The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-08-12
Don't ''DoubIe''
 Anything In
 Phone Number
But Give It Out to Central, l, Figure by Figure
 New Rules


 An interesting change has just been made by the telephone company af- fecting the way in which a number is given to central and also several other changes which will tend to facilitate the telephone business and better the service. The changes should be learned by each subscriber and plain statement of them follows:
 If, when you take your telephone off the hook and say to the operator, TWO double -four-six,'' don't think she is trying to correct, for for she is simply obeying the new local oper- ating rules of the Southern New Eng land Telephone company. The ''dou- ble'' has been dropped to accord with practice throughout the United States Under the new system, you have only to ask for the numbers by saying the digits separately. calling the zeros "oh'' as formerly. In the case of the even hundreds and thousands the op- orator will. however, use the words hundred and "thousand,'' as "one two-hundred,'' -four thousand" The method is very simple; a child can understand it in> five minutes; and, by the way children are great telephone users, a fact that makes one who re- members the invention of the tele- phone stop and think. Well, Connec- ticut four1a that New York and Rhode Island didn't use the double and finally Massachusetts dropped it, so to make a standard practice in New England, the Southern New England Telephone company also relinquished the word double It is interesting to know that this practice is obtain ing all over the country.
 Operators are being drilled all the time in enuncia tion in order that wrong number calling may be reduced to minimum. That is why she rolls her "r's'' in three and says mine" in two syllables.
 It has been erroneously, stated that the operator would answer acall with the word Operator" Calls are an- swered as formerly, with the word ''number?' but, if while you are talk ing, the other subscriber hangs up his telephone to go and look up some thing, the operator will come in with the word operator to let you know that she is there to serve you.
 While awaiting signal from meas ured service subscriber, or a nickel at a pay station, the telephone operator will say to the called person, Please hold the line,' instead of pay station wants you" It was argued that suo- scribers to measured service were not pay stations, and that the old phrase lacked courtesy.
 It is not generally known that this subject of 'phrasing,' or what the operator shall say, is very important one to telephone traffic men. It must not be left to the operator what to say in the event of the various con- tfngencies arising in the handling of traffic. for such a method would result in lack of courtesy, lack of brev1ty' and delay in answering subscribers. Consequently, the operators are taught what to say for all happenings frannpnf in telephone operating is what IS termed the "bell rang" complaint. A subscriber hears his bell ring, or thinks he does, and answers to get nobody but the operator. He says in effect, My bell rang, central; who called mel" Now it may have been his door bell. a bicycle going by neighbor's telephone bell, or 1t may have been some other operators mls- take. However, the operator IS We have no record of call for you" thus apologizing for the occurrence, and explaining to the best of her abll- ity.
 Supposjng that two people are talk ing and the connection is accidentally taken down. This is known as "cut off, and usually results in two irate telephone users trying to get each other back Their signals are, per haps answered by two operators 100 feet apart. So long as the operators are connected with their lines, they test busy" and under no circum- stances may an operator go over a busy test. The subscribers are like two persons meeting on the street and both lodging back and forth and not getting by. In such case the op- orator is instructed to say Did you call them" If the subscriber says he was called, the operator says, Please hang up your telephone, they will probably call you again" This a1- lows the operator who is trying to reach him to get his line and call him.
 Cut offs, wrong numbers, and other happenings which vex the telephone user are called errors by the operating men and great care is used to try and keep them at a minimum. Many other occurrences that mark the diff ference between high grade operat- ing and operating technically not so good are termed irregularities. These are also watched for by supervisors, instructors, chief operators and off cials in order that the service render ed the public may be of as high grade as it is possible to give.