SOME OVERSEAS TELEPHONE CALLS FROM WHAKATANE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 63, 30 June 1950, Page 5

SOME OVERSEAS TELEPHONE CALLS FROM WHAKATANE

It is not generally known that a telephone call from Whakatane may be made to almost any country in the world today. Just another of the post office’s international services the calls can be sent or received at any private telephone or at a toll telephone in the post office. So far this year a number of overseas calls have been made from Whakatane and a few have been received from other countries. However, the cost is a possible deterrent. Most of the calls have been made to Australia, Great Britain and the United States. Although these countries have drawn the most overseas calls from this part of the Bay of Plenty almost any country on the Continent may be connected. There are a few who are still outside the hookup but more are joining every month. £1 a Minute

The cost of a call to Australia is 10/- a minute and to Great Britain and America £1 a minute. The procedure for making a call is simple. The caller merely notifies the Whakatane exchange that a call is to be made and is put on to the toR supervisor. Details of the time the call is to be made and the name, initials and address of the person to be called are required. The exchange then contacts the overseas section at Wellington who find the number and report on the reception. Providing the reception is clear and the person is at home the caller is then given the “go ahead” signal. Contact can also be established with the two express steamers, Monowai and Hinemoa.

Operators at the overseas section, although highly skilled, do not need to have a wide knowledge of languages, for there are certain forms of address common to all countries. The caller cannot always get through to another countiy at the time he wants because the reception varies in the different seasons at different times of the day. Atmosphere pressure also has an effect on reception. The overseas section at Wellington will not put a call through until conditions are satisfactory unless it is urgent. Usually, however, reception is quite good. Clear to U.S.A. Recently one call was put through to Kansas City in the United States and “very clear” conversation was reported from the Whakatane end. Last month a call to Melbourne took only 20 minutes to connect after application had been made. This again was satisfactory. Speech through these overseas calls is usually very clear but the post office advises those people who make the calls to speak clearly and distinctly. Even slowly if necessary. It helps a lot.