, 1907-09-06
THE LINE
Z is BUSY"
SOMETIMES HAPPEN IN A
TELEPHONE EXCHANGE.
Few Understand How Operators Work
n How They Accomplish So
Things That Contribute to lncon-
venience Not Fault of Hello Lassie

venience Not Fault of Hello Lassie
OF all annoying things when you are
in a hurry the most irritating seems
for the moment to be told that the
telephone line you want is busy" or
that the person you are trying to call
does not answer" OF course, 1t is
nobody's fault in particular, but it al
ways puts you in a frame Of mind
where you want to blame some one,
Inc usually the person who has to suf.
fer is Central" who really has moth
ing to do with the matter.
Operators Methods.
Few people outside the telephone
exchange understand nov an operator
can tell so quickly that a line is busy.
or what effort she makes to get a sub,
scriber before she reports they don't
answer" 1t is simple enough, though
when you see what goes on in the op-
Grating room: n it is worth every
telephone users while to stop in some
spare n watch the performance at
the switchboard. 1t will save his peace
of mind on lots of occasions later and.
incidentally, will relieve the young wo-
men who help the community to trans
act so much Of it's important business
nowadays from some unjust imputa.
tons.
The Busy Test.
Among the many ingenious features
Of the modern telephone switchboard
is the busy test" Every subscribers
line is run along the back Of the ap.
paratus and branched in front of each
operator so that she may connect with
it any of the small number OF lines on
which she calls. If one OF
these branches is in use an operator
who tries to connect with another
hears a faint click in her head tele'
phone the instant she touches the
plug Of the connecting cord to the
switch socket or Jack" When you
give Central a number she tests the
line you want before plugging into i,
and if it is busy the warning click
tells her SO at once.
Operators Not Always to Blame.
Sometimes, of course, lines are re-
rNrtal h,,,.. whap thou ORC not actual
ly in use. Occasionally an operator is
in error but it is only occasionally,
for the Bell companies supervise their
service with great strictness. There
are, however, a number Of ways in
which the operator may be misled OF
the subscriber may u~nconsciously mis-.
represent himself. Thus the thought
l~essness of a person who forgets to
ring off or to hang up the receiver
when he finishes a conversation Is Of
ten the cause of his line being report
ed as busy when as a matter of fact
he is not using it.
Will Call Again.
When Central" has made the busy
test and found that a line wanted Is
not in use, she pushes the connecting
plug into its "iack'' and rings by press
ing a key. Should there be no re-
Spouse to her first summons she rings
again at the end of the fifteen or twen-
ty seconds-residence telephones be-
ing slower to answer because they are
generally less conveniently located are
allowed five seconds longer h bust
ness telephones. Still failing to get a
reply, the operator continues to ring
at intervals of fifteen or twenty Sec
onds for a minute and a half or two
minutes; the practice differs some
what in different places. By the end
of that time it is fair to presume that
there is no one to answer the tele-
phone and a report on the call is given
accordingly though another attempt
will be made If you ask for it.
Limit to Ringing.
The time limit on ringing is set for
the benefit of subscribers in general.
For instance, IL an operator is making
repeated attempts to reach somebody
for whom you have called, and during
that time somebody else should try to
call you, your line would necessarily
be reported as busy. For this and SINH
lar reasons the Bell companies limit
the length of time Central shall con-
! tine ringing for some one who makes
no response. All reasonable efforts
are made to complete every call and 1t
is only when repeated attempts to OBJ.
tain a reply have failed that 1t Is
reported "they don't answer"
Some Of the Causes.
Very likely in your telephone expert
ence it has happened that you thought
you were there all the time" when a
friend called you and was told that you
didn't answer. Perhaps, however, II
you had actually timed your move
ments you would have found that