telephony Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunications services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is ...

, the term local call has the following meanings: # Any

call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call (poker), a bet matching an opponent's * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from L ...

using a single switching center; that is, not traveling to another telephone network; # A call made within a local calling area as defined by the local exchange carrier; # Any call for which an additional charge, ''i.e.'', toll charge, is not billed to the calling or called party, or (depending on the country) for which this charge is reduced because it is a short-distance call (e.g. within a town or local

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

). Typically, local calls have shorter numbers than

long-distance call In telecommunications, a long-distance call (U.S.) or trunk call (also known as a toll call in the UK ) is a telephone call made to a location outside a defined local calling area. Long-distance calls are typically charged a higher billing rate ...

s, as the

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

may not be required. However, this is not true in parts of the United States and Canada that are subject to

overlay plan In telecommunications, an area code overlay complex is a telephone numbering plan that assigns multiple area codes to the same geographic numbering plan area (NPA). Area code overlays are implemented in territories of the North American Numbe ...

s or many countries in Europe that require closed dialing plans.

Toll free A toll-free telephone number or freephone number is a telephone number that is billed for all arriving calls. For the calling party, a call to a toll-free number is free of charge, unless air-charges apply for mobile telephone service. A toll-free ...

(e.g. "800" numbers in the United States) are not necessarily local calls; despite being free to the caller, any charge due for the distance of the connection is charged to the ''called'' party. Commercial users who make or accept many long-distance calls to or from a particular distant place may make them as local calls by use of a foreign exchange service. Such an "FX" line also allows people in the distant place to call by using a telephone number local to them.

References

* Teletraffic {{telecomm-stub

See also

References