Collect call

A collect call in Canada, Pakistan, and the United States, also known as a reverse charge call in other parts of the English-speaking world, is a telephone call in which the calling party wants to place a call at the called party's expense. In the past, collect calls were only possible as an operator-assisted call, but with the introduction of computer-based telephone dialing equipment, it is now possible to place a collect call without using an operator, which is called automated operator services (AOS) as opposed to Home Country Direct (HCD). Several companies offer services to place collect calls that compete with local service providers. Collect calls can be made from almost any public pay telephone in the world by following directions posted on or near the phone. Collect calling has been in constant decline since the advent of cellular phones and VOIP products, which can offer cheaper international rates.

While Mother's Day has the highest number of phone calls, the most collect calls are made on Father's Day.

Other forms of paid communication, such as telegrams and mail, could also be sent as "collect".

Mobile collect call solutions allow prepaid and postpaid end-users to easily make mobile collect calls on their home network or while roaming, even when they have run out of credit. The caller can request either complete or partial reversed charging.

In Brazil, reverse calls are available for every land or mobile line call. All reverse calls must be started by dialing 9090, followed by the zone code (in case the user is not in the same zone) and the desired phone number. If the user is not in the same zone as the recipient the calls must be started by dialing 90 + carrier code + area code + the desired phone number.

...
Wikipedia