TOLL CALLS

Southland Times, Issue 23140, 5 March 1937, Page 4

TOLL CALLS

RECORDING PRECIOUS MINUTES Because minutes are precious in telephone toll calls, Post Office exchanges are equipped with devices for recording time in short intervals without requiring the operator to constantly look at a clock. Right and left of every toll attendant can be seen recording clocks. When a subscriber asks for a toll call a card is inserted in the clock, a lever pressed and the exact time printed. The call may not begin until a later period, but here is a register of when it was booked. Communication having been established and the operator being satisfied that conversation has begun, the card again goes into the clock, which prints small reproductions of its dial on the card. One is devoted to hours, another to minutes of the hour and the third to further sub-divisions of the minutes so that when the conversation ends there is a printed record to within 15 seconds of the exact time. The clock mechanism is locked and the record cannot be altered by the toll operator. A change in the illuminated disk on the, board shows when the talk is ended. However, if the conversation is prolonged there is a periodical check to make sure that the line is in use and the recording clock again notes the time at which the check was made. Overseas radio calls also are subject to careful oversight by the overseas tolls operator, who pays close attention to the quality of speech, stops the time recorder when there is interruption and only resumes it when normal speech is possible, thus ensuring that subscribers pay only for “good speech” time.