Dial telephones are a type of telephone that uses a rotating dial to input numbers. When a user turns the dial to a specific number, it generates a series of electrical pulses that correspond to the number dialed. This system was widely used before the advent of push-button phones and is often associated with the mid-20th century. These telephones typically have a circular dial with numbers from 0 to 9, along with a finger stop. The design allowed users to make calls by rotating the dial and then waiting for it to return to its starting position before dialing the next number. Push-button phones eventually replaced dial telephones due to their speed and ease of use.