THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11876, 25 April 1904, Page 10

THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE

IS IT WORKED SATISFACTORILY? SOME OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCES. Periodically complaints as to tlie working of tho telephone exchange have been ventilated hi the public Press, and after the publicity given them, subscribers observe with pleasure an improvement iv the system. Usually their gratification is short-lived, and matters revert to their old unsatisfactory condition. Recently there has been a "recurrence of the complaints against the system, and a representative of " The Press" set out to ascertain whether they were widespread or only restricted to "a few subwribcrs. Ihe reporter saw a number of business men who constantly use the telephone, and are m a position to speak with some authority on the working of the system. '• What is votir escen-ence of the working of the telephone?"' the reporter asked at one office. "Wait a minute, and 111 give you a practical 'example." was the reply. The uentleman went to the telephone and rang up the reporter and another gentleman present taking out their watches to time the op-ration. To fill in the time, ihe gentleman at the telephone narrated an experience he had recently. He had rung up the exchange, but getting no reply, he. put tho recti wr back, but did not ring off, and set 'off on foot to speak to the person ho wished to ring up. He was absent for t-ix or seven mmuxes, and on Ins ivturn to the office he found that the exchange had not replied to his ring. He added that on several occasions when lie had protested against the delay in getting connected, the operator, when he next rang up, informed him tlmt the person he wanted was engaged. . He tested this a*.rertion. one day. After receiving a reply that the person he wanted was engaged, ha went- round to his office and learned from him that his telephone had not been in use at the time he rang up. All this information was given whilst the gentleman' was standing with the receiver, at his ear, waiting for the exchange to replyFour minutes passed, and he then rang up again, and at the end of another minute he got the subscriber he wanted. He -explained that eimilar delays, not always so long, of course, frequently occurred, and the conclusion he had arrived at was that females were not suited for the work of telephone operators. Often, he added, he had stood at the telephone waiting for the exchange to answer, and has heard the sound of the chatting and chaffing of the operators. The test above narrated took place on* Thursday afternoon, about a quarter to 2 o'clock. As this was the shops' half-holiday, and the luncheon hour m offices and warehouses, one would have expected that- business at the exchange was siack, and it probably was, for the general impression is that it is more difficult to get connected during slack times than during tlie busy hours of the day. Another business man was of opinion that less attention is paid to the calls from telephones in private houses than to those from offices. He thought that the operators showed less attention to members of their own sex than to those of the opposite sex. Generally speaking, however, the operators in this city were slower than those in Wellington. When on visits to the capital he noticed a great difference in the time taken to get connection with a telephone subscriber. One of the informed the reporter that the working of the telephone system was unsatisfactory. Tantalising delays occurred in getting connected witn. subscribers, and frequently, when the connection had been obtained, the parties were suddenly cut off in the midst of their conversation. The gentleman who gave the information stated that he had experience of the working of the telephone system, both in Wellington and Dunedin, and in those places there were none of the delays and annoyances that are experienced here. At another shipping office the reporter was informed that the telephone was not used unless the matter was not of a very urgent character. It was usually found more expeditions to walk to the office <.f the person they wished to communicate with. „ "The telephone is a 'hanged nuisance, was the reply of a merchant who was approached on the subject. He sweepmgly asserted that from his experiences of the delay in getting connected with subscribers there was general carelessness at the exchange. "Whether its the system or the people who work it, I don't know, but I am inclined to think it is the people who work it. I have found them cheeky and inattentive." The iame gentleman was of opinion that some users of the telephone received different and more favourable treatment tlian others did. He cited the case of bookmakers, who had no difficulty in instantly getting connected with the - persons they wished to communicate with on tho important and engrossing business of betting. The instances that came under his notice were so strong that he thought seme understanding must exist between the operators and the bookmakers. Another gentleman briefly gave his experience of the "expedition". of the telephone system. At the close of his labours for thfe day he usually instructs a clerk to ring up "the Rink Stables and haye his' horse harnessed to the trap. The clerk does co, and the gentleman proceeds to put his papers in-order, and then leaves his office in Hereford .-street for the stables, fully expecting, "on his arrival there, to find the horse in the trap. He usually finds that the stable people have just received the telephone message from his office. Tho other side of the question was obtained by the reporter from officials connected with the exchange, to whom, of course, these complaints are no new thing. It was pointed out that general accusations were of little value, and that more good would result if subscribers would notify the exchange or telegraph authorities of delays caused in obtaining connection with subscribers. Date, and hour should be given in every instance, as by that means the authorities, from the time book kept, would be able to sift the complaints, and ascertain how the delays had arisen. In some instances subscribers -themselves were responsible for these delays, either they or the subscribers they had been communicating with failing to "ring off" when they ccncluded their conversation. Owing to this omission the operator was in entire ignorance as to whether the conversation was ended or noi, and in the event of one subscriber ringing up, when the other that he had just been speakiiut to had omitted to "ring off." the subscriber's second ring was conveyed to the operator. In the same way," it is useless for a subscriber, who has rung up once, continuing to ring, as the second and succeeding rings only make matters worse. As to the allegations of lack of attention and of gossiping on the part of the operators, it was stated that they were under supervision all the time, ■and could not indulge without being noticed. The suggestion that some subscribers received better and quicker attention than others was scouted as absurd, and the alleged understanding between the operators and bookmakers was similarly replied to. Regarding the comparisons drawn between the Wellington and Dunedin exchanges and the local exchange, it was pointed out that more operators are engaged in each of the exchanges mentioned than in the one here. In Wellington there is one operator to each one hundred subscribers; in Dunedin each operator attends to over one hundred; whilst in the local exchange there is one operator to every 150 subscribers. That the work of the local operator is more exacting than that of the Wellington operator seems to he shown by the fact that an operator who was previously stationed here, but is now in the Wellington exchange, slates that she finds the work easier, and is not nearly si fatigued when she leaves work as she was after work in this city. The reporter suggested that the local exchange was understaffed, but on this point his informant

would not be drawn, hut the inference is pretty clear. It was admitted, however, that as a general rule subscribers were promptly attended to during the busy hours of the day, the reason for delay at otlier times being probably due to the fact that the attention of the operators became relaxed. For some of the annoyances in connection with tlie working el the ex-change,,-'subscribers were to some extent responsible, owing to the manner in which they addressed the operators. Delay in getting connected to a subscriber could not be attributed to faulty instruments or wiring, for'if either were out- of order tho subscriber would be unable to get the exchange, and would know that something was radically wrong. SIR JOSEPH WARD'S VIEWS. Before his departure for Wellington on Saturday night, Sir Joseph Ward, Post-master-General, was seen by a representative of "The Press" on the. subject of the local telephone system. Sir Joseph said j that the first complaint regarding the workI ing of the telephone exchange here had been made to him on Friday night. He intended looking into the whole matter, and finding out the cause of the alleged unsatisfactory working of the exchange. Sir Joseph, when informed by tlie reporter of the number of subscribers each operator here had to attend to, as compared with the numbers in Dunedin and Wellington, remarked that it was the first he had heard of the matter, and if things here were as represented, he would see that they were altered, and each operator here would have the same number of subscribers to attend to as those in the other centres. There was no intention on the part of the Department to treat telephone subscribers in this city differently from those in other centres,, or to have any "skimping" in connection with the number of operators at the exchange. Regarding the approaching installation of electrio trams in this city, Sir Joseph Ward said that as soon as the Department saw that the citizens were in earnest on the subject, and had authorised the loan, material forjthe" installation of the metallic circuit system in connection with the local telephone exchange had been ordered from Home by cable. He was under the impression "that if tlie material had not already arrived in the colony, it was due very shortly. Referring to the alleged slow progress made in installing the new system in Auckland, he said that the transformation from the old to the new system had to be done gradually, in order that subscribers should suffer the minimum of inconvenience. Naturally those subscribers who used tho telephone most were first brought under the new system, and the same method would be adopted here when, a start was made. Sir Joseph pointed out that the metallic circuit system practically necessitated the replacing of the whole of the present wires, and that where there is now only one wire two are required under the new Bystem. Owing to the multiplicity of wires, it was necessary that they should be carried in cables, each of which would carry three or four pairs of wires. In concluding, Sir Joseph said that the Department was experimenting in the direction of making the telephone system as perfect as possible. At present experiments were being conducted with a view to the introduction of the system under which all that a subscriber would have to do to get the exchange would be to lift the receiver off the hook, and no ringing up or ringing off would be necessary. Speaking of the alleged delays experienced by subscribers here in getting connected, Sir Joseph said that his experiences of the telephone systems in London and New York were that it took much longer to get a subscriber in those cities than it did to get connected with a subscriber in any of the four centres in the colony. In London, Sir Joseph said, he -usually found it advisable to give a boy sixpence, telling him the telephone number of the subscriber he wanted, and asking the boy to let him know when the person wanted had been obtained on..the telephone.