▲《柯林斯高阶英语词典》： The telephone is an electrical system of communication that you use to talk directly to someone else in a different place. You use the telephone by dialling a number on a piece of equipment and speaking into it. 

▲《朗文当代英语词典》： the system of communication that you use to have a conversation with someone in another place 

▲《牛津高阶英语词典》 

1. [C, U] a system for talking to sb else over long distances, using wires or radio; a machine used for this: The telephone rang and Pat answered it. / You can reserve seats over the telephone. / I need to make a telephone call. / telephone lines / networks / services 

2. [C] the part of the telephone that you hold in your hand and speak into

如此，我想是写那个句子的人认为的 telephone 就是电话机。说是 equipment 和 machine 都没什么问题，但用最多的还是把它当做一种 system。其实这个 system 和国人把它看做机器的道理，应该是相同的，但是外国人应该很少把它说做 machine，而是 system。