The 5ESS Switching System is a Class 5 telephone electronic switching system developed by Western Electric for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) and the Bell System in the United States. It came into service in 1982 and the last unit was produced in 2003.
5ESS used in a mobile telephone network
The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that operated from 1869 to 1996. A subsidiary of the AT&T Corporation for most of its lifespan, Western Electric was the primary manufacturer, supplier, and purchasing agent for all telephone equipment the Bell System from 1881 until 1984, when the Bell System was dismantled. Because the Bell System had a near-total monopoly over telephone service in the United States for much of the 20th century, Western Electric's equipment was widespread across the country. The company was responsible for many technological innovations, as well as developments in industrial management.
Gray and Barton building in Chicago about 1870s
Former Western Electric factory on Clinton Street converted to loft apartments
1893 The Western Electric factory. Greenwich and Thames Streets
1969 Western Electric keychain medallion celebrating the 100th anniversary of the company's founding, made from the company's recycled bronze metal of scrapped telephone equipment and issued to employees with an inscribed personal registration number.