Have you ever wondered why, when dialing a number on a mobile phone, you hear beeps and clicks at home on a stationary device? Or why, when dialing an additional prefix in the support service, they tell us: "Make sure that the phone’s tone mode is turned on"? But what is it and how to activate it?
To begin with, we note that the telephone network is, first of all, an
electric circuit, and the tone mode is one of its parameters. On the telephone exchange there is a generator that generates electric current, and the telephone sets open and close this circuit. When you pick up the phone to make a call, current flows to the telephone membrane. Then you hear a characteristic beep.
Pulse and tone modes are two ways by which information can be transmitted to the PBX about what number you dialed. When you dial in pulse mode, you hear clicks. Their number depends on the number you pressed. Therefore, when dialing a unit, we hear one click, and when dialing zero, ten.
This method of dialing the desired number is most often used on older exchanges, however, most landline phones are automatically tuned to it. The main advantage of pulse dialing is considered the possibility of its implementation without modern electronic circuits, and the drawbacks are the long dialing and the absence of the symbols "lattice" and "asterisk". That is why in the 60s of the last century a tone dialing mode was developed.
This mode involves the assignment to each digit of a certain frequency - tone. People with good
ear for music, perhaps, will even be able to determine which number was dialed by hearing such a signal. Tone mode is automatically used in mobile phones, and in
landline phones most often you will have to press the “star”, the “Tone” key or select a specific menu option to connect it. Of course, this does not apply to old
disk phones. However, switching the phone to
tone mode still does not guarantee anything, because it is supported only by the most modern digital or cellular networks.
They are in every major city, so you can easily become their subscriber. If your network supports tone dialing, then you still have to contact your landline operator to activate this service, as well as additional functions related to it. For example, caller ID and blocking 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 the dial tone mode, remember that additional services associated with it are often paid separately and must be supported by your model of stationary device.
In a word, 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. Moreover, it does not have the disadvantages of the "old" pulse dialing.