The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-15

|gresS or the Work to date. Our tn- |vestment in land and the new build ing is $725.ooo: $1.l35.ooo has been spent on new dial equipment, and $2sO. 900 on outside plant additions. Waterbury benefits through the ex- penditure of this money and as a result of the better service which the investment will provide"
 Emphasizing the advantages to Waterbury of the dial system, Mir Davis pointed cut that the new type of service furnishes a means of guaranteeing during all hours of the day and night. holidays and Sundays, the highest standard of service at the least cost to the telephone user. Dial service, because of its mechani- cal features. is faster than manual service. MT Davis added.
 "Dial system of operation, used as early as 1905, is in no sense an ex- pertinent" explained Mir Davis. "The system was greatly improved before it was introduced in this state in 1922. Connecticut has working to- day 132.S0O dial telephones, while five million or 25 per cent of the 20 million telephones in the Bell System are dial operated and giving satisfactory service from the stand point of the telephone using public in more than 500 communities.
 Many Waterbury residents have asked me in recent months why we are discontinuing our manual type of equipment at this time. Because of the constant growth of the tele- phone business and improvements in the art. 1t is continually necessary to add to or replace existing equip ment. The limit of floor space in the Leavenworth street building was reached some time ago and a build ing change to provide for future growth became essential. Our engi- neers, after a study of several months, selected the location at Grand and State streets.
 At the same time a comprehen- sive economic study was made to de- termine the type of equipment which would best meet Waterbury's needs. The, engineers recommended that sufficient dial equipment be installed to completely replace existing man. ual equipment. Naturally the com pany desires to install the kind of equipment which will give the best service at the least cost to the tele- phone users. We are confident, that dial will serve Waterbury better than manual equipment, as 1t has Hart ford, New Haven. New London, Man chester. Bridgeport and Stamford.
 Three new dial offices are to be placed in operation with the con- version--they will be known as the "Three,' -Four" and "Five" offices and will entirely replace the present manual offices. These new dial of- fees will furnish Middlebury, Pres colt and Wolcott with an improved party line service which is an in- novation in this state. Never before have we been able to- furnish this type of dial service so far away from the center of city" &
 Asked about the future status of telephone operators in Waterbury, MT Davis stated that all regular op- orators, approximately 100. would be retained in various capacities. We use operators for out-of-town calls. information and emergency" he said. Tt is interesting to note that when the conversion to dial began in the Bell System in 1921 there were 12S,000 operators. and in 1890 with about one-thfrd of the telephones dial there were 155,000 operators. A dial office also requires more trained men than manual office."
 Every telephone subscriber in Wa terbury will be informed how to use the dial equipment by newspaper ad- vertising. by pamphlets and by dem of the actual use of dial equipment at convenient locations in