These phones were made to be used with a human operator in the loop. The button sends an alert signal to the operator so they know you want to be connected to another person.
A long time ago you picked up the phone and then told the operator who you wanted to talk to. That person then connected a physical cable from your jack on their panel to the other person you wanted to call’s jack. The Soviet Union likely kept that system for longer than most because it created jobs for people to do and also made tapping phone conversations trivial.
The simpler explanation is that it's a phone for incoming calls only (when outgoing calls aren't needed or permitted).
Phones without dial pads or rotatary dials were pretty common back on the days. Parents would often put these in their kids' rooms, giving the kids a softer restriction on phone usage.
Sorry, but this comment has been removed since it appears to be about the situation developing in Ukraine. With Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine, we've been flooded with a lot of submissions about this, but in addition to our politics rule, there is nothing oddly terrifying about the situation. It is a plainly terrifying situation that will affect the lives of many people.
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u/byteminer 6d ago
These phones were made to be used with a human operator in the loop. The button sends an alert signal to the operator so they know you want to be connected to another person.
A long time ago you picked up the phone and then told the operator who you wanted to talk to. That person then connected a physical cable from your jack on their panel to the other person you wanted to call’s jack. The Soviet Union likely kept that system for longer than most because it created jobs for people to do and also made tapping phone conversations trivial.