Assigns a host name to the IP address. After this assignment, you can use the host name instead of an IP address when trying to Telnet or ping to that address
Router#ping london
=
Router#ping 172.16.1.3
Tip:
The default port number in the ip host command is 23, or Telnet. If you want to Telnet to a device, just enter the IP host name itself:
Router#london = Router#telnet london = Router#telnet 172.16.1.3