Secrets of modern communication: mysterious tone mode

Have you ever wondered why when you dial a number on your mobile phone you hear a beep, and at home on a stationary device - clicks? Or why, when dialing an additional prefix in the support service, they say to us: "Make sure that the phone's tone mode is on"? But what is it and how to activate it?

To begin with, we note that the telephone network is, above all, an electrical circuit, and the tone mode is one of its parameters. At the ATS there is a generator, which generates an electric current, and the telephone apparatus opens and closes this circuit. When you pick up the phone to make a phone call, a current flows to the phone's diaphragm. Then you hear a characteristic dial tone.

Pulse and tone mode are two ways by which the PBX can transmit information about which number you have dialed. When dialing a number in the pulse mode, you hear a click. Their number depends on the number you clicked. Therefore, when dialing a unit, we hear one click, and when typing zero, we hear ten.

This method of dialing the desired number is most often used on old PBXs, but most fixed phones are automatically configured for it. The main advantage of pulse dialing is considered the possibility of its implementation without modern electronic circuits, and the disadvantages are a long set and the absence of "lattice" and "asterisk" symbols. That's why in the sixties of the last century, a dial tone mode was developed.

This mode assumes the assignment of each digit to a certain frequency - tone. People with a good musical ear, perhaps, will even be able to determine which figure was dialed by hearing such a signal. Tone mode is automatically used in mobile phones, and in fixed phones, most often to connect it you have to press the "star", the "Tone" key or select a specific menu option. Of course, this does not apply to old disk phones. However, transferring the phone to a tone mode still does not guarantee anything, because it is supported only by the most advanced digital or cellular networks.

They are in every major city, so that you can easily become their subscriber. If your network supports tone dialing, you still need to contact your fixed line operator to activate this service, as well as related additional functions. For example, caller ID and blocking of calls from certain subscribers.

Another interesting feature, available if tone mode is connected, is the ability to hold a call. So you can always answer an important call, and your friends and colleagues will not be annoyed by your constant employment.

Using tone dialing mode, remember that the additional services associated with it are often paid separately and should be supported by your fixed-device model.

In short, today there are two dialing modes: tone and pulse. The tone mode is more modern and is used by default in mobile phones, which allows their owners to use a number of functions of modern networks. In addition, he has no shortcomings in the "old" impulse set.