Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-07-21
KILLING TOO
MUCH TIME
Manager Starks Believes Service
Can Be Improved by Giving
Prompt Answers.
THE HALLOO GIRL NOT
THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL
Telephone User Should Speak
Clearly and Accurately"--A
Common Sense Plea.

Sometimes it happens that a man
rams the receiver of his telephone and
often on such occasions he utters a
little cuSs word
"Well, what is the matter?" asks
the patient friend.
''That blankety line is busy!'' or,
Central is taking nap
Poor, hardworking Central too often
gets the blame when there is any
delay in the service!
It's human nature We all do it
and Central knows it. But Central,
being meek and long suffering,
murmurs not.
You, who may have that morbid
prejudice against Central, talk to
Manager Starks. See the other side
of the question. He says, and truly,
that we, the subscribers. are often to
blame for delays in the service. We
often do not answer the calls promptly
enough: we do not always speak with
the greatest clearness and accuracy in
our power.
Ii Central, the manager and the
subscriber worked at all times in
perfect harmony-presto! the service
would be almost perfect.
This is the keynote of the whole
situation. And the encouraging
feature is, that Manager Starks thinks
it can and will be DONE To a repre-
sentative of the REPORTER he said:
Ineificiency Of Old System.
SIN their efforts to secure a quicker
and more efficient service there is one
request that the telephone companies
are asking of their subscribers, that
is, a prompt answer to the bell.
"in the old times of inefficient
service there was a certain natural
reluctance to go to the telephone.
You never knew what you were going
to get. You might get your caller
instantly and clearly, or you might
get confusion of voices and noises,
or you might get nothing at all
mute, dumb wire which gave you not
even the satisfaction of wrangle or
the opportunity of letting off any
explosive language.
"With this uncertainty before you,
you naturally did not respond very
eagerly TO the call of the telephone
bell. If it was not convenient to go
to the telephone directly when the
bell began to ring, you cOnsoled your
self with the reflection that probably
it was wrong number, or that you
were going to have struggle of some
sort, anyhow, with no result profitable
to yourself. And quite often you
were right.
Result Of Modern improvements
"Today matters are different.
When the phone rings you have a
feeling that some one is making a call
on you, and is then on the wire ready
to speak to you. Consequently there
should be 20 unnecessary delay and
no doubt there is less than there was
in former years. But there is still
more delay than there ought to be.
''The called subscribers answer to
the bell is still responsible for the
greater proportion of the time taken
to operate local connection. There
has been an improvement, no doubt,
due to the higher standard of service.
the large use Of desk, or extension
telephones, and the greater and more
general familiarity of the public with
the requirements of the telephone
service. Nevertheless, the average
time taken by the subscriber to answer
the telephone is much greater than it
should be, and it still lies in the
power of the subscriber to greatly
increase the efficiency of the tele-
phone service by cutting the time
down. 1t represents at present the
larger proportion of the total time
occupied in getting two subscribers
UOsOGhCi az ChC tSlCpl1OuC, dul lOuS
as that is so it will remain standing
reproach to telephone subscribers in
general.
Some Just Demands
''In order to give phenomenally
perfect telephone service all we ask is,
that the telephone user shall speak
his orders clearly and accurately as
possible, and answer the bell as
quickly as he can-much quicker than
he does.
SIN asking this little we have much
reduced the demand formerly made
On the telephone user for his &C
operation and have removed all cause
| for grumbling on the score of the
service being difficult to use.
Having made things SO simple and
easy for the subscriber it should be q
point Of honor with him to aid US ir
perfecting the service by giving the
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