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. Strictly, in some systems, only one called party is contacted at each event, as to initiate a conference call the calling party contacts the first called party, then this person contacts the second called party, but audio 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.
In some countries, such as the United States and China, users of mobile phones pay for the "airtime" to receive calls, while in other countries, e.g. most European countries, the elevated interconnect fees are paid fully by the calling party and the called party are kept free of charge.
Famous quotes containing the words called and/or party:
“We will not be imposed upon by this vast application of forces. We believe that most things will have to be accomplished still by the application called Industry. We are rather pleased, after all, to consider the small private, but both constant and accumulated, force which stands behind every spade in the field. This it is that makes the valleys shine, and the deserts really bloom.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I recommend to you, in my last, an innocent piece of art: that of flattering people behind their backs, in presence of those who, to make their own court, much more than for your sake, will not fail to repeat, and even amplify, the praise to the party concerned. This is of all flattery the most pleasing, and consequently the most effectual.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)