange carrier#English

(telephony) Abbreviation of local exchange carrier.


radio-telephone

Another interesting feature of the Falaise is that she is provided with a Denny Brown stabiliser to minimise rolling, and amenities for the passenger include the provision of a radio telephone service, which is available on passage.

1947 September and October, “First Southern Railway Post-War Vessel”, in Railway Magazine, page 294:

Recently the L.M.R., in conjunction with Pye Telecommunications and the G.P.O., has been conducting trials between Crewe, Lancaster, Birkenhead, Liverpool and Manchester with a brakevan fitted up with radio-telephone equipment and beamed on G.P.O. radio-telephone stations in the Manchester and Liverpool area.

1960 April, “Talking of Trains: Telephones in trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 197:

In accordance with Southampton Docks practice for shunting engines during the past four years, a radio-telephone in the cab allows two-way conversation with the Dock Traffic Control Office.

1962 September, “Diesels take over at Southampton Docks”, in Modern Railways, page 171:

(telephony) Alternative spelling of radiotelephone


netphone

(telephony) A telephone that connects through the Internet.


PABX

private automatic branch exchange
private branch exchange#English

(telephony) Initialism of private automatic branch exchange.


rotary phone

(telephony) A telephone with a rotary dial.


dual SIM

dual + SIM (i.e. Subscriber Identity Module)

(mobile telephony) holding two SIM cards


triple SIM

triple + SIM (i.e. Subscriber Identity Module)

(mobile telephony) holding three SIM cards


CPE

en-noun

CPE (countable and uncountable, plural CPEs)

(telephony) Abbreviation of customer-premises equipment.


4G LTE

(telephony, mobile telephony) Synonym of LTE (Long Term Evolution)


long term evolution

(telephony, mobile telephony) A standard marketed as 4G LTE for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.


(telephony) Abbreviation of Number 1A Electronic Switching System.


(telephony) Number 1A voice storage system.


(telephony) Number 1 electronic automatic exchange.


(telephony) Initialism of one-gigabaud fiber channel.


(telephony) Abbreviation of Number 1 Electronic Switching System.


crossed line

(telephony) situation when portions of a second call are audible to persons on a telephone connection.


selfie stick

For example, photography shop Artworkfoto in Funan DigitaLife Mall sells about five selfie sticks every day.

2014 March 30, Benson Ang, “Selfie sticks are hot”, in The Sunday Times, Singapore, page L4:

We snapped another selfie (one of the guys, Royston out of our newly acquired Singapore Zopim office, introduced the Exchange to the selfie stick, and that photo is now legendary.)

2014, Mikkel Svane, Startupland: How Three Guys Risked Everything to Turn an Idea into a Global Business, John Wiley & Sons (2014), pages 176-177, published 8 December

The needs of selfie takers feed into new product development such as a selfie stick that allows the ul-jang angle, a mirrorless DSLR camera with a 180-degree tilting LCD window, a motion-detecting shutter, and a camera with wireless internet for transferring images.

2015 January, Yoo Jin Kwon, Kyoung-Nan Kwon, “Consuming the Objectified Self: The Quest for Authentic Self”, in Asian Social Science, page 310:

(mobile telephony) An extendable monopod arm onto which a smartphone or camera can be mounted in order to take wide-angle photographs of oneself.


(mobile telephony) Abbreviation of 4th generation, a cellular phone communication standard.


iOS

From i- + OS. Many Apple products have an i- prefix in their names.

(computing, mobile telephony) A mobile operating system (OS) created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware.


ghost call

(telephony) A telephone call for which, when the recipient of the call answers, there is no one on the other end.


hamburger menu

graphical user interface
graphical user interface

(graphical user interface, mobile telephony) A dropdown menu whose presence is indicated by a hamburger icon (i.e. the triple bar ≡).


hamburger button

hamburger button (plural hamburger buttons)

(graphical user interface, mobile telephony) A button displaying the hamburger icon (three parallel horizontal lines: ≡), used to activate a dropdown menu.


hamburger icon

The three lines suggest a stylised hamburger, i.e. a layer of meat between two layers of bread.

(graphical user interface, mobile telephony) A symbol consisting of three parallel horizontal lines (i.e. the triple bar ≡), used to indicate a dropdown menu.


demon dialing

From the Demon Dialer product from Zoom Telephonics, Inc., a telephone device produced in the 1980s which repeatedly dialed busy telephone numbers under control of an extension phone.

(telephony) The use of a computer to dial a number repeatedly (usually to a crowded modem pool) in an attempt to gain access immediately after another user has hung up.


(mobile telephony) Abbreviation of 5th generation, a mobile network communication standard.


ACD

ACD (countable and uncountable, plural ACDs)

automatic call distributor
automatic call distributor#English

(telephony, call routing, countable) Initialism of automatic call distributor

automated call distribution
automated call distribution#English

(telephony, call routing, uncountable) Initialism of automated call distribution.


telephone girl

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-telephone girl.wav

I've just had a row with a telephone girl, a telephone girl, my brain's in a whirl.

1915, W. David, J. Barnett, Hermann Darewski (lyrics and music), “Which Switch is the Switch, Miss, for Ipswich?”:

(telephony, dated) A female telephone operator.


EDGE

Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution
w:Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution

(mobile telephony) Acronym of Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution.


(mobile telephony, retronym) Referring to standards before 2.75G.


voice over IP

Subject: Voice over IP and/or OSI? Message: Am looking for information on software/hardware to allow voice transmission over IP and/or OSI stacks. Please post or mail direct. Thanks in advance.

1992 April 10, Steve Johnson, “Voice over IP and/or OSI?”, in comp.sys.sun.misc (Usenet), retrieved 2016-11-01, message-ID <534@trwacs.fp.trw.com>:

Is there an application that will let use broadcast audio and let individual machines 'tune in' on the connection?? Will we get decent bandwidth (i.e. sample rates at 32 or 48 kHz) or the crappy bandwidth like 8.192 kHz used for voice over IP (i.e. NeVOT) ??

1993 September 26, Jim Doyle, “Listening to CDs over the LAN ??”, in comp.sys.sgi.apps (Usenet), retrieved 2016-11-01, message-ID <284o3jINNmc2@ymir.cs.umass.edu>:

A router, by definition, cannot carry isochronous traffic such as voice. Some hard-core Internet fanatics, who detest telephone companies for a living (something about being chased away from the pay phone they were phreaking as a kid), will try to run voice over IP. It is like teaching a pig to sing: It won't sound good, and it annoys the pig.

1993 October 9, Fred R. Goldstein, “Re: How Will Routers Compete Against Digital Switches?”, in comp.dcom.telecom (Usenet), retrieved 2016-11-01, message-ID <telecom13.690.10@eecs.nwu.edu>:

(Internet, telephony) Voice over Internet Protocol (also "VoIP"), a telecommunications system that uses the Internet or other Internet Protocol network to transmit telephone calls.


FUP

(mobile telephony) Initialism of fair usage policy.


candlestick telephone

candlestick telephone (plural candlestick telephones)

(telephony) An early style of telephone with a mouthpiece (transmitter) mounted at the top of its stand, and a receiver that was held by the user to the ear during a call. When not in use, the receiver rested in the fork of the switch hook protruding to the side of the stand, thereby disconnecting the audio circuit from the network.


exit code

(telephony) A sequence of digits that must be dialled before the target number when placing an international call from a given country.


brown box

(telephony) A device used in phreaking that allows the creation of a party line from two telephone lines.

gray-box testing
white box (software engineering)


beige box

Beige box (phreaking)
gray-box testing
white box (software engineering)

(telephony, hacking) A device used in phreaking, technically equivalent to a telephone company lineman's handset: a telephone fitted with alligator clips to attach it to a line.


(Canada, US, telephony) Alternative form of 411


en:2006 transatlantic aircraft plot security reaction

(Canada, US, telephony) Alternative form of 311


(US, Canada, telephony) The telephone number used for last-call return services.


en-verb

*69 (third-person singular simple present *69s, present participle *69ing, simple past and past participle *69ed)

(Canada, US, telephony, transitive, intransitive) To use the last-call return service


subscriber trunk dialling

This NER microwave radio telephone link will bring subscriber trunk dialling facilities to no fewer than 3,000 railway telephones at York, Newcastle, Darlington, Middlesbrough and Leeds and points as far north as Berwick-upon-Tweed.

1964 August, “The NER's microwave radio-telephone begins work”, in Modern Railways, page 130:

(telephony, British spelling) A system of automatic connection of trunk calls through dialling a phone number without operator assistance.


iPadOS

(computing, mobile telephony) A mobile operating system (OS) created and developed by Apple Inc. used for its tablets.


Symbian

(computing, mobile telephony) A discontinued mobile operating system originally developed by the Symbian Ltd. consortium and later by Symbian Foundation, Nokia and Accenture.


mobile data

Yet O2 says that while it has doubled the number of iPhone users, mobile data use is doubling every 4 months, equivalent to an eightfold growth every year.

2010 June 11, Charles Arthur, “Why file-sharing has killed 'unlimited' mobile data contracts”, in The Guardian:

The analysis of mobile data plans in 230 countries revealed that the UK ranked a “disappointing” 136th when the cost of one gigabyte (1GB) of mobile data was looked at.

2019 March 5, Rupert Jones, “UK among countries with priciest mobile data plans in Europe”, in The Guardian:

By turning off mobile data, you end up with a dumb or minimalist phone while out and about, but a fully internet-connected smartphone while at home, at work and in coffee shops and restaurants that provide Wi-Fi.

2019 March 23, Mike Elgan, “Why you should stop using mobile data”, in Computerworld:

(mobile telephony) Internet data transfer over a cellular telephone network rather than Wi-Fi.


Based on the telephone number used in North America to obtain non-emergency governmental services

(Canada, US, telephony) The telephonic service for accessing some government services, depending on jurisdiction


(Canada, US, telephony) Alternative form of 811


Based on the telephone number used in North America to obtain local governmental services

(Canada, US, telephony) The telephonic service for accessing some local government services, depending on jurisdiction


voice over broadband

(Internet, telephony) A transmission technique that enables a user to make and receive telephone calls over a broadband connection.


From 1, used to dial special numbers and 976, a reserved local exchange code.

976-5555 is a 1-976 number that you have to pay for.

(Canada, US, telephony) Of telephone numbers dialed in North America, having an additional charge assessed to the caller, part of which is returned to the owner of the number.


automanual

(historical, telephony) Being or relating to a system of telephony that combines automatic and manual features, such that the caller initially communicates with an operator who, after setting up the desired number on a keyboard, has no further interaction with the call.


zero prefix

(UK, telephony) The digit 0 that begins all telephone numbers in the United Kingdom, which is substituted for the country code in the event of international calls.


TSPS

Traffic Service Position System
w:Traffic Service Position System

(telephony) Abbreviation of Traffic Service Position System.


Voice over NR

Short for Voice over New Radio, from 5G New Radio, fifth-generation radio access technology. Compare VoIP, from Voice over Internet Protocol.

Though voice services will be made available initially via Voice over LTE (VoLTE) service on 4G network, eventually voice services in 5G, referred to as Voice over NR (VoNR), is expected to be next revenue stream for the operator.

2019, Kashmira Kapoor, Dandra Prasad Basavaraj, Shrinath Ramamoorthy, Tushar Vrind, “Novel method for increased power conservation in voice over nr (vonr) devices”, in EAI Endorsed Transactions on Cloud Systems, volume 5, page e7:

Voice over NR is voice over IP incorporating the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) infrastructure previously introduced in LTE.

2021 July 14, “Why voice over 5G relies heavily on LTE”, in 5G Technology World:

Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Voice over NR (VoNR), are two similar technologies that have been widely deployed by operators to provide a better calling experience in LTE and 5G networks, respectively.

2023 January 6, Zishuai Cheng, Mihai Ordean, Flavio D. Garcia, Baojiang Cui, Dominik Rys, “Watching your call: Breaking VoLTE Privacy in LTE/5G Networks”, in arXiv:

(Internet, mobile telephony) A 5G high-speed wireless communication standard for mobile phones and data terminals, including Internet of things (IoT) devices and wearables.


French telephone

en-noun

French telephone (plural French telephones)

In the early 20th century, telephones with handsets were not common in the United States. Many American soldiers encountered them in France during World War I.

An act prohibiting telephone corporations of this Commonwealth from imposing, for the use of hand telephones commonly called 'French telephones,' a charge in excess of fifteen cents per month […]

1933, Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Senate, Journal (part 1, page 281)

Rotary dials also were used on the so-called "French" telephones introduced in Europe at first and then the United States in the late 1920s.

1999, Rudi Voti, The Facts On File Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Society, page 1012:

(US, telephony, dated) A telephone with a handset.


silver box

(telephony) A modified DTMF box that adds four additional keys, creating a four-column-by-four-key grid.

gray-box testing
silver box
white box (software engineering)


Ader receiver

Named after the French inventor Clément Ader.

(telephony, historical) A kind of telephone receiver incorporating a magnetized metal ring.


PAX

(telephony) Initialism of private automatic exchange.


call forwarding

(telephony) A telephony feature which redirects a telephone call to another destination.


ring time

(telecommunications, telephony) The duration of time from the moment that the respondent's telephone begins ringing until the moment it is answered.


talk time

talk time (countable and uncountable, plural talk times)

(mobile telephony) The length of time a person can speak on a mobile phone before having to recharge the battery.

(mobile telephony) A prepaid amount of time on the bill agreement of a mobile phone.


time lady

(radio, telephony) A female voice heard on a speaking clock that a person could dial to find out the current time, down to the second, before the age of the Internet and other options for finding out the time existed.


average handle time

(business, telephony) A customer service metric that measures the average length of a customer's call to a call center.


Free caller ID blocking. […] The new feature will enable customers to hide their identification from […] caller ID by punching "*67" on push-button phones or dialing "1167" on rotary phones.

1990 September 17, “Briefs”, in Network World:

Callers can block their Caller ID information on a per-call basis by dialling *67 before a call is made.

2010, House of Representatives, Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010:

A *67 blocked call is reported to the receiving party's caller ID as a "private call".

2013, Steven Kerry Brown, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Private Investigating, 3 edition:

(Canada, US, telephony) The telephone number used to block caller ID.


en-verb

*67 (third-person singular simple present *67s, present participle *67ing, simple past and past participle *67ed)

I seem to recall that a Rochecter Tel sub called the 800-stopper ANI #, and got readback, then "*67"ed, and called again - this time NOT getting one.

1993 September 20, David Lesher, “Caller ID/ANI Thread”, in comp.society.privacy (Usenet):

[The NSA has] this dude who […] writes down all the numbers that pop up on the caller-id display. Don't forget to *67!!!

1994 March, Hackle-b3rry phin, “Keeping a low profile on UNIX systems”, in Brotherhood of Warez, volume 3:

[H]ow about *67ing him? That's what [she] does when she likes someone.

2010, Robin Palmer, Yours Truly, Lucy B. Parker:

(Canada, US, telephony) To use the telephone number prefix to block caller ID.


hold time

en-noun

hold time (countable and uncountable, plural hold times)

(telephony) The amount of time spent in a phone queue on hold.


standby time

standby time (countable and uncountable, plural standby times)

(electronics, telephony, technology) The maximum amount of time in which a mobile phone can be continuously turned on and ready to communicate.


push notification

push notification (plural push notifications)

(Internet, mobile telephony) The delivery of information from a software application to a computing device without a specific request from the client.


on silent

(electronics, mobile telephony) A setting on an electronic device that prevents it from producing noise when it receives a call or a message, such as an alert or a notification.