sbrack@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Steven S. Brack) (03/11/91)
As I sit at this terminal, I'm loooking at a NT Touch*Tone desk phone. In outward appearance it is much like the Western Electric models I grew up with. But, it does have some good and bad features. Good points: Flash button for switchhook signalling. Voicemail/ring indicator lamp. High-quality handset sound. Piggyback RJ11 jack for additional telecom devices. REN of 0.8. A real-live bell (not electronic) Bad points: A hinged keypad (keys pivot at top instead of just pushing in) Poorly constructed faceplate (feels loose when dialing) What strikes me most is how much this telephone resembles Western Electric equipment. Did NT buy WE tooling or parts at some point? Incidentally, this phone has all sorts of features available from the switch (owned by the University), including forwarding, music-on-hold, remote call pickup (picks up any ringing extension you select, or one ringing in your predefined office area), voicemail, ringback on busy, conferencing, call transfer, & group ring (rings all phones in your office, useful as an intercom) -- Steven S. Brack sbrack@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu sbrack@ewf.eng.ohio-state.edu (Avoid sending here, if possible) Wine, women, & midterms; not quite Utopia.
julian%bongo.UUCP@nosc.mil (Julian Macassey) (03/15/91)
In article <telecom11.197.7@eecs.nwu.edu> sbrack@hpuxa.ircc. ohio-state.edu (Steven S. Brack) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 197, Message 7 of 7 > As I sit at this terminal, I'm loooking at a NT Touch*Tone desk > phone. In outward appearance it is much like the Western Electric > models I grew up with. ... > What strikes me most is how much this telephone resembles Western > Electric equipment. Did NT buy WE tooling or parts at some point? Northern Telecom (NT) at one time was called Canadian Bell; their R & D division was and still is as I recall called Bell Northern Research (BNR). This accounts for the similarities between US and Canadian Telco equipment and practices. Many companies make clones of Western Electric (AT&T) 500 and 2500 sets. 500 sets are rotary desk phones and yes, 2500 sets are the Touch Tone model. I am not sure if Western Electric ever receieved royalties on their phone designs. I know they get royalties on the modular plugs - or used to when I was buying them. The following companies make 500 and 2500 set clones: ITT, Comdial (Stromberg Carlson), Northern Telecom. Then there are the Korean clones usually imported by Vodavi, these are often labelled Premier. Julian Macassey, n6are julian@bongo.info.com ucla-an!denwa!bongo!julian 742 1/2 North Hayworth Avenue Hollywood CA 90046-7142 voice (213) 653-4495
m21198@mwunix.mitre.org (John McHarry) (03/18/91)
Actually, Northern Telecom used to be Northern Electric. It was originally owned by AT&T. As a result of an earlier consent decree (1954?) AT&T was required to divest itself of its foreign subsidieries. It transferred Northern Electric to Bell Canada, which was also started by the Bell family, but was never, so far as I know, part of AT&T. Originally Northern Electric was sort of a parallel to Western Electric. It built things to the same drawings supplied by Bell Labs. I met a guy who worked in their engineering department when his job was to white out the WE logo on the drawings and substitute NE. I know they built identical 500 sets, and, I think, 2500s. They also built #5 Crossbar. As part of the sale to Bell Canada the licensing of new designs was phased out gradually. I think it ended for good about 1974. A result of that was the creation of Northern Electric Laboratories, which became Bell-Northern Research. It is Bell-Northern because part of it is directly owned by Bell Canada. Bell Canada holds about 51% of Northern Telecom. The rest is publicly traded. Northern Telecom Limited owns all of Northern Telecom Incorporated, the US subsidiery. Actually there is now a holding company called Bell Canada Enterprises at the top of the pyramid. It was set up to get the parent corporation out from under some regulations.