So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Edward]

There are boxes you can buy that go between phone and wall socket, and handle this task. The ones on which I have my eye are actually repros of old GPO telephones which can handle these menu systems without any adaptation.

That said, the voice-operated versions of these systems have become so sophisticated, that this soon won't be an issue anyhow. A few years ago, before I set up a direct debit, I called my electricity supplier to pay a bill. The entire conversation was with a computer running voice-recognition, and it was as easy as ,maybe easier than, dealing with a human.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Not with your level of expertise, but yes, we do know we need to "convert" it to make it compatible with touch tone. What we are hoping is that the speaker will give clearer sound as the weighs-three-ounces-plastic-piece-of-garbage cordless phone we have now sounds like somebody is rustling a paper bag next to the receiver when they speak.

I think this is what my wife likes about the old rotary phones...the weight of the handset. It just feels more substantial and like you're talking on the phone. She hates any sort of headset or earpiece, she likes the feeling of holding the receiver. I think I'm going to get her on of these:

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^ It's funny, my girlfriend mentions the weight of the old phones too. She says they just "felt better."

 

[vitanola]

The 202 desk set, in its original configuration with the E-1 handset or its rebuilt, post-war configuration with the F-1 handset and the later "anti side-tone" subset is most about as sturdy, reliable, and clear sounding a telephone as was ever built. The same is true of the 302 desk set, with its self-contained ringer.

W

As far as pulse-tone conversion is concerned, the easily available Panasonic 308 hybrid telephone system key service unit will take care of that problem. It will also allow one to dial from telephone to telephone, should one want an intercom of any sort.

 

[HudsonHawk]

The 202 desk set, in its original configuration with the E-1 handset or its rebuilt, post-war configuration with the F-1 handset and the later "anti side-tone" subset is most about as sturdy, reliable, and clear sounding a telephone as was ever built. The same is true of the 302 desk set, with its self-contained ringer.

Interestingly, the lack of sidetone is what I dislike most about digital and cell phones. There's something reassuring about hearing your own voice on the call, plus it keeps down the "cell yell" from the yahoo.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have my 202 set up as a 102, for sidetone service -- it's too quiet as a 202, so I changed the subset to the older type. You can "customize" old phones that way to suit your purposes.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Today's teenies would crack their stiff itsy-bitsy-smartphone-fingers.

And all these manicurist-shops would loose their business.

 

[Fading Fast]

Would something like this work if you just want to use one pulse phone on your cable company's digital line?

http://www.dialgizmo.com/index.html

 

[LizzieMaine]

It should. I've not used one myself -- I have POTS service here, so all I have to do is hook up any Bell System phone and it'll work without modification -- but everything I've heard about them says they'll do the job. You can even get really fancy ones for payphones that operate the coin-collector system.

 

[Fading Fast]

It should. I've not used one myself -- I have POTS service here, so all I have to do is hook up any Bell System phone and it'll work without modification -- but everything I've heard about them says they'll do the job. You can even get really fancy ones for payphones that operate the coin-collector system.

thank you

 

[HudsonHawk]

It should. I've not used one myself -- I have POTS service here, so all I have to do is hook up any Bell System phone and it'll work without modification -- but everything I've heard about them says they'll do the job. You can even get really fancy ones for payphones that operate the coin-collector system.

So I can make my wife put a quarter in the kitty every time she talks on the phone? Awesome...hello retirement...

 

[Trenchfriend]

POTS service

Now, I've learned another thing, thanks!

 

[LizzieMaine]

So I can make my wife put a quarter in the kitty every time she talks on the phone? Awesome...hello retirement...

Of course, it does cost mooey dinero.

A workable, unmolested -- as in the original coin mechanism intact -- 3-slot payphone will run anywhere from $300 to $600 nowadays, but if you get lucky with the price you could set yourself up in the payphone business for less than a grand.

What a lot of people don't realize is that before the one-slot payphones came into use in the late sixties, all payphone calls, local or long distance, involved an operator. Inside the phone there was a little brass bell and a wound-wire gong which the coins would strike as they went down the chute, and the phone's transmitter would pick up these sounds. She'd have to listen for the sounds -- one ding for a nickel, two dings for a dime, and a gong for a quarter -- and determine if the correct amount had been inserted. If so, she'd activate the phone from her switchboard and you'd proceed with the call. If you made a long distance call she'd ask you for the money and count the dings and gongs until the correct amount was inserted before connecting you to your party.

 

[sheeplady]

I really hate it when an institution I attended calls and asks for money (donations) when I'm upset about some policy they enacted.

I have to tell them, "No, I'm sorry but you just made x policy move, and I can't support you this year."

Then they try calling a week later and I get more annoyed. Haven't fixed the issue? Well, I haven't changed my mind.

 

[ingineer]

FF;
That gizmo does work, at least on my 302.
However there is also a modern TT phone on the same circuit for the young pups

 

[Fading Fast]

Of course, it does cost mooey dinero.

A workable, unmolested -- as in the original coin mechanism intact -- 3-slot payphone will run anywhere from $300 to $600 nowadays, but if you get lucky with the price you could set yourself up in the payphone business for less than a grand.

What a lot of people don't realize is that before the one-slot payphones came into use in the late sixties, all payphone calls, local or long distance, involved an operator. Inside the phone there was a little brass bell and a wound-wire gong which the coins would strike as they went down the chute, and the phone's transmitter would pick up these sounds. She'd have to listen for the sounds -- one ding for a nickel, two dings for a dime, and a gong for a quarter -- and determine if the correct amount had been inserted. If so, she'd activate the phone from her switchboard and you'd proceed with the call. If you made a long distance call she'd ask you for the money and count the dings and gongs until the correct amount was inserted before connecting you to your party.

My guess is that an operator developed a good "ear" for the dings and gongs and it almost became a second language for her; otherwise, that would be a quite a stressful job.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My mother used to do it. The only worse job was being the voice of the time signal - which for a long time was done manually. Some poor soul sat alone in a room with a Western Union clock and a microphone and read out the time at thirty second intervals, for a full eight hour shift.

 

[2jakes]

Of course, it does cost mooey dinero.

A workable, unmolested -- as in the original coin mechanism intact -- 3-slot payphone will run anywhere from $300 to $600 nowadays, but if you get lucky with the price you could set yourself up in the payphone business for less than a grand.

What a lot of people don't realize is that before the one-slot payphones came into use in the late sixties, all payphone calls, local or long distance, involved an operator. Inside the phone there was a little brass bell and a wound-wire gong which the coins would strike as they went down the chute, and the phone's transmitter would pick up these sounds. She'd have to listen for the sounds -- one ding for a nickel, two dings for a dime, and a gong for a quarter -- and determine if the correct amount had been inserted. If so, she'd activate the phone from her switchboard and you'd proceed with the call. If you made a long distance call she'd ask you for the money and count the dings and gongs until the correct amount was inserted before connecting you to your party.

Bin~der~dun~dat.

.

 

[HudsonHawk]

My mother used to do it. The only worse job was being the voice of the time signal - which for a long time was done manually. Some poor soul sat alone in a room with a Western Union clock and a microphone and read out the time at thirty second intervals, for a full eight hour shift.

Sounds like a job I once had at an aluminum can factory. My job was to stand and watch cans go by on a conveyor belt. When one fell over, I sat it back upright. 12 hour shifts. At night. In the heat. And really greasy bad odor. In fact, if you've ever seen a can being made, you might not want to drink out of one again.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Sounds like a job I once had at an aluminum can factory. My job was to stand and watch cans go by on a conveyor belt. When one fell over, I sat it back upright. 12 hour shifts. At night. In the heat. And really greasy bad odor. In fact, if you've ever seen a can being made, you might not want to drink out of one again.

The old question:

Authentic Bialetti Moka-Express or stainless-steel-Bialetti? Fear on aluminium-Alzheimer's?

http://mokacoffeepots.com/facts-and-myths-of-aluminum-moka-coffee-pot-health-risks