Comments on: The serious busy signal.

Question: The serious busy signal.

rolypolyman — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 06:38:20 -0800

Why is it that when someone has been on the phone a long time or it's off hook, the busy signal that callers get has no "click" preceding it? I've noticed this since the 80s and am surprised it still happens with all the changes/upgrades at the telco.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 07:38:39 -0800

Are you referring to the busy signal, or the faster and much more annoying "off hook" signal?

By: majick

majick — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 07:57:47 -0800

This may very well be specific to your locality or region. The telephone system in my corner of the country stopped emitting clicking sounds during switching and caller messaging some time in 1989 when the very very last crossbar exchange in town (mine) finally went away. It does not, today, behave as you describe, and hasn't for over 15 years.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 10:38:57 -0800

no idea what you're talking about.

By: waldo

waldo — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 11:56:42 -0800

If I may hijack, I want to know what the telephony sound is that I hear on the radio sometimes. It's a sound that I don't recognize, and often used as a sound bridge between a story about the phone and a voice-over bit on, say, NPR. I've heard it enough that I figure it's a bit of a cliche. It's the same tone, repeated over and over, kind of grainy sounding, cycling maybe once a second. There might be two tones, actually. It's obviously a tone that was used on telephones many years ago, perhaps as recently as a few decades, perhaps a half a century ago.

Does any of this ring a bell (ha ha) for anyone?

By: luriete

luriete — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 13:00:51 -0800

i think it's called a reorder signal.

By: waldo

waldo — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 17:38:36 -0800

The reorder signal (or, as I've long thought of it, "fast busy") isn't it, but I really enjoyed reading about it. The signal that I'm thinking of is quite laid-back, by comparison. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find it used in ambient music.

By: punishinglemur

punishinglemur — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 22:49:54 -0800

rolypolyman and waldo: get out that cheap computer microphone and record these mysterious sounds for us.

By: waldo

waldo — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 09:09:54 -0800

I can't, lemur -- this sound no longer exists on phones. It hasn't in my lifetime. I only hear it on radio shows when there's talk of telephones or, more often, telephone calls of the past.

Perhaps I can track something down on This American Life...

By: kindall

kindall — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 14:14:51 -0800

I want to know what the telephony sound is that I hear on the radio sometimes. It's a sound that I don't recognize, and often used as a sound bridge between a story about the phone and a voice-over bit on, say, NPR. I've heard it enough that I figure it's a bit of a cliche. It's the same tone, repeated over and over, kind of grainy sounding, cycling maybe once a second.

Might be a non-US busy tone.

By: Rash

Rash — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 21:29:34 -0800

I want to know what the telephony sound is that
I hear on the radio sometimes. It's...often used
as a sound bridge between a story about the phone and a voice-over bit on, say, NPR.

I think you're talking about a sample from a song by Penguin Cafe Orchestra called "Telephone and Rubber Band."

By: TeamBilly

TeamBilly — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 22:08:22 -0800

The major reason for the change you're referring to (not hearing the click) is the conversion in the Telco networks to fully digital switching systems as opposed to analog (crossbar was mentioned earlier - that's a kind of analog central office switch) system. There are some crossbar switches out there, and even some old stepper switches in some *really* rural areas.