cmoore@brl.mil (VLD/VMB) (11/22/90)
Speaking of consumer-complaint lines: A TV station in Philadelphia has a number which I called a while back to get a recording. The recording told me to mail my complaint in, and also that the phone does not take messages! There was a beep at the end of the recording. I see that the item about phone not taking messages was put in to prevent (or as a result of?) people thinking that it did indeed take messages and getting into arguments about it. What is the meaning of the aforementioned beep?
john@mojave.ati.com (John Higdon) (11/24/90)
Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@brl.mil> writes: > What is the meaning of the aforementioned beep? > [on a machine that announces that it does not record messages from > callers] This beep is your signal that the TV station in question is too cheap or lazy to obtain an answering device that has an "announce-only" function. The "standard" mechanical outgoing-only high-volume telephone announcer used to be the Code-a-Phone 111. It had a built-in 6 minute tape that would immediately rewind when the caller hung up, even in the middle of the announcement. But this turkey cost $1,000, so it was never really popular. It also had about a 100,000-call MTBF. Another favorite trick (among broadcasters) is to buy one of the various "telephone controllers" for about 100 bucks to operate an almost-junked cart machine. This setup transforms old garbage into a pretty good-sounding high-volume answer-only system. One station I knew went so far as to have a homemade controller start the cart machine and then on cue from the cart machine start an Ampex 351 to record the caller's message. Bought new, this would be a $10,000 answering machine. But you couldn't beat the quality! There are, of course, many answering machines on the market that can do announce-only. Most of them, however, would fall apart rapidly in high-volume service. And they may not be available as broadcast advertising trade-out. John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com> (hiding out in the desert)
nam2254%dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil@dsac.dla.mil (Tom Ohmer) (11/30/90)
From article <14931@accuvax.nwu.edu>, by john@mojave.ati.com (John
Higdon):
< Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@brl.mil> writes:
<> What is the meaning of the aforementioned beep?
<> [on a machine that announces that it does not record messages from
<> callers]
< This beep is your signal that the TV station in question is too cheap
< or lazy to obtain an answering device that has an "announce-only"
< function. []
Mine (Tandy/Radio Shack) has an "announce" function, and behaves
precisely as Carl described. When the OGM tape head senses the foil
at the end/beginning of the loop, the beep sounds and the OGM stops,
regardless of "answer" or "announce" mode.
The *meaning* of the beep, to me, would be that the announcement was
completed.
Tom Ohmer @ Defense Logistics Agency Systems Automation Center,
DSAC-AMB, Bldg. 27-6, P.O. Box 1605, Columbus, OH 43216-5002
UUCP: ...osu-cis!dsac!tohmer INTERNET: tohmer@dsac.dla.mil
Phone: (614) 238-8059 AutoVoN: 850-8059 #include <stdsclmr.h>