NEW EXCHANGE IN ACTION BY CHRISTMAS TIME

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 89, 1 September 1948, Page 5

NEW EXCHANGE IN ACTION BY CHRISTMAS TIME

Easier , Quicker, Better Service It seems pretty definite that Whakatane’s new telephone exchange will be in action before Christmas. Anyone who visits it now, as a Beacon representa j tive did yesterday, will see that a tremendous amount of the work has been done, and a team of mechanicians are pushing ahead as fast as they are able. Actually, the part of the work that is going on now, the wiring up of the exchange boards, is unavoidably fedious and slow, so that probably the progress being made would not be obvious to a layman. However that may be, there is enough of the new plant assembled for anyone to see that it is going to be a .much better and easier system to work than the existing exchange. In fact, on the new one, those responsible for its installation claim that each operator will be able to handle twice the work considerably more conveniently. Moreover, there is ample provision for the expansion of the service and the connection of new lines. The new room itself gives a different impression altogether. Light and space should help the staff to feel a yvhole lot better about their job which, in the present cramped quarters, with outmoded equipment, must be anything but pleasant. No wonder the tired voice that says, “Number, Please!’' sometimes has the merest hint of an edge on it.