Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!pacbell.com!lll-winken!telecom-request From: jkg@prism.gatech.edu (Jim Greenlee) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Anyone Remember the "Tele-Trainer"? Message-ID: Date: 24 Mar 91 15:51:25 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology Lines: 32 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 235, Message 7 of 10 In article kitty!larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) writes: > There was once a time when any school or little theater group > could simply call their local Bell System business office and ask to > borrow a Teletrainer for the duration of a theater production. Indeed - I remember someone bringing a Teletrainer to my first-grade class one day (this was in the mid-60's - I don't remember it being referred to as a Teletrainer, but the setup was just as Larry described). There was a small box that was controlled by the "operator", and two telephones that were used by the "caller" and "callee" (I don't think either of the phones had dials). As I recall, the control box would signal when either of telephone handsets went off-hook, and the "operator" could either ring the call through, or return a "busy" signal to the "caller" (this could be done whether or not the handset of the other phone was off-hook - more on that later :-). If the call went through, then the conversation could be heard by the rest of the group. Several of us in the class took turns at being the "operator" or one of the "callers". I got a chance to be "operator", but got sent back to my seat because I kept giving busy signals (they never let me have *any* fun :-). That particular demonstration stands out as one my few memories from that first grade year. Jim Greenlee (jkg@cc.gatech.edu) Instructor, College of Computing Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 30332