telephone exchange

Meaning

1. Any equipment that establishes connections between telephones.
2. (historical) The rooms or building housing such equipment (a central office, as it was termed by the Bell System).
3. (historical) A local or locoregional network of such switched connections, of which a central office was the hub; the local company formed to create and maintain this network and its central office.
4. The portion of a telephone number representing that network, among the other networks of the larger system: the central office code. In the North American Numbering Plan, this is the "555" portion of "[phone]".

Synonyms

exchange

central

switchboard

patchboard

plugboard

telephone switching station

exchange operator

phone service

telecom hotel

telephone switchboard

call center

telephone switching system

call centre

central office

Translations

telefooncentrale

centralino

central telefônica

τηλεφωνικό κέντρο

central téléphonique

centralina

central

autocommutateur

bourse

centre

échange

commutateur téléphonique

centrale

central