[GreenKeys] This will take you back many years...

[Barb1Kemp at aol.com]

I started out in high school as an information operator part  time.  Then 
"Dial Administration".  Graduated to Number  Assignments and Code Point Routing 
and Translations of Switches of all  types including the senderized Step by 
Steps which were used in  Indianapolis and California.  We had Panel at ATwater, 
replaced by  2BESS.  Had to do line counts and switch counts.
 
EXchange names - yes remember 5 digits and then 7.  
 
Anyone else remember "E Digit Unblocking Project".  It was  massive.  ABC are 
NPA digits.  DEF were Exchange plus one.   E was blocked if anyone dialed 0 
or 1 in the middle digit.  Then we  ran out  numbers for exchanges so we had to 
unblock.  Took  forever.
 
We used to block vacant codes every day until assigned too. We could  not 
afford the extra digits that were useless on the network.  Then  finally digits 
became "cheap" and we stopped the blocking.  Many  translations if they are old 
still only send the number of digits required  between exchanges, class 5s to 
preserve the space and complete  better.  We changes that in Indiana starting 
in 1979 so we could  reroute calls via class 5 offices for network 
management.  Saved a  lot of work and bad calls and calls incorrectly blocked.  Added to 
 call completion but some "purists" rejected this concept around the  
country.  The "rules" for digits and all have been varied.   There is a wealth of 
information and a wealth of stories.    Converting ring down to direct dial was a 
major effort over dozens of  years.  Operators in homes managed 2 digit 
dialing systems and often  when retired the only "operator" was in late 60s or 
older.  Qualtico  Virginia was a rind down forever.  And in Penssylvania, the only 
want  to get to Paradise was through Intercourse...operators had a good laugh 
 over that one for years.  
 

Barbara Kemp
barb1kemp at aol.com
847 658  7870
847 778 2874 cellular
Village Communications Committee Website  - _www.vbhcomm.info_ 
(http://www.vbhcomm.info/)   
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In a message dated 3/2/2009 1:19:08 P.M. Central Standard Time,  
k9tty at dls.net writes:

You can still see a panel switch at the museum of communications  in  
Seattle.
I missed out seeing our last one at the  EDgewater CO in Chicago  
before it was removed.
The switch  frames were eleven (11) feet tall and the switch mechanism  
was  referred to as a "Monkey on a Stick"
Panel offices used a craftsman  that no other type offices used.  
"Equipment Cleaner"

On  2 Mar 2009, at 12:35 AM, Randy or Sherry Guttery wrote:

Don  Robert House wrote:
> I remember I was disappointed when our  number was changed from   
> CLearbrook 3 to  253...

I grew up in Los Angeles - which was somewhat of the "wild  west" when  
it came to phone service and phone companies.   In most of the country  
- a large city - even a region was  usually served by one company -  
usually a Bell company of  AT&T.  Los Angeles, on the other hand had  
several  major players - not always playing well together. Los Angeles   
itself was (mostly) Bell / AT&T - using Western Electric  equipment.   
However - many of the surrounding communities  - such as Long Beach,  
cities of the San Gabriel Valley, etc. -  were General Telephone  
customers - mostly using equipment by  Automatic Electric. That made  
for some strange "interactions"  here and there...

In the early 1950s - within LA itself - you  only had to dial 5 digits  
- and they were listed (usually) as  (something like) 7-1234.  It was  
when you called some of  the suburban areas - like Long Beach, Norwalk,  
etc. you had to  use the Exchange "pre-fix".  Norwalk was University,   
Bellflower was Torrey (which you might note is NOT one of the  favored  
Bell pre-fixes - not surprising since it was GT); West  Covina, La  
Puente and the un-incorporated areas in that area  were Edgewood;  Both  
University and Edgewood are on the  "Bell list".

Another interesting "thing" out of that era - was  that even as mobile  
phones and the age of digital  communications were getting underway in  
the late 1970s - calls  were still being connected by hand in Bell's  
Avalon (Santa  Catalina Island) exchange via a local cord switchboard.

Another  "fallout" of the mixed equipment - I had been in a couple of   
switch exchanges - and had never seen a rotary stepper... GT  used  
something called a panel switch in many of it exchanges -  which steps  
in the X and Y plane - rather than a half-circle  like a Strowger.

yeah - brings back a few memories!
--  
randy  guttery






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