cover image

Dual-tone multi-frequency signaling

Telecommunication signaling system / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:

Can you list the top facts and stats about Touch-Tone?

Summarize this article for a 10 years old

SHOW ALL QUESTIONS

Dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) is a telecommunication signaling system using the voice-frequency band over telephone lines between telephone equipment and other communications devices and switching centers.[1] DTMF was first developed in the Bell System in the United States, and became known under the trademark Touch-Tone for use in push-button telephones supplied to telephone customers, starting in 1963. DTMF is standardized as ITU-T Recommendation Q.23.[2] It is also known in the UK as MF4.

66a3aDTMFpad.jpg
Autovon keypads were one of the few production units to include all 16 DTMF signals. The red keys in the fourth column produce the A, B, C, and D DTMF events.

Touch-Tone dialing with a telephone keypad gradually replaced the use of rotary dials and has become the industry standard in telephony. Other multi-frequency systems are also used for signaling on trunks in the telephone network.