What is a cordless phone, and how does it work?

 A cordless phone is a telephone that is portable and uses an encrypted radio signal to transmit the voice signal wirelessly to a base station, which itself is plugged into a traditional analogue, or a newer voip style connection. 

A cordless phone ususlly consists of two parts:

1. The base unit, which is hardwired to the telephone connection and also a power supply.*
2. The handset. THis is the part you hold to your ear and talk with - handsets are typically provided with rechargable batteries.
   
   *Base units can often serve as a charging dock for the handset itself.

The handset and base unit are commonly connected using the DECT standard which uses the 2.4GhZ frequency and a strict code for encrypting voice data and will provide up to 80 metres range in a typical indoor anvironment and up to 150 metres in an ideal open plan situation.