TELEPHONE CALLS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 December 1941, Page 2

TELEPHONE CALLS

SERVICE STRAINED AT PEAK PERIODS. CO-OPERATION OF PUBLIC SOUGHT. “What is wrong with the exchange? I can’t get the dialling tone.” This question has been asked quite a lot recently and it was answered by the Postmaster (Mr M. M. Simpson) in an interview today with a representative from the “Times-Age.”

Mr Simpson stated that owing to conditions brought about by the war extreme difficulty is being experienced in obtaining telephone material from overseas. Particularly is this the case with regard to switching equipment which is urgently required to ensure the maintenance of a satisfactory service in automatic telephone exchanges. As a consequence the local telephone exchange, among others, is loaded to’ capacity with the result that during the peak calling periods the available equipment is scarcely capable of meeting the demands made upon it. It should be understood that unless an appropriate switch is available,the dialling tone cannot be obtained and it is just a matter of waiting patiently for a switch to be released by someone else. Therefore it is emphasised that if the switches are to go round more equitably it is necessary that subscribers use their telephones as little as possible during the peak periods and that they restrict their calls to the shortest possible duration.

Insofar as the Toll Room is concerned the position is being accentuated owing to shortage of staff and should some delay occur in numbers not being answered promptly subscribers are requested to exercise a little patience as exchange operators are very busy handling a large volume of traffic. The Masterton telephone exchange has a reputation for efficiency. Everything possible is being done to maintain that reputation and the co-opera-tion of subscribers in the directions indicated would greatly assist to that end.