Abstract
THE object of the automatic telephone exchange is to dispense with the assistance of a third party in making connection between two subscribers. Those whp are at all familiar with the complexity of the connections and of the numerous devices needed in a modern exchange having a large number of subscribers will realise that to work out a system in which the telephone girl is replaced by an automatic arrangement is a matter requiring no little ingenuity, and will, perhaps, not be surprised that the problem has apparently only been attacked successfully on the other side of ihe Atlantic. The American technical papers have shown that, during the past few year?, the construction of automatic exchanges has received considerable attention arid that several different systems have been worked out. Some attempts have been made to introduce these into this country, but not with much success; in fact, until the last year or so England did not afford a promising field for the introduction of automatic telephones unless for small private exchanges. In America, however, matters are different, and, as we have said, descriptions of two or three different systems in actual or experimental use have been published. One of these, recently described in the Scientific American, is noteworthy for the fact that the automatic apparatus at the exchange is operated mechanically so far as possible, the electrical control being reduced to a minimum. Greater trustworthiness, it is said, is obtained by this means, though we should be inclined to think that the wear and tear would also be greater. We do not know whether this, the Faller, system has had any extensive trial as yet. Another system, which we propose to describe briefly, has been in operation in some parts of America for three or four years, and as it is being installed now in several large American towns> and is also being introduced into Germany and England, we may judge that it has proved both trustworthy and economical. In Chicago, an exchange on this system is being constructed with an ultimate capacity of 100,000 subscribers.
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S., M. The Automatic Telephone Exchange . Nature 67, 40–41 (1902). https://doi.org/10.1038/067040a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/067040a0