THE HUSH-A-PHONE

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 156, 31 December 1923, Page 2

THE HUSH-A-PHONE

A DEVICE TO ENSURE PRIVACY.

A device that gives' a'desk telephone the same privacy as a silence-box is (says, the "Daily News") making-its appearance in London offices. It is only a few months since the first of these hush-a-phones, as: they, are, called, arrived from America, arid already more than 2000 have been,installed in London. The hush-a^phone consists. of- an oblong alu^ minium box with curved sides. At either end is a sound absorption unit;, and in' the middle is an aperture! into -which the speaker places his lips: Its form is based, on acoustical principles. It snaps on to the telephone around tlie .mouthpiece, and when not wanted can be taken off as quickly. Anyone vising the hush-^phone can speak How or what he likes without.any bystander hearing anything but- a low, indistinguishable murmur. ■ This makes it particularly useful fqr doctors, lawyers, bank managers, and, other, professional .men, who often, have occasion to wish, to. speak of their clients over, the 'phone in their presence. It ensures office quiet, too, where a number of telephones are installed. On long-distanoe calls it has the effect of minimising the external sound at th» transmission end. Some; wonderful' results have been' obtained during experimental chats between New York and San Francisco.