Call waiting (or catch phone in Japan), in telephony, is a feature on some telephone networks. If a calling party places a call to a called party which is otherwise engaged, and the called party has the call waiting feature enabled, the called party is able to suspend the current telephone call and switch to the new incoming call (typically, this is done by pushing the flash button), and can then negotiate with the new or the current caller an appropriate time to ring back. Call waiting, then, alleviates the need to have more than one line for voice communications.
Read more about Call Waiting: Star Codes, Line Sharing, History
Famous quotes containing the words call and/or waiting:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“McCoy: That shark’s been following us ever since the surgeon died, waiting for the burial. Couldn’t I have a musket to shoot it, sir?
Fletcher Christian: Take the deck, McCoy. I’ll get the keys to the arms chest.
McCoy: Get two muskets, sir. I’d like to shoot that shark on board.”
—Talbot Jennings (1896–1985)