Phone left 'off the hook'

Owain

Mortimer wrote:
> "Andrew Gabriel" wrote
>>Yes. Do a hook-flash to get a new dialling tone, and then hang-up.
>>The exchange will ring you back to reconnect the original call, but
>>only for a few seconds before giving up and disconnecting the call.
> Has that always been the case? On the two occasions when it's happened to
> me, both some time in the 1990s, doing a hook-flash had no effect: I didn't
> get a dialling tone but instead was just reconnected to the call.

It only works since "star services" eg 3-way calling were introduced.
Before then, there was no need for a subscriber to obtain a dialling
tone during a call.

> Is there some minimum/maximum time that the phone should go on-hook before
> going off-hook again, to force the new dialling tone - like the limits on
> the time between mouse-clicks for a double-click to be recognised?

Yes. Too long a 'click' and the exchange will treat it as a hang-up.
American phones with a 'flash' btton generate too long a click for the
British system, but many phones have a Time Break Recall (TBR) button
which is intended for the purpose.

> For people who forget to put the phone back, there ought to be a way for the
> recipient to make the originator's phone emit a loud noise from the earpiece
> to attract their attention - to convey the message "Oi! Replace the f-ing
> handset!".

The Exchange can, or used to be able to do this - it was called the
Howler tone.

Owain

AW

"KPW" <> wrote in message
news:...
> On Sat, 06 Oct 2007 10:10:51 +0100, xCx <> wrote:
>
>>Tim Rogers wrote:
>>> Yesterday afternoon my wife made a phone call to a friend.
>>>
>>> In the other room my daughter (3 years old!) Picked up thr other
>>> phone and
>>> left it off the hook (didn't discover this until about 7pm last
>>> night.
>>>
>>> Does this mean that I'll be charged for a 4 hour phone call (ouch!)
>>> even
>>> though the person at the other end has ended the call?
>>>
>>> I know that if I put the phone down in one room and then pick it up
>>> in
>>> another the call is maintained and this is what is worrying me!!!
>>>
>>> Tim
>>>
>>>
>>
>>As long as the other party left their phone down and didn't
>>keep picking it up and putting it down it should have cleared
>>after about 5 minutes.
>
> SIN 351 says between two and three minutes.

It used to be after three charging units. If that is one minute - as it
is in most cases - then three minutes it would be.

The howler is still there and automatic but only if you have taken the
phone off hook to stop incoming calls. It should start after about two
minutes, will run for between five and ten (IMSMC) and then your line
goes out of service.


--
Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com

James Salisbury

"Mortimer" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "Tim Rogers" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>>
>> "tony sayer" <.uk> wrote in message
>> news:.uk...
>>> In article <>, Tim Rogers
>>> <> scribeth thus
>>>>Yesterday afternoon my wife made a phone call to a friend.
>>>>
>>>>In the other room my daughter (3 years old!) Picked up thr other phone
>>>>and
>>>>left it off the hook (didn't discover this until about 7pm last night.
>>>>
>>>>Does this mean that I'll be charged for a 4 hour phone call (ouch!) even
>>>>though the person at the other end has ended the call?
>>>>
>>>>I know that if I put the phone down in one room and then pick it up in
>>>>another the call is maintained and this is what is worrying me!!!
>>>>
>>>>Tim
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> If this is another phone across your "own" line then No...
>>>
>>> If the other party had left theirs of the hook as well then Yes..
>>> --
>>
>> No the other party did 'hang up' How long does the connection stay open
>> for. Must be a few minutes I'd have thought. Allows you to put the phone
>> down in one room and pick it up in another.
>
> If you are the recipient of a call where the originator forgot to hang up,
> is there a way of forcing the line to be dropped without waiting the
> (seemingly interminable) time for the exchange to clear the call?
>
> When my grandma had a stroke a few years ago, she rang me for help but
> forgot to hang up. The line didn't clear for ages, during which time I was
> champing at the bit waiting to be able to ring 999 to get an ambulance to
> go to her house (I lived about 50 miles away).

YES
Push R if you have a modern phone on a BT exchange, this will give you dial
tone. Push R again to speak to orginal caller. If there are problems check
that the phone is set to TB

R. Mark Clayton

"Tim Rogers" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Yesterday afternoon my wife made a phone call to a friend.
>
> In the other room my daughter (3 years old!) Picked up thr other phone and
> left it off the hook (didn't discover this until about 7pm last night.
>
> Does this mean that I'll be charged for a 4 hour phone call (ouch!) even
> though the person at the other end has ended the call?
>
> I know that if I put the phone down in one room and then pick it up in
> another the call is maintained and this is what is worrying me!!!
>
> Tim
>

In days of yore yes.

These days the call will clear back after around six minutes.