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Telecommunications allows people around the World to contact one another, to access information instantly, and to communicate from remote areas. Telecommunications usually involves a sender of information and one or more recipients(收件人) linked by a technology, such as a telephone system, that transmits information from one place to another. Telecommunications devices convert different types of information, such as sound and video, into electronic signals. The signals can then be transmitted by means of media such as telephone wires or radio waves. When a signal reaches its destination, the device on the receiving end converts the electronic signal back into an understandable message, such as sound over a telephone, moving images on a television, or words and pictures on a computer screen. Telecommunications enables people to send and receive personal messages across town, between countries, and to and from outer space. It also provides the key medium for news, data, information’ and entertainment. Telecommunications messages can be sent in a variety of ways and by a wide range of devices. The messages can be sent from one sender to a single receiver (point-to-point) or from one sender to many receivers (point-to-multipoint). Personal communications, such as a telephone conversation between two people or a facsimile (fax) message, usually involve point-to-point transmission. Point-to-multipoint telecommunications, often called broadcasts, provide the basis for commercial radio and television programming.

A fax can be