Communicator (Star Trek)

Communicator
A 23rd-century communicator as used in Star Trek: The Original Series.
Plot element from the Star Trek franchise
First appearance	Star Trek "The Cage" (1964)
Created by	Gene Roddenberry
Genre	Science fiction
In-story information
Type	Communication device
Function	Allows subspace communication

The communicator is a fictional device used for voice communication in the fictional universe of Star Trek. As seen in at least two instances, the Original Series episodes "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" and "Day of the Dove," it can also serve as an emergency-signaling device/beacon, similar to a transponder. The communicator allows direct contact between individuals or via a ship's communication system.

The communicator in the Star Trek universe surpasses the capabilities of modern mobile phone technology, the prototypes of which it foreran and inspired. It allows crew members to contact starships in orbit without relying on an artificial satellite to relay the signal. Communicators use subspace transmissions that do not conform to normal rules of physics in that signals can bypass EM interference, and the devices allow nearly instantaneous communication at distances that would otherwise require more time to traverse.

In Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), communicators functioned as a plot device, stranding characters in challenging situations when they malfunctioned, were lost or stolen, or went out of range. (Otherwise, the transporter could have allowed characters to return to the ship at the first sign of trouble, ending the storyline prematurely.)

Throughout Star Trek: Enterprise and TOS, on-ship communication is achieved via communicator panels on desks and walls, and sometimes through the use of videophones. While on away missions, the crew carried hand-held communicators that flip open. The top section contains a transceiver antenna and the bottom contains user controls, a speaker and a microphone. The device was designed and built by Wah Chang, who also built many of the other props used in the series.