Wide Area Telephone Service


Wide Area Telephone Service

Also called WATS. A long distance service in the United States allowing a single telephone line to call one of several lines at a central location (such as a call center) or vice versa. This service may be used for outbound or inbound calls, though using it for outbound calls became obsolete by the 1990s. The service is used by 800 numbers, enabling customers to call a center to place an order or conduct some other activities. It was developed in the 1960s by AT&T.