Home Phone

The home phone is a telephone that has been specifically designed for home or indoor usage. The term "home phone" came into being, probably after the advent of other "telephones" like car phones and mobile phones.

Home phones may be either wired or wireless. Wired phones are connected to the telephone exchange by means of a fixed wire, which besides having the capacity to transfer voice and speech may also double up to provide broadband internet connectivity, and in some countries even digital TV connectivity. Cordless phones are not "wireless" phones, as they rely on wired connectivity to connect the phone to the telephone exchange. Wireless phones, though operating on the same basic principles as mobile phones, are largely different. Often shaped to resemble a traditional wired home phone, they are as such bulky and often too big as compared to a mobile phone; nevertheless they are portable and can be "carried around", within a limited area. Wireless home phones run on batteries, and need to be charged regularly. Also wireless phone sometimes have the capacity for broadband internet connectivity and the related accessory for the same.

Sometimes home phones also feature answering machines, caller identification, call waiting, call holding, SMS, MMS, etc.