Telephone exchange names
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A telephone exchange name or central office name was a distinguishing and memorable name assigned to a central office. It identified the switching system to which a telephone was connected, and facilitated the connection of telephone calls between switching systems in different localities.
Face of a 1939 rotary dial showing the telephone number LA-2697, which includes the first two letters of Lakewood, New Jersey
This mid- to late-1950s telephone dial displays the name of telephone exchange Kenmore, in the South Side of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The telephone number of this station is K-9293. Since the letter K is emboldened, it was a required component of the telephone number, dialed as the digit 5, as the red lettering indicates.
Telephone exchange
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A telephone exchange, also known as a telephone switch or central office, is a crucial component in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or large enterprise telecommunications systems. It facilitates the interconnection of telephone subscriber lines or digital system virtual circuits, enabling telephone calls between subscribers.
A telephone operator manually connecting calls with cord pairs at a telephone switchboard
A modern central office, equipped with voice communication and broadband data capabilities
Tivadar Puskás
1922 diagram of 1877 Boston exchange