Wide Area Telecommunications System

(watts)

A form of fixed-rate long-distance telecommunication service. WATS is often used in business but there are plans that work with personal home service as well. WATS can be incoming (IN-WATS), outgoing (OUT-WATS) or a combination. IN-WATS is perhaps the most familiar to most people as it uses special phone numbers, easily recognized as toll-free to the user (e.g., 800, 888, 887, etc.). A WATS line may have calling-zone restrictions (e.g., an 800 number could be for in-state calls only).

More Information

• Phone Systems Tutorial I