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Plain old telephone service ( POTS ) is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in most parts of the world. The name is a reflection of the telephone service still available after the advent of more advanced forms of telephony such as ISDN, mobile phones and VoIP. It has been available almost since the introduction of the public telephone system in the late 19th century, in a form mostly unchanged to the normal user despite the introduction of Touch-Tone dialing, electronic telephone exchanges and fiber-optic communication into the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

The system was originally known as the Post Office Telephone Service or Post Office Telephone System in many countries. The term was dropped as telephone services were removed from the control of national post offices.

POTS services include:

  • bi-directional, or full duplex, voice path with limited frequency range of 300 to 3400 Hz: in other words, a signal to carry the sound of the human voice both ways at once;
  • call-progress tones, such as dial tone and ringing signal;
  • subscriber dialing;
  • operator services, such as directory assistance, long distance, and conference calling assistance;
  • a standards compliant analog telephone interface including BORSCHT functions

In the United States, the pair of wires from the central switch office to a subscriber's home is called a subscriber loop. It is typically powered by -48V direct current (DC) and backed up by a large bank of batteries (connected in series) in the central office, resulting in continuation of service during most commercial power outages. The subscriber loop typically carries a "load" of about 300 Ohms, and does not pose a threat of electrocution to human beings (although shorting the loop can be felt as an unpleasant sensation).

Many calling features became available to POTS subscribers after computerization of telephone exchanges during the 1970s and 1980s. The services include:

  • Voicemail
  • Caller ID
  • Call waiting
  • Speed dialing
  • Conference call (three-way calling)
  • Enhanced 911
  • Centrex
  • and other services.

The communications circuits of the PSTN continue to be modernized by advances in digital communications; however, other than improving sound quality, these changes have been mainly transparent to the POTS customer. In most cases, the function of the POTS local loop presented to the customer for connection to telephone equipment is practically unchanged and remains compatible with old Pulse dialing telephones, even ones dating back to the early 20th century.

Due to the wide availability of POTS, new forms of communications devices such as modems and facsimile machines are designed to use the POTS service to transmit digital information.

Reliability

While POTS provides limited features, low bandwidth and no mobile capabilities, it provides greater reliability than other telephony systems (mobile phone, VoIP, etc.). Many telephone service providers attempt to achieve "dial-tone availability" more than 99.999% of the time the telephone is taken off-hook. This is equivalent to having no dial-tone available less than five minutes each year, an often-cited benchmark in marketing and systems engineering comparisons, called the "five nines" reliability standard.

See also

  • Public switched telephone network
  • RJ11 - the type of telephone jack common in most of the world for single line POTS telephones
  • DTMF - the tones used for pushbutton dialing
  • 25-pair color code
  • Category 1 cable
  • Twisted pair
  • Foreign exchange office (FXO)
  • Foreign exchange station (FXS)
  • Telephone network box


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Amber May ♥ asks: "I had my house phone turned off last week because I haven't been paying the bill. (Long story, please spare me the lectures. There were some financial issues involving a roommate who no longer lives with me.)I paid the bill in full this morning via their website. How long will it take before I get my phone back online, can make calls, go online, etc?Yes, I did pay the reconnect fee."
lmoran176 replies: 'Did you pay the reconnect charge too? If not, then you'll be waiting awhile.'
Blessed replies: 'Give verizon a call and find out. I notice with verizon that they are backwards. I wanted a name change on my phone and fios internet so they had to disconnect the internet for 3 days until the name change took in effect.'
joe r replies: 'as long as everything is still connected, and you have dial tone at your house, then it should take a few minutes to a few hours... the dial tone should be there if the line was disconnected within 10 days or so... but only for emergency calls... if there is no dial tone, then it is possible that a repair or install tech used the wiring outside to repair someone elses line, and you will need to call the repair department for a no dial tone trouble ticket to be opened... but, regardless if you paid, the payment has to post to the account... so it also depends on how you paid... and if the payment has been credited to the account..'
aikon56 asks: "I just need a phone line to allow me to receive DSL signal for my $19.99/mo internet service. Comcast can never beat this internet pricing LONG-TERM. That is, more than the 6- or 12-month trial period where Comcast offers its lower prices.AT&T's local charges are starting to creep up almost every month in 2007. Imagine paying about $10/month just for taxes and surcharges (that's $120/yr) even if my phone line doesn't even have long distance.I also looked at Vonage but it's a catch 22:Vonage needs internetMy DSL internet (non-Comcast because it's cheaper by half: $20 vs Comcast's more than $50/mo) needs a phone lineTherefore, for me to use Vonage I stil have to pay for my phone line."
Roger replies: 'use this website to find the best and cheapest providers in your area!!!I've used it and it helped me out alot!!!just put in your address and see what companies come up....'
Laissez-Faire Guy replies: 'Unfortunately in the bay area, those are the service providers. The good news is that AT&T is starting to experiment offering "naked DSL," or DSL without requiring a standard phone line. See the article I've linked to below.Try calling AT&T up and see if they'll sell you just the DSL line like they are doing in those trial cities.'
Savannah C asks: "Like, I have version home phone, and my grilfriend has verison wireless, so would our calls be free?"
skinsfan8017 replies: 'No'
CMass Stan replies: 'Nope.Billing for residential phone service is different than billing for wireless service, at least in Verizon's world.I imagine that could be the next frontier for Verizon and AT&T. We'll just have to wait and see...'
chelle62099 replies: 'usually not, unless it specified in the contract or plan. i dont know if verizon offers this, but i do know at&t offer whats called the "unity" plan. where it is unlimited to call att landlines from your wireless phone'
Michael M replies: 'Do not think so.'

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