A cordless telephone or portable
telephone is a telephone with a wireless handset that communicates via
radio waves with a base station connected to a fixed telephone line, usually
within a limited range of its base station (which has the handset cradle).
The base station is on the subscriber premises, and attaches to the telephone
network the same way a corded telephone does.
The base station on subscriber premises is what differentiates a cordless
telephone from a mobile telephone. Current cordless telephone standards,
such as PHS and DECT, have blurred the once clear-cut line between cordless
and mobile telephones by implementing cell handover, various advanced features,
such as data-transfer and even, on a limited scale, international roaming.
In these models, base stations are maintained by a commercial mobile network
operator and users subscribe to the service.
Unlike a corded telephone, a cordless telephone needs mains electricity
to power the base station. The cordless handset is powered by a rechargeable
battery, which is charged when the handset sits
in its cradle.
A private automatic branch exchange (PABX) is a telephone exchange
that serves a particular business or office, as opposed to one that a common
carrier or telephone company operates for many businesses or for the general
public. PABXs are also referred to as:
