Editing Hotline (section)

{{Short description|Automatically directed point-to-point communications link}}
{{Hatnote|A hotline in the other widespread sense is a [[helpline]]. For other uses, see [[Hotline (disambiguation)]].}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}

[[File:Jimmy Carter Library and Museum 99.JPG|thumb|right|A typical non-dial red phone used for hotlines. This one is a prop which is on display in the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, erroneously representing the [[Moscow–Washington hotline]].<ref>[http://electrospaces.blogspot.nl/2013/08/the-red-phone-that-was-not-on-hotline.html The red phone that was NOT on the Hotline]. electrospaces.blogspot.nl. 30 August 2013</ref>]]

A '''hotline''' is a [[Point-to-point (telecommunications)|point-to-point]] [[information transfer|communications]] [[Data link|link]] in which a [[telephone call|call]] is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the [[User (telecommunications)|user]] when the [[end instrument]] goes [[off-hook]].<ref>Derived from [[Federal Standard 1037C]]</ref> An example would be a phone that automatically connects to emergency services on picking up the receiver. Therefore, dedicated hotline phones do not need a rotary dial or keypad. A hotline can also be called an automatic [[Signaling (telecommunications)|signaling]], [[ringdown]], or off-hook service.