Phone sex is an erotic conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone that is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. This practice, which involves the temporary separation of individuals, dates back to the advent of rotary dial telephones, a technological innovation that prevented the possibility of eavesdropping by operators. In the latter part of the 20th century, commercial enterprises began to emerge that specialized in facilitating, for a fee, sexually explicit conversations between clients and phone sex workers. Phone sex takes imagination on both individuals' part, as each party imagines virtual sex. The sexually explicit conversation takes place between two or more persons via telephone, especially when at least one of the participants either masturbates or engages in sexual fantasy. Phone sex conversation may take many forms, including: guided fantasy, sexual sounds, narrated and enacted suggestions, sexual anecdotes and confessions, candid expression of sexual fantasies, feelings, or love, or discussion of personal and sensitive sexual topics. Once means of transmitting payment were developed, phone sex turned into primarily a commercial activity, with customers and sellers.
As a substitute for physical intimacy
Phone sex (erotic talk) does not involve physical contact between those participating in it. Couples may choose to engage in phone sex when the inconvenience of distance makes physical intimacy infrequent or impossible. Due to the potential for emotional intimacy between those who have engaged in phone sex, it is a matter of some debate whether phone sex is to be considered infidelity when a committed personal relationship participates with someone who is not their partner. Though phone sex may involve sex workers, especially when engaged through a sex hotline, it should not be confused with arrangements for in-person prostitution made over a phone call.
As a business
Origin The editor of High Society magazine, Gloria Leonard, is credited with being one of the first people to use "976 numbers", then "900 numbers" for promotional purposes and soon as a revenue stream in the sex industry. In the early 1980s, Leonard recorded her own voice informing callers of the contents of the next issue of High Society magazine before its publication. Later she recorded others such as Annie Sprinkle "talking sexy". Leonard convinced magazine owner Carl Ruderman to purchase more of these numbers and the business began to be successful using the magazine to promote the service. Leonard herself was surprised at the success of the numbers.
Operation Originally phone sex services consisted of a managed network of dispatchers (live or automated) and erotic performers. Performers would come to a studio where they received a cubicle, coaching, and cash incentives to keep callers on the line longer. This is the world portrayed in Spike Lee's movie about phone sex, Girl 6. At that time independent phone sex was more dangerous, as Lee's movie portrays. With the progress of technology it became more practical, convenient, and economical for providers to work out of their homes. Human dispatchers answered the advertised phone numbers, processed payment via credit card, decided which of the available performers best matched the clients' fantasy, and connected the client with the provider. The caller could not see the performer's number. Either could hang up, though some services put economic pressure on providers not to do so. Originally, per-minute billing was provided by phone companies. In the United States this billing was facilitated by the use of 976 and later 900 premium-rate numbers. Some services tried to keep the caller aroused but short of orgasm so the caller would spend more money; this tactic is still in use by some providers. When public pressure forced the phone companies to stop providing this service to sex workers, a transition was made to pre-paid blocks of time. The incentives for providers were then reversed: rather than earning money from keeping the customer on the line, they earned more from bringing the caller to orgasm quickly so the provider could move on rapidly to another call. Unused minutes were rarely usable if the customer called again. Once the Internet had become relatively mature, the sale of any sexual service not involving a minor could be made to anyone not a minor. Software platforms were custom written to handle money collection and transfer, connecting caller and performer though neither could see anything but the platform's phone number, and metering the connection. Details vary significantly from one platform to another, but the provider may be given a personal page on the platform to use however the performer wishes. Big platforms as of 2016 are Niteflirt, TalktoMe, and My Phone Site; the latter also includes provision by which a manager, with the consent of the providers, could have a virtual shop with many providers under them. Non-US customers were courted. Customers had a variety of payment options, and pages of providers to choose from, sometimes with voice samples available. The seller provides the picture, description, and sets the price, a percentage of which is kept by the platform. In the sex industry, similar platforms emerged facilitating the selling of used panties and other odoriferous garments. "Cam" video sessions also emerged, in which the caller can pay to direct the provider's actions on video. For a higher fee, the caller can have a private connection in which no one can see the caller or provider except each other.
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