It's an intercom handset: There would be one on a manager's desk and one on their assistant's. Or several of them on one desk, each with a different label on the front. As soon as you lift the handset, the receiver at the other end would ring or buzz or blink or whatever it was designed to do.
In the West it was more common to see an intercom with a speaker on it, maybe with a handset for privacy.
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u/anotherkeebler 5d ago
It's an intercom handset: There would be one on a manager's desk and one on their assistant's. Or several of them on one desk, each with a different label on the front. As soon as you lift the handset, the receiver at the other end would ring or buzz or blink or whatever it was designed to do.
In the West it was more common to see an intercom with a speaker on it, maybe with a handset for privacy.