Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ames!bionet!hayes.ims.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: john@mojave.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Answering Machine Beeps But Does Not Take Message Message-ID: <14931@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 23 Nov 90 19:54:21 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 31 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 843, Message 6 of 9 Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) writes: > What is the meaning of the aforementioned beep? > [on a machine that announces that it does not record messages from > callers] This beep is your signal that the TV station in question is too cheap or lazy to obtain an answering device that has an "announce-only" function. The "standard" mechanical outgoing-only high-volume telephone announcer used to be the Code-a-Phone 111. It had a built-in 6 minute tape that would immediately rewind when the caller hung up, even in the middle of the announcement. But this turkey cost $1,000, so it was never really popular. It also had about a 100,000-call MTBF. Another favorite trick (among broadcasters) is to buy one of the various "telephone controllers" for about 100 bucks to operate an almost-junked cart machine. This setup transforms old garbage into a pretty good-sounding high-volume answer-only system. One station I knew went so far as to have a homemade controller start the cart machine and then on cue from the cart machine start an Ampex 351 to record the caller's message. Bought new, this would be a $10,000 answering machine. But you couldn't beat the quality! There are, of course, many answering machines on the market that can do announce-only. Most of them, however, would fall apart rapidly in high-volume service. And they may not be available as broadcast advertising trade-out. John Higdon (hiding out in the desert)