Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!netsys!vector!nobody From: jbn@glacier.stanford.edu (John B. Nagle) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: When DDD Began Message-ID: Date: 30 Jan 89 17:15:14 GMT Sender: chip@vector.UUCP Lines: 16 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 44, message 5 As many telecom readers probably know, area codes and direct dialing were originally implemented so that the originating toll operator could set up the call and have it routed automatically, rather than manually dealing with distant toll boards to set up the circuit. But Direct Distance Dialing was only offered to subscribers after AT&T Long Lines had most of its system automated. Thus, when DDD did appear in a locality, one could generally call most places in the Bell System immediately. The accounting system for DDD originally involved paper tape punches (the "Automatic Accountant"), a very special purpose electronic calculator that took in the paper tape, computed the toll, and punched a standard IBM card, and large farms of IBM tabulating equipment to sort the cards and generate the customer bills. John Nagle