Hotline

Encyclopedia : H : HO : HOT : Hotline

In telecommunication, a hotline (also called an automatic signaling service or off-hook service) is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook.

True hotlines cannot be used to originate calls other than to preselected destinations. However, in common or colloquial usage, a "hotline" often refers to a call center reachable by dialing a standard telephone number, or sometimes the phone numbers themselves. This is especially the case with 24-hour, noncommercial numbers, such as police tip hotlines or suicide crisis hotlines, which are manned around the clock and thereby give the appearance of real hotlines.

Hotlines are generally employed to get immediate assistance with a problem. For example, Governor Howard Dean created a hotline for legislators in Vermont to provide feedback on budget cuts. Most commonly, a hotline refers to a mental health hotline. Depending on the community, there are hotlines for stress, child abuse, domestic abuse or other forms of self-harm or injurious conduct.

Derived from Federal Standard 1037C.

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