View source for Engineering:Handset

{{Short description|Telephone component}}

[[File:FeAp 92-1a - handset-4975.jpg|thumb|Classic handset]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F079049-0027, Bonn, Kaufhof.jpg|thumb|Woman using a telephone handset (West Germany, 1988)]]
[[File:Enea Bossi Sr - USA, 1930s.JPG|thumb|Early 20th century [[Engineering:Candlestick telephone|candlestick telephone]] which required only the receiver to be held to the ear (United States, 1920s–30s)]]

A '''handset''' is a component of a [[Engineering:Telephone|telephone]] that a user holds to the ear and mouth to receive audio through the receiver and speak to the remote party using the built-in [[Engineering:Transmitter|transmitter]]. In earlier telephones, the transmitter was mounted directly on the telephone itself, which was attached to a wall at a convenient height or placed on a desk or table. Until the advent of the [[Engineering:Cordless telephone|cordless telephone]], the handset was usually wired to the base unit, typically by a flexible [[Engineering:Tinsel wire|tinsel wire]] cord.

The handset of a cordless telephone contains a radio [[Transceiver|transceiver]] which relays communication via a [[Engineering:Base station|base station]] that is wired to the [[Engineering:Telephone line|telephone line]]. A [[Engineering:Mobile phone|mobile phone]] does not require a base station and communicates directly with a [[Engineering:Cell site|cell site]] in designated [[Frequency band|frequency band]]s.

== Handset symbol ==

A graphic symbol that designates a handset is used on cordless and mobile phones to specify placing or ending a telephone call. Usually a button with green upright (off-hook) handset icon [[File:Gnome-call-start.svg|frameless|24px]] is used for starting a call, and a red lying-down (on-hook) handset frameless|24px is used for ending a call.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vqWEdNSKUVoC|title=Mobile Usability: How Nokia Changed the Face of the Mobile Phone: How Nokia Changed the Face of the Mobile Phone|last1=Lindholm|first1=Christian|last2=Keinonen|first2=Turkka|last3=Kiljander|first3=Harri|date=2003-06-22|publisher=McGraw Hill Professional|isbn=9780071429108|language=en}}</ref> [[Unicode]] provides the {{unichar|1F4DE|TELEPHONE RECEIVER}} symbol.

==See also==
*[[Engineering:Headset (audio)|Headset (audio)]]
*[[Engineering:Western Electric hand telephone sets|Western Electric hand telephone sets]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Telephony equipment]]

* {{cite book|author=Sajal K. Das|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|date=April 2010|title=Mobile Handset Design|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AylGzU3yOE4C|isbn=978-0-470-82467-2}}

{{Sourceattribution|Handset}}