"RING COMPLAINTS"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 153, 16 July 1937, Page 17

"RING COMPLAINTS"

A View Behind the Scenes of the Telephone Service WELL-ORGANISED UNIT If the complaints section of a New Zealand telephone exchange is pictured as a Qollection of officers endeayouring to placate exasperated subscribers it is very far from reality. A vieit to the complaints board of one of the larger exchanges and an invest'igation into the methoda.of dealing with telephone troubles discloses the unexpectea Jact that the niajority of the complaints do not originate from the public but comO from vigilant telephone operators and others who are constantly watching the system in order t6 discover incipient faults and remed-v them beiore any troubl0 is given to subscribers. The complaints section is a very woll-organised part ^of the telephone exchange whero couversation' is quietly carried on without the slighteet ev-i-dence of a "complaint" atmosphere. "Complaints" is not exactly the right description of this service but the word has always been used and may have been more suitable in the earlior days of telephone development with its aerial reticulation eo mueh at the mercy of the weather. Associated with the complaihts gections is an outside stati! maiutained for instant service cn the simo way as a fire brigade. These are the faultmen provided with motor v8hicles stocked with material for the repair or feplacement of any telephone part or even a completo installation. Each man has his woli-delined terrifory where he remains on duty constantly in touch with the senior test clerk isit-' ting at the complaints board in the exchange. A subscriber having some difficulty with his telephone rings "Complaints" and speaks to an oporator exporieuced in this work. The nature of the troubld is noted and the operator has close to his hand in a card dudex a complete record of all subecribers' equipment with aotea of previous troubles if any have been reported. This card with the latest complaint passes to the senior test clerk who, from his desk at tho exchange is able to make a test of the subscriber 's line. He can determine at once if a line has been earthed or disconnected or is in coutaet with the lin« of another subscriber.

Whatever the trouble, the faultman covering the district concerned is at once informcd and proceeds to work. Action startcd by the subseribor's complaint is not allowed to rest until tho faultman has reported that everything as now "O.K." However, tests mhy disclose A fault in thd actual exchange whoro there are mecfhaniciane constantly on duty to attend to these troubles as well as to maintain a regular watch on the working of the equipment. Over 600 faultmen and mechanicians are emploved in connection with the Doininion's telephone service. A largo proportion of telephone oircuits aro now containod in lead sheathed cables carried underground. Tho wire's are insulated by strips Of tliiu paper but damp in the cable reduces or even destroys the insulation and causes trouble on the bubscribors' lines. However, there Aro constant tests of cables so that beforo any subscriber linds canse for complaint the telephone BtAfif has uenally discovered A developmg l'ault and is At work on the remedy. City streets are constantly being dug up for various public serviccs and ono of the most common troubles is an accidental piercing of a telephone cable by a workman's pick. When there is a fault of this kind the tcsting ofllcer at the exchange with tho a/id of his instruments can locate Ihe trouble tO within a ffttv yards and then tho cable jointer lakeo np the work. Signs of a recent exeavatiou usually provide him [ with an indication where to dig.