European Phones - will they work in the USA?

Question

I'm not talking about mobile phones - I mean if you are one of those people who still has an old fashioned "land line" in your house for emergencies (where mobile phone won't work because the system is over loaded with too many people trying to make phone calls) . I saw this very cool looking cordless phone in Germany and I was wondering if I bought and hooked it up here at home to use as my land line and home answering machine - will it work? I know I would have to use an electrical converter - but what about the actual phone cord? Does the phone cord need a converter as well? I haven't been able to find anything on the internet about this.

Again, this is for an old fashioned, land line. A "Home Phone" not a "Mobile Phone". Thanks in advance everyone!

Answer 1

You may own any phone but you may not connect it to the public system unless it has a BZT number (Old phones: ZZF). You may not own radios or cordless phones which are not approved. The number is usually found on a sticker at the back of the case.

Tone dial and pulse dial are available everywhere. Problems are possible with Hong Kong or British pulse dial phones because the pulses there are not exactly the same as in Germany. But the phone system is very tolerant and with most of these phones you can switch to the other system anyway (same for modems).

Cordless phones are a real problem. In Germany, cordless phones operate on different frequencies (900 MHz) than in most other countries. In the bands that many foreign phones use (80 MHz for cheap US-phones) are a number of official channels (police, emergencies, radio, TV ...). It is punishable to own and use an illegal cordless phone! Therefore, use only approved cordless phones !!! or they will get you !!!

On a lighter note: it is possible, for more money, though, to obtain a 900 Mhz phone abroad. In the US, for instance, these are about twice as expensive as the 80 MHz phone; however, you may expect to still cut a deal, compared to German prices ;-) 1996-1

The wall outlets for phones in Germany have a different shape than the usual modular plug. Adapters are available in Germany (from 2.50 to 20 DM). These adapters are no problems with phones. But legal and illegal things might not work together on the same line.

Fax machines usually work in Germany, too. Typically you'll need a new power adapter, though. 1995-3

Since local phone calls in Germany are usually billed by the minute, a speedy Modem is not only convenient but can also be a real money-saver. By now, both ISDN connections with 64 kbit/s and v.90 modems with up to 56 kbit/s are widely available. An ISDN hookup, which provides up to ten phone numbers and two simultaneous lines, is not only faster but also cheaper than two seperate conventional lines. 1998-05

Watch out for the 16kHz timer signal, which the telekom sends to allow for your own tracking of billing periods. This is an additional account feature, costs 99 Pfennige per month and is pretty useless with the newer rate structures anyway. But if you have it and if the modem doesn't filter this signal you might lose connection every 90 seconds (or at multiples thereof.) 1999-11

Teleadapt (http://www.teledapt.com) has a device called TeleFilter, which filters the Accounting signal used in the german phonesystem, useful for modems that do not have the filter built in (e.g., most non-german modems). The same device is also sold by Blackbox (http://www.blackbox.com). 1998-04


Adapters
There are cheap(!) adapters available (between 2 and 20 DM.) To build one yourself is most likely not cost efficient. Be aware of possible legal conflicts. Your phone is more likely to be illegal than the homemade adapter. Connection scheme:

American plug German TAE-F or TAE-N plug
+------------- -----
| * yellow 4 / /
| * green 3 4 // 3
| * red 2 / /
| * black 1 // 2
+------------- / /
// 1
/ /
-----

Answer 2

the short answer, maybe.

the systems are different. the time between pulses for the US and Europe are different, but it may work anyway because u can dial a US phone just by pulsing the hook switch. That isn't too accurate but it works.

I believe the tones are the same but I won't swear to that.