bmk@mvuxi.att.com (Bernard Mckeever) (09/23/89)
Recently a reader mentioned that many of the local radio stations were using the same telephone exchange for call in contests or other promotions that generate large call volumes. I'm sure all of us have heard horror stories about network blockage when 50,000 little people tried to call Santa when the local Bozo show announced the number. This was happening all to often and the local network is not designed to handle this type of traffic. I'm sure the phone company convinced the radio station to use a number assigned to the MASS ANNOUNCEMENT EXCHANGE. This network is designed to limit traffic at the point of origin, and except for a few quirks, it works great. The network I remember only provided 2 trunks from any central office to one of the 4 tandem switches. Each tandem had 4 trunks to the host switch. Most radio stations had from 2 to 10 lines hunting a lead number. No matter how big a load is offered only a small % of callers would actually use network resources. The system was fair because every caller from every central office had an equal chance of getting into the contest line. The problems with this network were minimal. If more than one radio station at a time ran a contest, chances were that the 2nd station would not get any calls for several minutes. Sometimes the DJ was not told by engineering how the system works and we would get trouble reports. An example: Radio station DJ gets ready to give away free tickets to a sold out concert. Goes to the call director to "check out" the lines. Places 4 calls to the contest line and only 2 ring in. Complains that the %^@@$ network is no good. Wont take no for an answer. Test board dials 2 calls each from 2 different exchanges. DJ is another satisfied customer until next time.