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Communications terminal is an old term that disappeared for a decade or two and is being reintroduced here, very possibly for no other reason than that it needs to be discussed so that it can eventually disappear again—once it becomes ubiquitous.
First, a little history. When digital PBX systems were first released, manufacturers of these machines realized that they could not refer to their endpoints as telephones—their proprietary nature prevented them from connecting to the PSTN. They were therefore called terminals , or stations. Users, of course, weren't having any of it. It looked like a telephone and acted like a telephone, and therefore it was a telephone. You will still occasionally find PBX sets referred to as terminals, but for the most part they are called telephones.
The renewed relevance of the term "communications terminal" has nothing to do with anything proprietary—rather, it's the opposite. As we develop more creative ways of communicating with each other, we gain access to many different devices that will allow us to connect. Consider the following scenarios:
If I use my PDA to connect to my voicemail and retrieve my voice messages (converted to text), does my PDA become a phone?
If I attach a video camera to my PC, connect to a company's web site, and request a live chat with a customer service rep, is my PC now a telephone?
If I use the IP phone in my kitchen to surf for recipes, is that a phone call?
The point is simply this: we'll probably always be "phoning" each other, but will we always be using "telephones" to do so?
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