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Chargeable 999 calls.


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Old 19-02-2012, 06:00
Richardcoulter
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On last Sundays "Call The Midwife", a woman put money in a telephone box whilst making an emergency call. Were 999 calls chargeable in the 1940's?
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Old 19-02-2012, 12:29
John146
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On last Sundays "Call The Midwife", a woman put money in a telephone box whilst making an emergency call. Were 999 calls chargeable in the 1940's?
No, you had to put money into the box to be able to speak, if the call was not chargeable you pressed button B and got your money back.
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Old 21-02-2012, 18:20
Richardcoulter
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I didn't know that! I wonder what happened in an emergency if a person didn't have the coins to put through the 'phone in the first place

btw, I got the era wrong, I think it's actually set in 1957.
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Old 21-02-2012, 18:38
remlap
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Hope there was a near by Police box?
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Old 21-02-2012, 18:57
mr muggles
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Hope there was a near by Police box?
I forgot about those!
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Old 01-03-2012, 01:54
Richardcoulter
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Hope there was a near by Police box?
Why do you say that?
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Old 01-03-2012, 11:18
d'@ve
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They contained a telephone linked to the police station, which members of the public could use from outside to make an emergency call.
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Old 01-03-2012, 13:02
beerhunter2
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On last Sundays "Call The Midwife", a woman put money in a telephone box whilst making an emergency call. Were 999 calls chargeable in the 1940's?
999 calls were perfectly free. No need for cash. I used these phones in the 1950s/60s. Poetic licence?

For chargeable local calls, one entered four old pennies (in my day) in the coin slot. On answer, one pressed button A and the cash dropped into the coin box. If no answer, one pressed button B and the cash was refunded.

Long distance (Trunk Calls) payment was very weird. For those one called the operator who would instruct one on how much to put in the coin unit. Now here is the odd bit: the coin unit had no remote metering of the coins, the payment was monitored by the operator listening to the coins being entered.
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Old 02-03-2012, 13:10
Richardcoulter
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They contained a telephone linked to the police station, which members of the public could use from outside to make an emergency call.
Thanks.

999 calls were perfectly free. No need for cash. I used these phones in the 1950s/60s. Poetic licence?

For chargeable local calls, one entered four old pennies (in my day) in the coin slot. On answer, one pressed button A and the cash dropped into the coin box. If no answer, one pressed button B and the cash was refunded.

Long distance (Trunk Calls) payment was very weird. For those one called the operator who would instruct one on how much to put in the coin unit. Now here is the odd bit: the coin unit had no remote metering of the coins, the payment was monitored by the operator listening to the coins being entered.
Looks like Call The Midwife got it's research wrong then.

If long distance calls were still operated like that, it would probably be abused these days!

Why were long distance calls referred to as Trunk Calls?
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Old 03-03-2012, 13:03
Clowder
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Thanks.



Looks like Call The Midwife got it's research wrong then.

If long distance calls were still operated like that, it would probably be abused these days!

Why were long distance calls referred to as Trunk Calls?
There were a few things slightly wrong in the series, the first one was when they looked up at the Boing 707, it didn't enter service until 1959. Some of the cars were the wrong age too.
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Old 04-03-2012, 10:07
beerhunter2
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Why were long distance calls referred to as Trunk Calls?
A trunk connects centres from where the connections fan out, like a tree trunk with roots at one end and branches at the other. So a a long distance telephone call goes from a local exchange via a trunk to the remote exchange.

It doesn't just refer to telephone/data communications but to other types of communications as well. For example, before the coming of the motorways, certain "A Class" roads were designated by the Ministry of Transport: as "Trunk Roads" e.g. A3(T).

Long distance trucks that deliver (especially) to distribution centres are often referred to as "trunkers" because they use trunk routes..
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Old 04-03-2012, 11:00
SkipTracer
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There were a few things slightly wrong in the series, the first one was when they looked up at the Boing 707, it didn't enter service until 1959. Some of the cars were the wrong age too.
To be fair I saw Concorde fly over Stonehouse in Gloucestershire in April 1969 on its maiden flight from Filton to Fairford and that did not enter service until 1976.
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Old 07-03-2012, 17:04
Richardcoulter
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A trunk connects centres from where the connections fan out, like a tree trunk with roots at one end and branches at the other. So a a long distance telephone call goes from a local exchange via a trunk to the remote exchange.

It doesn't just refer to telephone/data communications but to other types of communications as well. For example, before the coming of the motorways, certain "A Class" roads were designated by the Ministry of Transport: as "Trunk Roads" e.g. A3(T).

Long distance trucks that deliver (especially) to distribution centres are often referred to as "trunkers" because they use trunk routes..
Thanks for explaining that

How did the operators connect long distance calls before subscribers could do it themselves over trunks?
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