A courtesy telephone is 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 ...

located in

airport terminal An airport terminal is a main building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft. The buildings that provide access t ...

s, large train stations, hotel lobbies, and other places where many travellers are expected, which is used to relay messages to a specific person. It is typically used in connection with a public address system announcement of the style "Gwen Cooper, please pick up the nearest white courtesy telephone." Courtesy telephones may have a distinctive color, which is traditionally white in US airports, and most have no dialing capabilities but rather are simple

ringdown In telephony, ringdown is a method of signaling an operator in which telephone ringing current is sent over the line to operate a lamp or cause the operation of a self-locking relay known as a ''drop''. Ringdown is used in manual operation, ...

stations to reach an

operator Operator may refer to: Mathematics * A symbol indicating a mathematical operation * Logical operator or logical connective in mathematical logic * Operator (mathematics), mapping that acts on elements of a space to produce elements of another sp ...

or other fixed number. Some double as

emergency telephone An emergency telephone is a public telephone provided for making calls to emergency services. Roadside emergency telephones Although it is difficult to determine when and where the earliest highway emergency phones were developed, undoubtedly ...

s, having buttons by which a user can distinguish between emergency use and inquiry. Customers can use a courtesy phone to seek information, such as where to find further transport or a person trying to meet them. Some courtesy phones provide a direct line to a number of advertised businesses, such as motels or taxis. They may be located near baggage claim, ticketing areas, and security checkpoints.Ngcobo, Sipho "Airport approves advertising contract"
''The Times-News'', (March 20, 1990), page 3. Retrieved July 9, 2011 Other telephones in public or semi-public places which may be used to make outside calls are also sometimes called "courtesy telephones".

References

Public phones {{telephony-stub

See also

References