Were you a Michigan Bell or ATT employee before 1984? Share your stories here!

[Doma]

Hello DYers!

I have a great interest in knowing more about the history of the telephone system in Michigan. Primarily interested in information about pre 1984 ATT practices and procedures under the Bell System. If you worked for the telephone company or have knowledge of it please post stories and pictures here, thank you!

[grumpyoldlady]

I worked at the MBT office at 105 East Bethune and also at the office on Kelly Rd. near State Fair from '67-69 as a Service Order Typist.

When a customer called in for phone service, the service rep would take their order and write it on a form, which went to the order reviewer who checked it for accuracy in relation to equipment type, rates, etc. It then came into the room where the SOT's sat at teletype machines. We'd transfer the info from the form to a hard card [[from a large box of perforated continuous feed cards) and at the same time the machine was punching holes into a yellow tape. Each order went to the proofreader to check for typos [[especially phone number errors), and then the tape was put on a little gadget that loaded it into another teletype machine that went to the central processing area for completion.

Once, I transposed a couple phone number digits, and the proofreader didn't catch it. A day or two later we were called into the service superisor's office...we had disconnected the main phone line of a large company and they were not too pleased with us.

[DetroitPlanner]

I wasn't though my Uncle was. The highlight of the year was going to the Michigan Bell employee day at Boblo Island. Not really a practice or proceedure, just good old fashioned fun!

[mikefmich]

I wasn't though my Uncle was. The highlight of the year was going to the Michigan Bell employee day at Boblo Island. Not really a practice or proceedure, just good old fashioned fun!

To add a little ditty to this........my uncle also worked for Bell, those big company picnics used to be held at Walled Lake Amusement park back in the 1950's.

[grumpyoldlady]

Never had any company picnics when I worked there. Maybe that was for the union members or some other group who were more important to the big wigs than us clerical people. We did go to lunch once with our "big boss". Don't recall if it was for Christmas, or if it was when they told us that some of us would have the opportunity to transfer from the Trinity office to the new Walnut office. Any way, without even asking, the boss ordered a glass of sherry for each of us. Most of us were minors. I'd never tasted beer, wine or any alcoholic beverage before.

[Scottathew]

My grandfather worked for the phone company most of his life. Currently he pays only a couple dollars a month for phone service because of it.

He told me a story once about how in the 1950's he moved into his newly built home in Royal Oak on Rosewald just north of 14 Mile near Crooks. He said that he was the very first one to have phone service in the neighborhood because he strung the wire himself, right to his house. He speculates that some of the wire is probably still in use today. He still lives in that home today.

[catch22]

I hired on with MBT in 1973. My first job was Station Installer, installing new phone service and working adds/moves/changes to existing service for residential customers. This was in the era when every new install required a customer visit. Later, I also installed Special Service circuits [[burglar/fire alarms, radio station remotes, 800/WATS lines, telegraph/teletype, etc.) I primarily worked in the Vermont and Webster [[nee Hogarth) central office areas, in a odd shaped area in NW Detroit. [[Roughly from 8 Mile and Evergreen east to Greenfield, down James Couzens, Livernois, Davison to Dexter, Dexter to Joy, Joy west to Evergreen and then north..) I saw a lot of changes in a lot of neighborhoods.

In 1980, I was promoted to PBX Installer, doing all kinds of business phone system work, anything from old legacy switchboards to the [[then-new) electronic phone systems. Best job ever. I worked the same area as above along with the Kenwood [[nee Redford) CO area [[all of NW Detroit west of the above description, along with Redford Township and a small slice of Livonia).

At the Bell System split in 1984, all the customer equipment was spun off to AT&T Information Systems, along with all of us installers. Things went downhill from there rapidly. But that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish, as my dad used to say. I stayed with AT&T in several different jobs, retiring as a second level manager in 1998.

I stlll have my set of Bell System Practices [[BSPs) reference books relating to all facets of business telephone equipment installation and repair. All of which are completely outdated today, of course.