The called party (in some contexts called the "B-Number") is a person who (or device that) answers a telephone call. The person who (or device that) initiates a telephone call is the calling party. In some situations, the called party may number more than one. Such an instance is known as a conference call. In some systems, only one called party is contacted at each event. To initiate a conference call the calling party contacts the first called party, then this person contacts the second called party, but

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum * Digital audio, representation of sou ...

is transferred to both called parties. In a collect call (i.e. reverse charge), the called party pays the fee for the call, when it is usually the calling party that does so. The called party also pays if the number dialed is a

toll-free telephone number 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 from a landline is free of charge. A toll-free number is identified by a dialing pre ...

. In some countries such as Canada, the United States and China, users of

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

s pay for the "airtime" to receive calls. In most other countries (e.g. most European countries), the elevated interconnect fees are paid fully by the calling party and the called party incurs no charge.

References

Telephony Teletraffic {{telephony-stub de:B-Teilnehmer