We Learn About The Telephone [telecom]

audiences:

see also, from the AT&T archives: "The goal of this [1950s] film was to aid in reducing customer dialing irregularities by demonstrating the correct way to use the dial telephone. It documents the shift between operator-based connections (which were on the way out) and having to dial the phone and make the connection yourself. The dial telephone was new at this point, although the two-letter, 5-number system was still commonplace. This film even has to explain what a ringing and busy signal sound like!"

The AT&T archives have numerous films, both contemporary and historical, on communications technology. see the bottom of the above web page.

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:50:57 -0500 Dave Garland gave us this link:

Notes: When telephones ring they're all the 302 ringer even when they illustrate everything with a 500 set.

When the boy dials "Bobby Martin" you'll notice that he dials the standard Bell advertising number i.e. 555-2368!

Fascinating view into mid 60's telephony. By that point they had Telstar up and running and most long distance was still over Microwave and Coax.

DTMF would come about shortly thereafter and I believe 1965 was the year of the Morris ESS trial.

Hmm ... 2368 = BENT? = A FOU? = CENT? -- Anyone?

TIA; and cheers, -- tlvp

At that time, the prefix 555- was reserved for non-functional uses such as advertising, use in films, plays or novels, or any other genre where a number was needed that would not never be an actual customer number.

This usage went back to before toll dialing or area codes, and also could be used in its 2L-5N equivalent KL5-.

Wes Leatherock snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com snipped-for-privacy@aol.com

Even in the late 1960s, according to a Bell System film, some toll service was still carried over open wires or bundled cable. Even in the 1970s, multiplexing terminal equipment was still very expensive [just as computer components were very expensive back then compared to today.] Back then traffic engineers had to analyze whether it was cheaper just to run copper lines between two points or use terminal equipment.

A trial of tone-pushbutton dialing was done at Media, PA, in 1948, using vibrating reeds served by a pioneer No. 5 Crossbar.

The first marketing trials of Touch Tone were in 1961 in Findlay, Ohio and Greensburg, PA. I believe an Independent Company had a trial circa 1962 using Stromberg Carlson equipment.

The Morris trial ran from 1960 to 1962

(All from the Bell Labs history 1925-1975, which goes into detail about developments).