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The 'called party' is a person who (or device that) answers a telephone call. The person who (or device that) initiates a telephone call is the calling party.
In some situations, the called party may number more than one: such an instance is known as a conference call. Strictly, in some systems, only one called party is contacted at each event, as to initiate a conference call the calling party contacts the first called party, then this person contacts the second called party, but audio is transferred to both called parties.
In a collect call (i.e. reverse charge), the called party pays the fee for the call, when it is usually the calling party that does so.
In some countries, such as the United States, users of mobile telephones pay for the "airtime" to receive calls, while in other countries, e.g. as most European countries, these extra charges are passed to the calling party.
See also 3pcc.