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| Image courtesy NEC |
The telephone set is an interface device that provides the interface to the Public Switched Telephone Network. You can pick up and dial a phone number to make a call. The telephone set performs the dialing function, converts the sound of your voice to electricity and converts the electricity on the line back into the voice of the party you are calling.
The original phone sets were simple magneto systems such as that on the right. Later, as the phone system became larger and more complex, other functions became part of the handset.
Strowger's step-by-step electromechanical switch required a subscriber telephone handset that was capable of providing pulses on the line to indicate to the step-by-step switches what phone number was being dialed. This is the origin of the 'pulse' setting on your telephone handset.
(This tutorial is still under development)