The called party (in some contexts called the "B-Number") is a person who (or device that) answers a telephone call. The person who (or device that) initiates a telephone call is the calling party. In some situations, the called party may number more than one. Such an instance is known as a

conference call A conference call (sometimes called an audio teleconference or ATC) is a telephone call in which several people share a telephone line at the same time. The conference call may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the cal ...

. In some systems, only one called party is contacted at each event. To initiate a conference call the calling party contacts the first called party, then this person contacts the second called party, but

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

is transferred to both called parties. While a calling party will typically pay the fee for making a call, in a

collect call A collect call in Canada and the United States, known as a reverse charge call in other parts of the English-speaking world, is a telephone call in which the calling party wants to place a call at the called party's expense. Collect calls were or ...

(also known as a reverse charge call), it is instead the called party that pays the fee for the call. The called party also pays if the number dialed is a toll-free telephone number. In some countries such as Canada, the United States and China, users of

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 ...

s pay for the "airtime" to receive calls. In most other countries (e.g. most European countries), the elevated interconnect fees are paid fully by the calling party and the called party incurs no charge.

References

Telephony Teletraffic {{telephony-stub de:B-Teilnehmer