Telecom opens exchange to public

Press, 5 December 1988, Page 9

Telecom opens exchange to public

By

SARONA IOSEFA

In an effort to find favour with the public, Telecom opened its doors yesterday from 1 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.

About 150 people attended the first open day to be escorted by Telecom technicians through the main control room, exchange and tolls operations.

Telecom’s publicity relations administrator, Mrs Cherry Armitage, said the open week had been organised to help people understand the difficulties faced by Telecom.

The most common question among visitors was whether Telecom had rid the exchange of its gremlins, said one of the technicians, Mr Graeme MacLachlan.

“We’ve redistributed loads on exchanges so that they are not likely to overload again in the near future,” said Mr MacLachlan. Another Telecom technician, Mr Graham McCusker, said many people did not realise that the Christchurch exchange was undergoing a

big revamp which began two years ago. “Local and national lines are being expanded to four times their previous capacity, and we’re just half-way through this very big project, so there will be a few problems,” Mr McCusker said.

Overload problems that had occurred with radio and television quizzes during the end of October was an international problem for telephone companies, Mr McCusker said. “They are short sharp bursts of mayhem that no exchange can be designed to cater for without costing subscribers,” Mr McCusker said. The central exchange is designed to handle 190,000 calls in a peak hour, and takes 170,000 calls during busy periods.

The tours will continue from 5.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. for business people, and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for the public today until Thursday.