The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-04
PHONE SERVICE
 !. IS BATTERED BY .S.N.E.T. COMPANY
Bridgeport and Stratford Sub ScriberS Now Have Multi
 Office System.

| After the next issue of the Southern New England Telephone Co.'S direc-
 tory, goes into effect tomorrow morn ing, the Bridgeport Exchange will be operated on what is technically known as the multi i-office plan. There will be two central office districts, the name Barnum having been selected for the one with the central office building in
 Fairfield avenue, and the name Strat- ford, which signifies its location, for the other.
 Bridgeport is the third exchange in the territory of the Southern New England Telephone Co. to be operated on the multioffice plan. The Hartford
 and New Haven exchanges preceded it.
 w. w. Knight, exchange manager. issued the following statement today covering the introduction of this multi office plan:
 "The opening of the two central of flee districts with switchboards in the city of Bridgeport and in Stratford will provide the Bridgeport Exchange with metropolitan telephone service. r e Darnum switchboard, which is lo- cated on the third floor of our build ing in Fairfield avenue, will be con- nected by special trunk lines with the Stratford switchboard on the second floor of our new building in Strat- ford.
 s'It is of the greatest importance that subscribers consult the telephone directory before placing call, in or der to be absolutely certain that proper central office name precedes the desired number. To illustrate how this is done, let us assume that sub scriber in the Stratford office district desires to call telephone No. 561 in the Barnum office district. He should give the name of the exchange in which the called telephone is located before the number, as follows: Bar mum 561' On calls from the Barnum office district to a telephone in the Stratfor office district, the name Stratford should be given before the number Where a subscriber in the Barnum district is calling another subscriber in the same district, or Stratford district subscriber is calling another subscriber in the same dis trict, the proper exchange name should also be given before the number.
 Tt will be readily appreciated that the central office name must be given when it is understood that the oper-
 ator will have no way of knowing in
 which of the two central office dis tricts the desired telephone is located
 unless this is done. If it is not she will be compelled to ask for this in- l forna ton, thus slowing up the ser vice.
 50 far as the subscriber Is con- cerned the addition of the central of- fee name to the number is the only change from the present practice of passing call With the operator, of
 course, there is some slight change. Assuming that you wish to call John Doe, and upon locking up the numbe you find that his telephone is | Stratford 561. You ask your operator l to give you Stratford 561 and she
 plugs into one of the special trunks connecting with the Stratford switch
 board and repeats the number to the
 operator at that point, The operator
 at the Stratford switchboard imme-
 diately conects with the desired lfno
 and the bell is rung.
 This system, which is in use in all | the larger cities of the country, works out in a most satisfactory manner. It
 will also make it possible to satisfac- torily meet the demand for more lines i in the district that is to be known as | Stratford. | Let every telephone subscriber, be-
 ginning Sunday morning, remember | that in order to get a desired call It | is necessary to prefix the central office
 name, and do not forget to consult 1 the directory on every occasion before placing these callS''