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A handset is a component of a
is used for starting a call, and a red lying-down (on-hook) handset 
is used for ending a call.
A handset is a component of a telephone
A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...
that a user holds to the ear and mouth to receive audio through the receiver and speak to the remote party using the built-in transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
. In earlier telephones, the transmitter was mounted directly on the telephone itself, which was attached to a wall at a convenient height or placed on a desk or table. Until the advent of the cordless telephone
A cordless telephone or portable telephone has a portable telephone handset that connects by radio to a base station connected to the public telephone network. The operational range is limited, usually to the same building or within some short ...
, the handset was usually wired to the base unit, typically by a flexible tinsel wire
Tinsel wire is a type of electrical wire used for applications that require high mechanical flexibility but low current-carrying capacity. Tinsel wire is commonly used in cords of telephones, handsets, headphones, and small electrical appliances. ...
cord.
The handset of a cordless telephone contains a radio transceiver
In radio communication, a transceiver is an electronic device which is a combination of a radio ''trans''mitter and a re''ceiver'', hence the name. It can both transmit and receive radio waves using an antenna, for communication purposes. The ...
which relays communication via a base station
Base station (or base radio station, BS) is – according to the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Radio Regulations (RR) – a " land station in the land mobile service."
A base station is called '' node B'' in 3G, '' eNB'' in L ...
that is wired to the telephone line
A telephone line or telephone circuit (or just line or circuit industrywide) is a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system. It is designed to reproduce speech of a quality that is understandable. It is the physical wire or oth ...
. A mobile phone
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
does not require a base station and communicates directly with a cell site
A cell site, cell phone tower, cell base tower, or cellular base station is a cellular frequencies, cellular-enabled mobile device site where antenna (electronics), antennas and electronic communications equipment are placed (typically on a Rad ...
in designated frequency band
Spectral bands are regions of a given spectrum, having a specific range of wavelengths or frequencies. Most often, it refers to electromagnetic bands, regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
More generally, spectral bands may also be means in ...
s.
Handset symbol
A graphic symbol that designates a handset is used on cordless and mobile phones to specify placing or ending a telephone call. Usually a button with green upright (off-hook) handset icon is used for starting a call, and a red lying-down (on-hook) handset is used for ending a call. Unicode
Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...
has the handset symbol commonly faced rightwards to use with face emojis
An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typ ...
, and also symbols with specified direction: , and .
See also
*Headset (audio)
A headset is a combination of headphone and microphone. Headsets connect over a telephone or to a computer, allowing the user to speak and listen while keeping both hands free. They are commonly used in customer service and technical support ce ...
* PopSocket
*Western Electric hand telephone sets
The Western Electric hand telephone sets are a series of telephones that were produced from 1927 by the Western Electric Company for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) and the Bell System. The series features the mouthpiece (''t ...
References
Telephony equipment * {{cite book, author=Sajal K. Das, publisher=John Wiley & Sons, date=April 2010, title=Mobile Handset Design, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AylGzU3yOE4C, isbn=978-0-470-82467-2