| Name | Hotel Phone |
| Date | 1980s-2010 |
| Manufacturer | Various, Taiwan (see below). This model was popular in the USA. In Australia, popular in white and red models. |
| Notes | This shape of payphone was first developed in Japan as a payphone to be used at shopfronts. It then proved very popular and was manufactured heavily in Taiwan and Thailand. They were cheap low security supervised payphones that could be plugged into normal phone lines. They were popular throughout Asia, South America, USA and Australia in the 1990s (especially after the deregulation of those markets). |
| Links | Original design model in Japan Hotel Phone as used in Australia (Victa) Hotel Phone as used in Mexico |
Below- Commonly used in the USA, this Taiwanese-made hotel or motel payphone dates from approximately the 1980s. Its cream plastic case, handset and DTMF keypad deliberately resemble an ordinary desk telephone, while the internal mechanism validates and collects coins. It also permits coinless 911 calls. The label gives FCC registration DW38J5-12997-MA-E and serial number 400597. No maker’s name is visible; therefore, the manufacturer can be identified only as an unknown Taiwanese OEM.
Below- The GTEL Model 727 is a desktop coin telephone manufactured in Taiwan by Golden Telecommunications, probably during the 1980s or early 90s. The instruction panel also explains credit-card, toll-free and emergency calling. Unlike a conventional public payphone, its plastic desk-telephone casing allowed convenient counter or bedside installation. A locking coin compartment and return protected the takings. The underside carries UL listing E138837 and identifies the unit as Model 727.
Below- This CKT desktop payphone was a coin telephone intended for American hotels, motels, offices and similar indoor locations. Probably manufactured in Taiwan during the 1980s, it accepted one quarter for calls within a single area code. The caller deposited the coin, dialled on the twelve-button DTMF keypad and pressed the large “Push to Talk” button after the called party answered. A warning tone requested another quarter for continued conversation, while 911 calls could be made without payment. Illustrated instructions made operation understandable. Its moulded plastic housing incorporated a conventional handset, internal coin mechanism, locked cash compartment and coin-return opening.
Below- The Taiwanese-made GTEL Model 767 “Profit Phone” was a desktop payphone marketed to hotels, motels and other premises, probably during the late 1980s. It accepted nickels, dimes and quarters, displayed long-distance charges on an LCD, and supported local, credit-card, toll-free and emergency calls.
Below- The manufacturer/brand is ELT-Phone, and the model is ST-888. The underside label confirms it was made in Thailand, not Taiwan. G-TEL was the Houston payphone operator or distributor that owned and serviced this particular unit—not its manufacturer.
Below- KRK-8268 TXB red plastic payphone made in Taiwan Red plastic CYT payphone. Model CY-864TXB. Series number 821566.
CYT appears to have been a Taiwanese telephone manufacturer or export brand active during the 1980s. No reliable corporate history, expanded company name or factory address is currently traceable. Its surviving CY-864TXB and related KRK-8268 TXB documentation show that CYT produced programmable, microprocessor-controlled payphones configured for the United States market.
Below- Sonitek was a telecommunications brand applied to the Citywide SN-6805MD payphone, manufactured in Thailand for the North American market. Its corporate identity remains poorly documented, although the telephone carries American FCC registration and design patent D396,465. It appears unrelated to today’s Connecticut-based Sonitek Corporation, which manufactures plastic-welding and heat-staking equipment.
Below- another CKT product: its coin-box key bears CKT’s distinctive registered monogram, matching the branded example shown earlier. CKT was apparently a Taiwanese manufacturer or export brand supplying customer-owned payphones to America during the 1980s.
Taiwanese / Hong Kong OEMs
| Taiwanese / Thailand / Hong Kong OEMs (typical for this class) Examples Tecom VTech OEM division (early years) Aristel Kanda / Kinpo Cortelco subcontractors Smaller Taiwanese contract electronics houses These firms produced thousands of near-identical hotel/club phones that were then sold as: Premier Viking Metro G-Tel CKT Payphone Commander-branded peripherals Local telco dealer brands |
| Below- G-Tel unit |
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