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A NEW INTERIOR
TELEPHONE
By F. E. MASHBURN
A N E W and improved system of
interior telephone service is
now on the market. The instru-
L ment itself is known as the
"Select-o-phone".
This telephone has many features
which are decided improvements upon
the styles of interior phones in use heretofore,
and in addition has incorporated
many new features which have not been
a part of the systems
installed up
to this time.
The service
takes its name of
the "Select-ophone"
from the
fact that to secure
connection
45:
with any desired number or department,
all that is necessary to do is to turn a
dial upon the base of the instrument to
the number of the station desired, and
the lifting of the receiver automatically
forms the connection, and rings the bell
of the party or department wanted.
One of the important features of this
system is the possibility of holding conferences
over the phone. If an executive
desires a conference with two or more
departments, he calls the parties wanted,
asking them to connect at the conference
point, and by connecting his own instrument
he can have an immediate conference
without calling any man from his
department, or waiting for him to walk
from one office to another.
Another feature of this service is the
locating by a general call any man who
is absent temporarily from his own department.
To find a party the dial is moved
to "general call" and a signal thereupon
is sounded throughout the plant, hearing
which the party answers from the nearest
station.
In order to do this, of course, a system
of buzzer calls has to be determined
upon beforehand, so that when the
phones all over a plant buzz "three shorts
and a long"—Mr. Smith's signal—every
one in the building will know immediately
that the general manager desires to
see Mr. Smith. As makeshifts
for this efficient system
are in vogue throughout
the business world, however,
no difficulty will be encountered.
The switchboard is automatic,
very simple and compact,
and can be placed upon
the wall or hidden from
view in a small closet.