Cordless Phones - Just How Do They Work?

If it were not for the cordless phone permitting me to carry my communications connection where ever I go, I do not know if I would be able to get anything done. As much as I use the cordless technology, I have not thought once about just how it workings.

For those of you who have a inquisitiveness that kills cats, like me, I determined to see just what the process entails. The simplicity of it all caught me off guard.

There are two basic parts to every cordless phone – the base and the handset.

The base is connected to the phone system through a phone jack in your home. The system does not even know that it is different from the ordinary corded phones. The difference appears with the first call you receive. A cordless phone takes the call (which comes in the form of an electrical signal) and decodes it to an FM radio signal. It then broadcasts this radio signal into space in quest of your handset.

Does it mean that it is possible for just any person to intercept your phone discussions? The answer is most certainly yes! Manufacturers have combated this some by making cordless phones that constantly switch frequencies, but even that does not guarantee privacy. Professionals recommend that any conversations needing person identity information (such as SS #, account numbers, or passwords) should always be made on a corded phone. There is just no way to be sure who is listening to what you are saying.

The handset is the second part of the cordless phone. When the handset picks up the FM radio signal, it converts that back to the electrical signal and then converts that into a signal that your ear can recognize. When you talk back into the handset, the procedure is repeated in overturn. This procedure is very much like a walkie-talkie. The difference is that the cordless phone workings on a duplex frequency that allows both parties to send and receive signals at the same time.

The first cordless phones invented around 1980. The range that the handsets could move from the bases was very limited by the frequencies that were used. Nowadays, thanks to limitations being lifted by the FCC, those frequencies have been extended and the ranges have dramatically amplified.