When was the last time you spoke with your local telephone service operator?

[FelixDeCat]

I think the last time I spoke with a telephone company operator was back around 1995. Even then, Im not sure. :hmm:

Back in the day your local operator did a lot of things like make collect calls, check phone lines and transfer you to emergency services like fire, police and utility companies if needed. 911 service was first implemented in Tarrant County, Texas, in 1986.

Assuming you need operator assistance from services such as AT&T, fees range from $1.49 to place a collect call to $13.49 for person to person connect charges per use.

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=13695

 

[sdifox]

They still have those?

 

[FelixDeCat]

They still have those?

For Jim's sake, I sure hope so...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RA4MykPm4s

 

[Printer Bandit]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TYv2PhG89A

 

[Mixolydian]

Never have.

 

[Newbian]

Never have as I never needed those services but then again I also have not had a landline for the last 8 years or so.

 

[FelixDeCat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TYv2PhG89A

Smooth.

 

[Lifted]

I think 911 and 0 (and possibly some other local municipal service #'s such as 311) are always active on POTS lines, even if you don't have service on the line.

I dialed 0 on line without service maybe 10 years ago when I moved into a new apartment, and they couldn't even forward me to the LEC to order new service on the line. I had to either use my cell (which for some reason I couldn't at the time) or wait until I was at work in order to call and order service. It seemed counter intuitive that I would need telephone service to order telephone service.

Before that I hadn't used the operator in probably 10 years or more, maybe closer to the 80's. I think I only ever dialed the operator if I had trouble making or connecting a call. I once called to ask the operator why I was being connected to the FBI when dialing my friends home number. She told me to ring back and ask whoever answered at the FBI.

 

[Mixolydian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TYv2PhG89A

As much as I hate Sade, I do like that song.

 

[sdifox]

I remember when I was in Argentina in the early 80s, you had to go to the phone office to make an international long distance call. You take a number and wait for your turn.

 

[John Connor]

Since we have had Comcast voice for the past 7 years I haven't talked to an operator. You dial 0 on this phone and it gives you some bullshit to call 1-800-comcast. I made collect calls to my mom back in the day and called the operator to give me the time. No, Internet was nothing but bulletin boards and green screens back then. You fucking kids now a days!

 

[BoomerD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaE-sBJQixg

 

[Doppel]

I said 5, but meant 10. Maybe in truth is longer, though.

I remember as a kid using the dial 0 trick and telling the operator that the machine stole my quarter and they'd give me a free call. Pay phones hardly exist now, though. If you ask kids about them under the age of say 10 there is a good chance they don't even know what you're talking about.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I said 5, but meant 10. Maybe in truth is longer, though.

I remember as a kid using the dial 0 trick and telling the operator that the machine stole my quarter and they'd give me a free call. Pay phones hardly exist now, though. If you ask kids about them under the age of say 10 there is a good chance they don't even know what you're talking about.

lol

I vaguely remember that from the 70s.

Also, if you added 0-1-1+ your local phone number, it would dial someplace in Japan!

 

[IronWing]

I've used directory assistance maybe twice in the last five years. Other than that it has probably been twenty years since I talked to an operator. In college my parents had a system where we'd call home collect from a designated pay phone. They'd decline the charges then call us back. Saved a lot of money that way.

This Summer I saw a functioning phone booth, old style complete with folding door.

 

[twinrider1]

lol, I used to BE a local telephone operator. That's a job the deserved to be automated.

 

[mmntech]

This Summer I saw a functioning phone booth, old style complete with folding door.

There's still a few phone booths floating around up here. Mostly in rural communities stuck outside a gas station. Which makes sense because there's still a few places where cell reception isn't all that reliable. Even just a couple hours north of Toronto. Oddly, there's one at this gas station I fill up at on my way home. Granted it's on a country road but it's not exactly in the middle of nowhere.

There's still lots of indoor payphones around. A lot of malls have them. You'll see someone using them every now and then. Last time I used one must have been almost 10 years ago when I was in University. I did have a cell phone at the time but it was either dead or I forgot it at home. I wouldn't even be able to call my parents today from a payphone. They refuse to answer if they don't recognize the number.

 

[lxskllr]

Probably the 80s or early 90s. I never used it much. I could probably count the times on one hand.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1paHu-cfuWI

In-for-mat-ionnn long dist-aaance