Trunk vs Toll

Trunk vs Toll

In the US, under the purview of the Bell System, local telephone calls were free except in a few big cities, and the term toll was adopted for long distance calls because they were subject to a toll.

In the UK all calls were chargeable and the term trunk was adopted for long distance calls. Initially all trunk calls had to be pre-booked and the operator called the subscriber back when the call could be put through. In 1921 the first [http://www.btplc.com/Thegroup/BTsHistory/1912to1968/1921.htm toll exchange] was opened which allowed the shorter distance trunk calls to be connected while the subscriber waited. The name toll was probably taken from US usage.

In the London telephone area calls to subscribers on non-director exchanges within local call charging range of the London director exchange area were carried by tandem exchange 'Toll A'; a subscriber would dial a prefix code, then the number of the other subscriber on the fringe non-director exchange. Calls from fringe non-director exchanges to numbers within the director area were passed in two ways. For those to director exchanges near the area boundary adjacent to the non-director exchange, subscribers were given codes to dial, and told to follow the code with the numerical portion of the other subscriber's number. For director exchanges remote from the area boundary, the subscriber was told to dial '7', to wait for a second dialling tone, and to follow this with the whole of the other number. These calls were handled by tandem exchange 'Toll B'; from here the second dialling tone originated. To have a second dialing tone in this way was very unusual on the PSTN in the UK, although the French PTT had a similar instruction for when their customers made international calls.

The distinction between trunk and toll became irrelevant when subscriber trunk dialling (STD) was introduced.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Toll — The word toll has several meanings.*In the context of transportation: **toll road, toll bridge, toll tunnel, and toll house, where money is collected in return for the use of the facility. **Electronic toll collection, high occupancy toll, shadow …   Wikipedia

  • toll connecting trunk —    Trunk utilized to link a local central office (Class 5) to the direct distance dialing network …   IT glossary of terms, acronyms and abbreviations

  • Toll-free telephone number — A toll free, Freecall, Freephone, or 800 number is a special telephone number, in that the called party is charged the cost of the calls by the telephone carrier, instead of the calling party. The cost of the call to the called party is usually… …   Wikipedia

  • Trunk deck ship — A trunk deck ship is a type of merchant ship with a hull that was stepped inward in order to obtain more favourable treatment under canal toll rules then in effect. As those tolls were set by net tonnage, a measure of volume, and as the tonnage… …   Wikipedia

  • Toll switching trunk — In telecommunication, a toll switching trunk is a trunk connecting one or more end offices to a toll center as the first stage of concentration for intertoll or long distance traffic. Operator assistance or participation may be an optional… …   Wikipedia

  • toll call — noun a long distance telephone call at charges above a local rate (Freq. 1) • Hypernyms: ↑long distance, ↑long distance call, ↑trunk call * * * noun Etymology: toll (I) : a long dist …   Useful english dictionary

  • trunk call — noun a telephone call made outside the local calling area I talked to her by long distance • Syn: ↑long distance, ↑long distance call • Hypernyms: ↑call, ↑phone call, ↑telephone call …   Useful english dictionary

  • Subscriber trunk dialling — (STD, also known as subscriber toll dialling) is a term for the UK telephone system allowing subscribers to dial trunk calls without operator assistance. Terminology The term subscriber trunk dialling is used in other countries such as the… …   Wikipedia

  • Delaware River-Turnpike Toll Bridge — Infobox Bridge bridge name= Delaware River Turnpike Toll Bridge caption= Delaware River Turnpike Bridge from the east bank of the Delaware River official name= Delaware River Turnpike Toll Bridge also known as= carries= 4 lanes of I 276 (CURRENT …   Wikipedia

  • North Island Main Trunk — Das Streckennetz der North Island Main Trunk Line. North Island Main Trunk Line (NIMT) oder auch North Island Main Trunk Railway (deutsch: Nordinsel Hauptstrecke) ist die Bezeichnung für die Eisenbahnstrecke, die auf der Nordinsel von Neuseeland… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”