The Telephone Exchange (1982)
Added 2021-11-12 16:56:27 +0000 UTCA gem of a film from British Telecom that showcases the innovations in telephone switching from the earliest days right up to the most modern exchanges in present day of 1982.
Comments
There's also a "List X" in the UK (it's the list of non-government sites authorized to hold protectively marked documents).
Chris Crowther
2021-11-13 19:18:43 +0000 UTCEvery time the narrator mentioned "System X" I just imagined a narrator for a science fiction radio or television show saying "SYSTEEEEEEEMMMMMM EXXXXXXXXXXX"! XD Thank you for sharing this!
Alkani
2021-11-13 00:20:31 +0000 UTCQuite a good descriptive video with the typical stiff upper lip British (OxBridge) accent, which I didn't realise they were still using that late.
Dr Andy Hill
2021-11-13 00:12:31 +0000 UTCI still use a Casio calculator similar to the one shown at 10:33, I bought it in the early 80s when I was an apprentice draughtsman.
David Peaker
2021-11-12 22:34:50 +0000 UTCIf anyone digs those Kansas-born switch banks, head on over to Look Mum No Computers' Tape Loop Announcer vid on YT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvzH7DSsD3g
Ymir the Frost Giant
2021-11-12 22:11:59 +0000 UTCThe interviews at the start contain more regional accents than I'd expect in one area, so some of ths shots might be stock footage. Two shots show coaches, one runnin g from Camberley in Surrey to London, maybe 60-90 mins away, so I guess it would then have been for commuters into London from the leafy suburbs. The other has Maidstone on it, which is in Kent, a similar distance but to the south-east of London instead of the SW. But there are some northern accents there too. One curious point - in the end credits, "Baylin Trading" rang e very distant bell - I have a feeling they advertised in UK electronics mags, selling either components or kits, not sure which. A bit of digging shows they existed from 1969 to 1987, when they changed their name to Betacom Product Ltd (surely a ref to British Telecom?), then Betacom PLC, and finally in 1997 they became part of... Amstrad.
Ymir the Frost Giant
2021-11-12 22:04:32 +0000 UTCI started an apprenticeship with British Telecom in 1974 and moved into strowger exchange maintenance for many years, before strowger was eventually phased out.
Ian Harris
2021-11-12 21:43:26 +0000 UTCI worked for a contractor that provided turnkey operator and equipment monitoring microcomputer systems in the 1970s and 1980s. I was amazed that in the 1980s, Manhattan business office operators were still using cord board switchboards. We had to jump through hoops to monitor what they were doing, including switches in the chairs to find out who was there.
Steven Ruhl
2021-11-12 19:55:53 +0000 UTCOne of my many tasks on my first Navy ship in 1976 was to help maintain about 200 Strowger switches. Could be difficult to diagnose and repair when failed, and maintenance was tedious, but they were amazingly reliable and robust overall. Naval gunfire exercises were a great way to find weaker switches, as they would spontaneously drop calls. We'd have the whole team down there watching every Strowger switch while the exchange was in self-test mode.
BobC
2021-11-12 17:50:29 +0000 UTCMany thanks Fran for transcribing this film. Brought back memories as that period was the start of my career in telecommunications.
Mr B Shepherd
2021-11-12 17:34:37 +0000 UTC
