Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!bu.edu!telecom-request
From: das@cs.ucla.edu (David Smallberg)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Source of Dial-less Phones
Message-ID: <72217@bu.edu.bu.edu>
Date: 14 Jan 91 03:23:12 GMT
Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 21
Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 34, Message 8 of 8


In article <15953@accuvax.nwu.edu> paul.schleck%inns@iugate.
unomaha.edu writes:

> ...  The most noticable prop at the "headquarters" were red and
>blue phones without dials.  These would be nice to have as extension
>phones (no dials for kiddies to mess with) ...

Until they learn how to click out a number.  (It's interesting how
many people don't know you can do this: back when all UCLA phones were
rotary dial, many secretaries were told to lock their phones with a
little cylinder stuck in the "5" hole, so that no digit past 5 could
be dialed.  This was supposed to prevent one from making outgoing
calls (you had to dial 9 first), but allowed calls to UCLA emergency
(35, hence the reason for putting the lock in "5").  Of course, some
people knew how to defeat this: it looked weird, what with seemingly
random combinations of dialing (for digits 1 through 5) and clicking
the switchhook (for 6 through 0).


David Smallberg, das@cs.ucla.edu, ...!{uunet,ucbvax,rutgers}!cs.ucla.edu!das