Video phones are telephones with attached video screens. The screens allow a person to see and hear the person on the other end of the call in real time, or with duplex video transmissions. The creation of the video has a large variety of applications.

Telephones with video screens were first created to aid the deaf and the speech impaired. The phones allowed these groups of people to use sign language when speaking over the telephone for the first time. From this original use, the videophone exploded into the medical field, the educational field, the business field, and the private sector.

The first picture phone was developed in the 1960’s. It was large and boxy. Throughout the years several other attempts have been made at creating video phones, none of them resulting in the success seen by today’s phones with video screens. The original telephones were required to send messages – pictures and images – from the original phone to a message center which then transmitted them to a third device. This was awkward and often failed. Today, transmissions are directly from device to device.

Video phones are used primarily in teleconferencing throughout the corporate sector. The ability to teleconference with video phones has completely changed the way many businesses interact with employees and more employees can access the office from home or other remote locations.

Education is another field that has benefited from video phones. Teachers can interact with students and students can conference with each other. In some situations phones with video screens are used for tutoring.

In the private sector, phones with video screens are seeing the greatest growth. Technology that was once only affordable in the corporate world is now affordable to families. The video phone makes it possible for families to stay close even when they are separated by miles, or even oceans.

How is this possible? One of the unique features of the telephone with the video screen is the virtual phone number. A virtual phone number allows the user to create a phone number from any area code, not just his or her area code. For example, a person with a family in England can create a phone number with a local British exchange which will make his calls much less expensive!