E.161 overlay for pulse dialing¶

The ITU-T Recommendation E.161 specifies the mapping between numbers and letters on telephones.

Wikipedia:

The E.161 layout is primarily based on the layout used on American telephones since the 1930s for telephone exchange names. Until the 1990s, Q and Z were not included in the standard layout, and since the letters served mainly as mnemonic devices, they were not necessary (Q and Z were not used in phonewords); telephones either omitted them, placed Q and Z onto the 1 key, or included Q and Z on the current locations, with PRS on 7 and WXY on 9. The development of text messaging on mobile phones, which required the full range of the alphabet, led to the need to standardize locations for Q and Z on mobile devices. E.161 adopted the current layout in response to this.

To make the older pulse dialing phones compatible with E.161, Eloy made a scalable vector image that can be printed and glued behind or around the pulse dial, depending on the phone model. This makes it compatible with the typical named DECT numbers at (hacker) events. The current file is made for one specific phone, probably needs modification for yours. If you have made one yourself too, please add it here!

Inkscape note: draw a big circle and then small circles. Use the 'align and distribute' -> 'circular' tool. Remove the big circle for the final design.

Files¶

• E161_pulse_dial.svg

External links¶

• ITU-T Recommendation E.161