What is "telex"

1932, "a communication system of teletypewriters," from tel(etype) ex(change).

n. 1 A communications system consisting of a network of teletypewriters. 2 A message sent through such a network. 3 The machine used to send and receive such messages. vb. (context transitive English) To send (a message) by telex.

1. n. a character printer connected to a telegraph that operates like a typewriter [syn: teletypewriter, teleprinter, teletype machine, telex machine]

2. v. communicate by telex; "We telexed the information to our sister company"

Telex was a Belgian synthpop group formed in 1978 by Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers, with the intention of "making something really European, different from rock, without guitar — and the idea was electronic music."

Telex may refer to:

• Telex (network), (TELegraph EXchange), a communications network
  • Teleprinter, the device used on the above network
• Telegraphic transfer, an electronic means of transferring funds overseas
• Telex (anti-censorship system), a research project that would complement Tor (anonymity network)
• Telex (band), a Belgian pop group
• Telex (IME), a convention for writing Vietnamese using ASCII characters commonly found on computer keyboard layouts
• Tele-X, a Nordic communications satellite
• Telex Communications (formerly Telex Corporation), an American manufacturer of hearing aids, audio equipment, and computer peripherals.
• Telex II, a later name for the TWX teletypewriter network
• " Planet Telex", a song by rock band Radiohead
• Telephone exchange
• Telephone extension

Telex, also known in Vietnamese as Quốc ngữ điện tín (lit. "national language telex", is a convention for encoding Vietnamese text in plain ASCII characters. Originally used for transmitting Vietnamese text over telex systems, it is now a popular input method for computers.

The telex network is a switched network of teleprinters similar to a telephone network, for the purposes of sending text-based messages. The term refers to the network, not the teleprinters; point-to-point teleprinter systems had been in use long before telex exchanges were formed starting in the 1930s. Teleprinters evolved from telegraph systems, and like the telegraph they used the presence or absence of a pre-defined level of current to represent the mark or space symbols. This is as opposed to the analog telephone system, which used differing voltages to encode frequency information. For this reason, telex exchanges were entirely separate from the telephone system, with their own signalling standards, exchanges and system of "telex numbers" (the counterpart of a telephone number). When telephone and telex exchange equipment was co-located, which was not uncommon, the different signalling systems would sometimes cause interference.

Telex provided the first common medium for international record communications using standard signalling techniques and operating criteria as specified by the International Telecommunication Union. Customers on any telex exchange could deliver messages to any other, around the world. To lower line usage, telex messages were normally first encoded onto paper tape and then read into the line as quickly as possible. The system normally delivered information at 50 baud or approximately 66 words per minute encoded using the International Telegraph Alphabet No. 2. In the late days of the telex networks, end-user equipment was often replaced by modems and phone lines as well, reducing the telex network to what was effectively a directory service running on the phone network.

Telex is a research anti-censorship system that would allow users to circumvent a censor without alerting the censor to the act of circumvention. It is not ready for real users, but a proof-of-concept mock system exists.