How do people answer the phone in Britain?

A barge? Literally? Much coolness...

my best friend's dd always answered, 'jerry's kids' during the telethons

A barge? Literally? Much coolness...

Yup: http://www.thanatopsic.org/hendrik/

We just had our pirate boatwarming party at the weekend with around 100 people in costume.

I always wanted to live on one of those! We had a scruffy 30' houseboat when I was a kid that I loved to bits.

I'll have to put your blog on my reading list 

Yup: http://www.thanatopsic.org/hendrik/

We just had our pirate boatwarming party at the weekend with around 100 people in costume.

That looks absolutely fantastic! But next time, invite me to the party! 

No specific advice on how to answer the phone, but these pages are from a rather delightful little book for children titled "The Telephone and How We Use It," published by Bell in the U.S. in 1952:

Paul,
How can I send this on email?
It is definitely a different era.

Heh. That's beautiful, Jim.

Yup: http://www.thanatopsic.org/hendrik/

We just had our pirate boatwarming party at the weekend with around 100 people in costume.

Looks like fun.  We have a few people around here who live on houseboats on the Norfolk Broads.   

Paul,
How can I send this on email?
It is definitely a different era.

Jim,

In most web-browsers if you right-click on each image you'll see an option to save to disk, then you can just attach to your e-mail in the usual way.

Here's the whole book (about 5.2MB) if you want to see some more:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/paulcoxwell/TEL/TelephoneHowWeUseIt.pdf

Feel free to just forward this link to anyone if you wish; I can't guarantee the file will stay there indefinitely, but it will be available for at least a month or two. 

It sounds as though it might have been a COCOT (Customer-Owned Coin-Operated Telephone), i.e. a private payphone.   How far back are you going?   

The usual arrangement for a public payphone in the U.S. (both the old 3-slot ones and the later single-slot models) was to have the coin collect or return done automatically by the central office equipment.

Probably 10-15 years ago, maybe?  I can't remember exactly.  Not more than that, I'm sure.

Probably 10-15 years ago, maybe?  I can't remember exactly.  Not more than that, I'm sure.

Sure sounds like a COCOT if it was that time frame, as they proliferated during the 1990s. 

The British A/B coinbox pictured above is from a very different era.   The first of these were installed in the mid 1920s, and they became the standard G.P.O. payphone until the very end of the 1950s. 

The beginning of STD (Subscriber Trunk Dialing, i.e. customer-dialed long-distance) and the desire to have payphones handle such calls without operator assistance led to the introduction of a new type of coinphone in 1959, and these post-pay units gradually replaced most of the old pre-payment boxes during the 1960s:



This one had no buttons.  You just picked up and dialed, then when the called party answered you'd hear pay tone, which was the signal to insert your money to allow the conversation to proceed.  Once money had been deposited there was no way to get it back.

This is all somewhat relevant to the subject of how people used to answer the phone in Britain, because if you answered a call and heard that tone (known colloquially as "the pips") you knew the call was coming from a coinphone and that you'd have to wait for the caller to insert his money before you could talk to him.

A few of the old A/B coinphones survived into the 1970s (all payphones had to be converted in 1971 for the new decimal currency), but they were relatively rare by then.   The very last A/B phone was in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands and was finally withdrawn from service around 1983/84.  Ironically, at that time the newly created BT has just started to introduce new phones to replace the 1960s/70s units, which were again pre-pay, only this time microprocessor controlled.  These early 1980s payphones are the oldest still in service.

And all of that is probably far more U.K. payphone history than anybody here ever wanted to know, but it's all part of the tapestry of how people's use of the phone has changed over time.....   

Naw, I love the history of geekery. And it's my thread 

And all of that is probably far more U.K. payphone history than anybody here ever wanted to know, but it's all part of the tapestry of how people's use of the phone has changed over time.....   
/quote]
So what do the pay phones look like in 2007.
I was in the UK once and couldn't figure out how to use the phone.
I think its still crazy. You put your money in and the call may need more money in 30 seconds or later depending on the distact you are calling? This is a question.

So what do the pay phones look like in 2007.

There are several different styles in use at the moment.  This is one of the oldest types still in service, from the 1980s:



If you look closely below and to the left of the faded instructions you might be able to make out the old "Telecom" inscription.  The windows in this kiosk have been replaced more recently though - Note the "piper" logo reflected on the handset.   The original BT logo was a stylized yellow "T" in a circle.    This phone has actually had a recent refit to the dial pad, since the original 1980s models did not have letters above the buttons.

Here's a later model which can be found in large numbers; this is a combination phone which will accept coins or cards:



The extra buttons allow for redial, language selection on the display menu, volume control etc.   

These modern phones are all microprocessor controlled, and ignoring these extra optional facilities, the basic operation is just to pick up the receiver, deposit the minimum fee, then dial.   The display will show your money being consumed (at an alarming rate!) as the call progresses.  You may deposit extra coins at any time to add to the remaining credit.  Any unused coins will be returned automatically when you hang up.   Calls to 999 emergency, toll-free 0800 numbers etc. may be made without depositing any money.

You put your money in and the call may need more money in 30 seconds or later depending on the distact you are calling? This is a question.

Yes, all calls are timed, so even on a local call the initial deposit will run out after a certain length of time.   If y'all can stand some more telephone "geekery," I'll try and explain how charging has developed here over the years.  But it will have to wait until tomorrow!   

My inlaws still answer Hello and then the last three digits of their phone number.  Older members of the village do that as well. 

Yes, all calls are timed, so even on a local call the initial deposit will run out after a certain length of time.   If y'all can stand some more telephone "geekery," I'll try and explain how charging has developed here over the years.  But it will have to wait until tomorrow!   

Do please! I love this stuff...