Bell tolls on toll exchange

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 30, 21 December 1987, Page 1

Bell tolls on toll exchange

by

JULIE

GRANTHAM

The era of visual index files, mark scan toll tickets, cord circuits a n d jacks - jargon familiar to switchboard operators came to an end in the Waimarino today. -All seven staff at the Ohakune toll exchange aecepted voluntary severance pay rather than transfer. The closure is the result of an ongoing economic measure , by Telecom to gradually convert manually operated toll dialing to subscriber toll dialing. Since the introduction of STD to the Waimarino three years ago the number of calls requiring operator assistance decreased, according to Telecom staff. Ohakune's longest serving switchboard operator Graham Foster originally began as a night clerk back in 1966. His was the 'Dog Watch' from 1am to 7am which was then a job done solely by men. By the 1970's women operators were working night shifts. Up until 1984 Mr Foster said a team of 25 full time operators and five part timers handled around 600 manual subscribers in the

district as well as Waiouru toll calls. Literally hundreds of operators have p a s s e d through the system which provided a unique employment opportunity for school leavers. At the introduction of STD, he said staff numbers were cut to just seven. Where operators were handling over 440,000 calls in a year, that number decreased to 4,500. N e w technology made the

'personai touch' a thing of the past. As from Monday, all operator assisted services - collect and transfer charge calls, and directory will be transferred to the Palmerston North exchange while all emergency 111 calls will go directly through Wanganui. Mr Foster is philosophical about the closure which he said has been a certainty since 1975. Although the human qual-

ity may have been lost, some positive- aspects have arisen from the change. Once it was commonplace for one to wait for some time when making a toll call. Better access to toll circuits and greater nationwide coverage means greater efficiency in this area. Still, nothing quite replaces the vast knowledge of the Waimarino that operators acquired over the years. Take the time that a man made a 111 call to report a fire on the Matahiwi Track near Raetihi. The quick-witted operator made several phone calls to the brigade and residents in the vicinity. By the time the fire fighters arrived the fire had been extinguished by local people. On the drawing board are plans to build a Telecom Centre onto the front of the existing building which will cater for receiving telephone accounts and placing applications for telephones.