931 14th St.
Even Floors Through Ten
In 1929, and still today, some of these floors house various types of telephone equipment. When the building was new, the second floor held the step switches for 40,000 customers in downtown Denver. (Click here
931 Exhibit
Switching Example
How did the switches in the telephone building work? Play the video below to find out!
So what's going on in the video? The caller (left) lifts the handset to establish the circuit, then dials the digits of the telephone number. The dial sends a series of pulses, or clicks, down the circuit to the switch: one pulse for the number "1," three pulses for the number "3," and so on.
The Central Office switch contains banks of 10-level relays, each representing one of the numbers in a telephone number.
Each pulse from the caller's telephone advances a relay bank by one step. In this demonstration, the caller is dialing 341-5555, so the dial sends three pulses, then four pulses, then one pulse, and so on. The combination of connections establishes the path upon which the call goes through, and the called phone rings (right).
The fourth floor was primarily occupied by Long Lines, the long distance company of AT&T. About two hundred long distance circuits came into this floor; each had to be tested, and if found in trouble, the test man would call an equipment man, lineman, or cable maintenance man and work with him to clear the trouble in the shortest amount of time.
Three national radio program supply networks were routed here and were closely observed to prevent interruption and keep quality and volume at their best. There were also about one hundred special contracts utilizing telephone typewriter and Morse routed and monitored on this floor. These contracts were set up with the various press associations, the government, and commercial firms such as brokers, packers, and manufacturers.
Today, highly efficient compact and reliable electronic switches handle millions of calls daily.
Various supervisors’ offices were located on the sixth floor, along with the official company telegraph office and its three operators. Part of the Engineering Department was located on the eighth floor, as well as the Western Electric Company Installation Department, whose function it was to install central office equipment in all the territory in which the Mountain States Company operated.
The tenth floor held various offices and departments.
Click here to continue the guided tour, exploring the odd-numbered floors.
Exhibit Entry | Site History | Local Com History | Architecture | True Murals | Building Tour Basements | Main | Even | Odd | 14th Floor | Museum | 15th Floor
931 14th St.
Even Floors Through Ten
A maintenance man checking the step switches (THG Archives)
In 1929, and still today, some of these floors house various types of telephone equipment. When the building was new, the second floor held the step switches for 40,000 customers in downtown Denver. (Click here
931 Exhibit
Switching Example
How did the switches in the telephone building work? Play the video below to find out!
So what's going on in the video? The caller (left) lifts the handset to establish the circuit, then dials the digits of the telephone number. The dial sends a series of pulses, or clicks, down the circuit to the switch: one pulse for the number "1," three pulses for the number "3," and so on.
The Central Office switch contains banks of 10-level relays, each representing one of the numbers in a telephone number.
Each pulse from the caller's telephone advances a relay bank by one step. In this demonstration, the caller is dialing 341-5555, so the dial sends three pulses, then four pulses, then one pulse, and so on. The combination of connections establishes the path upon which the call goes through, and the called phone rings (right).
The fourth floor was primarily occupied by Long Lines, the long distance company of AT&T. About two hundred long distance circuits came into this floor; each had to be tested, and if found in trouble, the test man would call an equipment man, lineman, or cable maintenance man and work with him to clear the trouble in the shortest amount of time.
Three national radio program supply networks were routed here and were closely observed to prevent interruption and keep quality and volume at their best. There were also about one hundred special contracts utilizing telephone typewriter and Morse routed and monitored on this floor. These contracts were set up with the various press associations, the government, and commercial firms such as brokers, packers, and manufacturers.
Today, highly efficient compact and reliable electronic switches handle millions of calls daily.
Various supervisors’ offices were located on the sixth floor, along with the official company telegraph office and its three operators. Part of the Engineering Department was located on the eighth floor, as well as the Western Electric Company Installation Department, whose function it was to install central office equipment in all the territory in which the Mountain States Company operated.
The tenth floor held various offices and departments.
Click here to continue the guided tour, exploring the odd-numbered floors.
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Exhibit Entry | Site History | Local Com History | Architecture | True Murals | Building Tour
Basements | Main | Even | Odd | 14th Floor | Museum | 15th Floor