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From: ihlpf!kityss@att.uucp (Arnette P Baker +1 708 510 6437)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Time Limits on Calls
Message-ID: <11852@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 7 Sep 90 09:29:00 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 626, Message 5 of 10


I want to relate a story on the subject of "time limits" imposed on
phone calls by the telco.  I grew up in Towanda, Il.  - population 578
(now over 650!)  When we moved there in 1972 we had 5 digit dialing on
local calls, plus a forced time limit of 2 minutes on the same local
calls.  We had 7 digit (well 10 counting NPA) phone numbers, but for
any other number on the stepper we only dialed 5 digits.  After two
minutes a warning tone would sound, and then 10 seconds later you
would be disconnected.  In '74 the telco (Inland Telephone of Il.)
upgraded the switch to a more modern (????) step-by-step and the 2
minute limit, along with 5 digit dialing was eliminated.  This time
limit only existed on calls within the switch, to call anywhere else
in the universe we had (still do) to dial 1+ to get an outgoing trunk.
1+ calls were never affected.

So, anyone out there ever hear of this kind of limit??  I presume it
was done to reduce the load on a switch that was under engineered for
the amount of traffic, but I really have no idea why it existed.
Actually I always thought it was a telco plot to make it difficult to
"share" math homework answers over the phone.  :)


Arnette Baker 
kityss@ihlpf.att.com
AT&T Network Systems 


[Moderator's Note: It sounds likely they had a very dinky little
switch with very few talk paths available. Two or three local
conversations at once going on probably was all it could handle.  PAT]