The person who (or device that) initiates a telephone call over the public switched telephone network is the calling party. The person who (or device that) answers a telephone is the called party.

The calling party is usually the party that pays the fee for placing the call, however in reverse charge (or collect) calls this may not be the case.

When using international roaming on mobile telephones, the calling party may need to pay an extra fee for the subsequent use of the overseas network.