Twenty Thousand Hertz

Phone Tones: The hidden language of phone number beeps

Mar 25, 2019
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ANECDOTE

Stroger's Suspicion

  • Undertaker Stroger suspected his competitor was getting more business.
  • He discovered the competitor's wife, a switchboard operator, directed calls to her husband.
INSIGHT

Stroger Switch

  • Stroger invented the Stroger switch to eliminate operator bias and allow direct calls.
  • Early versions had buttons for hundreds, tens, and units, requiring multiple presses.
INSIGHT

Rotary Phone Limitations

  • Rotary phones were slow, tying up equipment and limiting call volume.
  • The Number Four Crossbar, with its keypad, was introduced for operators to speed up long-distance calls.
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