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Sound MastersSpeeding Speech (ca. 1950s)

Automation in the telephone industry dispenses with operator long distance dialing to complete calls faster.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Sound Masters
Sponsor: American Telephone and Telegraph Co. (AT&T)
Audio/Visual: Sd, B&W
Keywords: Communication: Telephone

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Casandro2 - - January 9, 2009
Subject: Guide to Blueboxing
Well this is almoust a guide to blueboxing. Add a short 2600 Hz tone in front of the tones and you are blueboxing.

At the end there is even a good shot of an accoustic lens.

Reviewer: ElmerCat - - December 20, 2006
Subject: As soon as the operator presses the proper keys, it happens! Just like that!
This film explains how long distance calls were handled when the first toll dial switching systems were introduced, and contrasts it with earlier methods where the connections were made totally by operators.

Part of the explanaton about how the new technology worked includes a demonstration with sound of the then new "multi-frequency" or MF tone senders.

Different and more pleasant sounding than the "touch-tones" used by our phones today, MF tones were used internally by the switching network. Though they're now nearly extinct, MF tones were considered by phone phreaks to be among the most beautiful sounds heard on the old network.

The film also has some great shots of toll opeartors processing calls and of the original Western Electric #4 Crossbar switches being built and installed.

The climax of the film comes after the old, manual method of calling long distance is compared with the new operator toll dialing when the narrator proclaims: "As soon as the opeartor presses the proper keys, it happens! Just like that!".

Reviewer: Spuzz - - June 18, 2005
Subject: We've got a toll on you!
The many wonders of the newfangled thing called Toll dialing is explored here. Why, before you had to go through innumerable operators just to put a call through to new york! Now, you only have to deal with one, only of course if you're in one of the zones that have it, and the line is not busy.
Ripe with old fashioned operators taking down calls and connecting them (but not saying "surely" :( ) and with a whiz bang commentary, this sure is a lot of fun. And if you, just like I did, noticed the toness corrosponding to the numbers are different then they were when they were introduced, well here's a flip book with city codes for you! Reccomended!

Reviewer: leecherzs - - June 1, 2004
Subject: A must watch
Starts off with a buisness man making a long distance call and mentions how fast the call went through.
This is attributed to the new feature of operator assisted toll dialing.
The steps an operator would have to perform for each call is shown.
Main step being the use of a key set to help route the call using system tones.
An animation then shows both the old and new method of call routing so we can compare them.
A phone company switch is shown and the tones generated by the operator key presses are played back.
Note: these tones were later exploited by phone technology enthusiasts called phone phreaks.
A further explination of how the call routing is performed by the equipment is provided.
Bell Labs and Western Electric are shown as developer and manufacturer of the equipment.
We are told of the demand for more trained professionals and that someday toll calls will go through just like local calls.
A reference is made to the unknown future uses of such equipment and the bell system goal of improving service/cost. I recommend watching this film.

Reviewer: Markus Stamm - - March 3, 2003
Subject: Another fascinating glimpse behind the scenes
This film offers very interesting insight into long-distance operation before direct distance dialling. Regardless of whether one is simply too young to remember operator-dependent long-distance service or one remembers such service but never knew what technology was behind it when it just entered a phase of rapid transition into fully automatic direct distance dialling service, the information the film provides about how an operator handled different types of calls is fascinating.

Shotlist

excellent stock shots of a variety of people using the telephone;
dialing telephone long distance; smoking a cigarette;
switchboard operators;
introduction of operator toll dialing: new equipment which reduces the time it takes for long distance call to go through
very detailed explanation of how automatic switching equipment works; and how telephone calls are routed through different cities;
Bell Labs people doing research;
manufacture and assembly of Western Electric electronic telephone switches; installation of giant banks of switches;

2:59:35- 4:09:67
Nice aerial view of a city - icons of operators ("girls") pop up on the screen indicating how things were before direct lines (toll calls). "Girl" A connects with Girl B, etc... By the end, icons of operators are all over the screen atop the aerial view of the city.

worth noting: some excellent sounds of pushbutton phones with melodramatic music laid over them.