Speedy Cutover Service, SXS switching cutover to ESS filmed live at Glendale CA central office, 1984

A brief but surprisingly exciting 1984 video showing the preparation and live, real-time cutover from Step By Step switching system (SXS) to a new electronic switching system (ESS) in Glendale, California.
Western Electric offered the Speedy Cutover Service to switching offices throughout the Bell System. Western Electric installers would visit a facility and prepare it, installing the new equipment inside the facility. They would identify and mark the existing cables that would need to be cut, then prepare employees for the cutover to the new ESS system.
Previously a cutover from step-by-step (or from crossbar service) to ESS would take many frantic minutes, upwards of an hour, during which time active telephone service would be lost mid-call. With the speedy cutover service - 51 installers simultaneously cutting 927 cables as fast as possible, all on cue - the interrupted service could be brought down to well under a single minute.
The climax here is unquestionably the moment of truth, the cutting of the cables, which is shown in real time. After making sure no emergency calls are underway, and with a shout of "Let's cut it!" the race is on, with three camera set-ups and a disco score capturing and preserving the moment of truth.
Footage Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ

[@kamenneikoo7854]

Any emergency calls at this time? "Yes 5 people are curren.." GOOD ENOUGH

[@bobthebuilder759]

5 people dies

[@FrozenHaxor]

Hahah I thought the same, it wouldn't make any sense for her to say that if there was nobody on the lines.

[@4lecsg]

xD, damn it all the good jokes are taken

[@photon2724]

bad time to have a serial killer in the house huh.

[@woolfy02]

@@bobthebuilder759 RIP in Peace

[@DJ_Megahertz]

I remember the day my CO (Greenacres, FL) cut from a CB to 1A ESS. I hosted a “cutover party” at my house where I had a speaker phone pumping audio into my stereo sound system connected to a termination quiet line waiting for the cut to occur. And when it happened you could hear the cut! Along with loss of DC, then about 10 seconds later my new dial tone! That’s how we partied back in the day. I think I was about 23 years old.

[@caterinafalcone1]

What year was this? I lived in Greenacres in the 80's....Chalet IV between 6th & Lake Worth Rd. Lived in Florida Gardens in the early / mid 70's.

[@jankyj2269]

cool.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Wow, I wish I had a video of that! How did you know when it was gonna happen?

[@TechHowden]

@@HelloKittyFanMan. because the telephone company told people exactly when they were going to do that so that people wouldn’t be making important calls that would get cut off

[@jgrysiak6566]

I remember the cut in my town from step to 2BESS, U got the old dial tone & the new dial town mixing together @ the same time. It went on for about an hour!

[@crow9149]

3:53 Gotta love how fast everyone was trying to be quick, and this guy takes his sweet time to flip the switch.

[@lancelotkillz]

What a Dick

[@CsharpPreza]

Actually, I fully understand him. The difference is that he was the only person doing something at that time. That is a bit of pressure.

[@RangieNZ]

Most likely needed confirmation that all the old circuits were cut, before powering up the new unit. There's always the risk the new unit won't function/ short-out/ whatever and mentally, you just don't want to press the switch.

[@joebloggs5886]

Also tbf they stopped their timer when the cutters were done, not when he flipped the switch and also I must say that 47 seconds is damn impressive

[@woolfy02]

Types "I'm a HaCk3r" Then randomly flips a switch he has been eyeing since the first day of work.

[@piked86]

This feels like the plot point to a heist movie.

[@skmetal7]

"Ocean's 50"

[@TheNewton]

Like one guy in the chain needs to fake the cut and delay for 30 seconds then make the actual cut without anyone noticing he did not cut, or cutting it themselves. Part of it would be a smaller heist at night moving the cut-designation labels around.

[@pey-yote]

Or a spy movie where one of the guys is a kgb agent installing a special bug on a particular line

[@jonathandufault2099]

I would love for the next oceans whatever movie to have a scene where it is literally just the first 19 seconds of this video unedited.

[@jonathandufault2099]

Nothing qualifying the abrupt change in town. Almost like one of those old VHS tapes that was re-recorded over for a few seconds until they realize that the VHS already had that stuff on it.

[@MrJoerT]

I'm definitely taking all my cutover business to Western Electric. Their speed is incredible!

[@tradtke101]

Reminds me of when I lived near the Pentagon. There would be ads for warships and fighter jets on the subway. As though some General didn't do his homework and sees an ad for the Northrop Grumman Littoral Combat Ship and says "eh fuck it, it looks spiffy, here's a trillion dollars Northrop".

[@Connection-Lost]

@@tradtke101 The subway is practically littered with military generals in full dress

[@tradtke101]

@@Connection-Lost Really? How times change. Back in 2005 I remember you would hardly see any officer above o3 on the metro. I guess traffic got worse? Or they change at the office now?

[@infl]

@@tradtke101 Anything’s better than sitting on the god damn Beltway

[@tradtke101]

@@infl do people still go in to work at like 4am to avoid traffic? I remember that being an option at some agencies because normal start times would mean 3 hours in traffic each way or whatever insanity

[@spookypen]

In 2020 they'd probably have one intern do this over a week while having 10 "administrators" managing the cutting and delivering "daily cut progress" reports.

[@stacklysm]

Thats "Agile" for you

[@TheRocketSmith]

@@stacklysm Half way through the process they switch cutting tools on you, add 3 1 hour long meetings, and one week before it's finished cancel the project.

[@lultopkek]

*tilted crying whilst laughing emoji*

[@stacklysm]

@@TheRocketSmith I miss the Waterfall days

[@KeenLaF]

I've never related to a comment so much on youtube before. I feel sick.

[@NikHYTWP]

"Have you got any emergency calls going on at this time?" " *Good enough* , all clear Don!"

[@ateazy7801]

Somewhere that night someone died from choking on pretzel. Guaranteed

[@Mosfet510]

@@ateazy7801 lmao

[@Mosfet510]

The person on the other end probably said "yes, but only a few."

[@erikkovacs3097]

The operator said "Yeah, just 70 but their all out of south central so it's a slow day."

[@DJSubAir]

LMAOOOOOOOOOO

[@Yahriel]

The greatest mystery is, what did that woman hear on the phone when asking if there were any 911 calls in progress that was "good enough"?

[@linagee]

"No emergency calls, but we're right in the middle of ordering pizza."

[@benargee]

Probably just a domestic violence 911 call

[@Mrcaffinebean]

SkyWolfAlpha right!?! “Eh we got a few calls on the line but they are all pretty pointless.”

[@Altoclarinets]

Busy signal

[@malloott]

Considering the age, probably something racist...

[@ImGumbyDangit]

I did not realize that "cut over" was literal. That's impressive.

[@AntonioCostaRealEstate]

Cutover time is also used when provisioning services that required getting a dedicated circuit. Such as a T1 trunk, or anything bigger. DS-3 , fiber, it anything that needed a dedicated port .

[@joeporter4920]

a computer bug was a moth

[@tradtke101]

@@joeporter4920 Someone watched Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

[@joeporter4920]

@@tradtke101 read a book on ENIAC yeas ago

[@TesserId]

I worked long distance for a decade and did many cut-overs by way of patch cable. And, it's really making me chuckle--after all this time--that the term actually has it's roots in literally cutting the lines/cables.

[@billmoran3812]

That procedure only worked where there was space available in the central office to install the ESS. Many older central office buildings leaked space to install the new switch until the old one was removed. In that case a "hot slide" was done. The new switch was installed in a temporary building with cables long enough to connect to the Main Distributing Frame. Once the new ESS switch was operating, the old SXS switch was removed, and the ESS switch was slid into its permanent home while operating. The temporary building was then removed, and the cables "half-tapped" or spliced to remove the excess length. All of this was done with no interruption of service.

[@gpwgpw555]

"leaked space" the strangest thing I ever saw was in Dallas TX in 1974. The SXS building lacked any space for a new switch. An addition was made to the building enlarging the second floor switch room. on the old side of the room all of the SXS switch spaces were crammed full of test equipment. on the new side there was not even a pin on the floor. I asked why and was tolled as long as they did not use the new floor space, they would not have to pay property tax on the new part.

[@NortelGeek]

@@gpwgpw555 Where was that located? I've only heard of the co in Farmers Branch/Carrollton, which I think is also a billing facility. Not sure though.

[@gpwgpw555]

I do not know. I was only in Dallas for a school on Touch Tone registers used in a SXS office. I ws from Oklahoma City at the time and did not know Dallas.

[@tarikwasthere]

Awesome follow up on this vid!

[@AliasUndercover]

Around here they built new buildings for the electronics and just redid the wires. They still use the old buildings as storage.

[@Tom_Losh]

I worked in the 30,000 line #1 SXS machine in Tacoma, WA (MArket, BRoadway, FUlton) for 8 1/2 years before it was cut over to #1 ESS in November of 1979. Since the ESS was in a newer building across the street from the SXS, the cutover was done at the old and new mainframes. All the "heat coils" were pulled in the stepper, and all the protectors were plugged in at the ESS. It was sad to watch that hard working 1931 vintage SXS die after so many years of faithful service. We put one whole lot of blood, sweat, and tears into keeping that beautiful old machine running like a fine clock.

[@lohphat]

Have you been to the local Telecom museum? It has SXS, panel, #1XB and #5XB equipment running.

[@Tom_Losh]

@@lohphat, yup! Been there. 😁

[@Connection-Lost]

RIP Tom

[@mattalbrecht7471]

Do you need some time to yourself?😂😂😂

[@jgrysiak6566]

Why did they keep Step by step running so long? I heard they were expensive to maintain!

[@scotthammond3273]

I like how the cutters are overworking themselves to go as fast as possible. The guy on the keyboard slowly reaches over to flip the switch down.

[@WyattBest]

The switch guy worked for Pacific, not Western Electric?

[@mstrickk1]

He was giving it a few seconds for an emergency stop to be called. If he flipped that switch with any lines not fully cut, that 45 second switch over could turn into days or weeks.

[@dstrome]

@@mstrickk1 Can you explain why? Would there be an electrical short? After the lines are cut, what's done to bring the other system online? Thanks!

[@x_x_w_]

​@@dstrome older digital circuits do not do well when you send voltage the wrong way.

[@drink15]

No one searched for this video, but here we are watching it.

[@yamspaine]

at&t wireless is so crappy, they are probably promoting this to get their name out of the gutter.

[@010111010110]

That is the wonder of KZbin you can also browse videos and not just search them. Are you 8 or just met with KZbin? Your comment is pointless.

[@drink15]

@@010111010110 nope, but it’s obvious you missed the subcontext of my comment. Do you always take everything literally or is this your first time?

[@aviationist]

Lol

[@TechHowden]

But I did search for this video

[@jncojoke]

I've watched this at least once a year for the last 3-4 years because it pops up in my feed, it's still fun to watch.

[@addanametocontinue]

"Hey Bob, you wanna get paid for a few hours of overtime this Saturday? You just need to use garden shears to cut 20 cables and that's it!"

[@riphihe]

well actually you only get 47 seconds of overtime.

[@TonyRueb]

@@riphihe Training, and waiting for the all clear

[@andrewsmith9174]

As a cable splicer, I find branch loppers are excellent for most cables.

[@bobroberts2371]

2:00 And the guy at the left of the screen gets something special to smoke.

[@iamdave84]

@@andrewsmith9174 I'll have to give that a try!

[@MobCat_]

KZbin recommendations may be drunk af but i'm digging this music so im ok with it.

[@phil2of3]

I'm happy I'm not the only one

[@TheRedRaven_]

I hate the music in these old videos like it's the plague, almost makes me uncomfortable.

[@ovalwingnut]

WOW. Sharpened in such a way to cut cleanly and without shorts? Do say... please share this alien technology with the rest of us 😉

[@fanplant]

As an electrician I was like wtf but I forgot about the aliens.

[@fredrikjohansson6515]

I see sparks flying at 3:40, so something was shortened anyway. 🙂

[@fanplant]

@@fredrikjohansson6515 there's a scream around that time but I didn't see a flash??

[@fredrikjohansson6515]

Look again. He cuts 4 more cables after the sparks.

[@fanplant]

@@fredrikjohansson6515 I watched it again at .25 slow motion. There definitely is something. Thanks!

[@terryjones9784]

>Multiple training and briefing meetings >Special tools and sharpening services >50 employees working at once " " E C O N O M I C A L " " Ahh, the 80s

[@davidca96]

I miss them

[@a1919akelbo]

I mean It's cheaper to shut it all off for a second and replace it than it is to spend months or years researching and developing a system that can seamlessly transition between technology levels. If all those people were paid 20$ an hour they would've only had to spend a couple grand in wages on their employees. And the cost of the special super sharp cutting tools.

[@1943vermork]

No fatties

[@viktorreznov4718]

@@1943vermork Other than your mother, of course.

[@zipherdias420]

@@viktorreznov4718 Damn...

[@nickrytlewski]

"Ok all the cables have been cut in 47 seconds!" That's great, and the new cables are all hooked up and ready to go then right? "Uhh, let me get back to you on that..."

[@sunperp]

Jeez, now I am going to have this zippy 80's music stuck in my head all day.

[@kakurerud7516]

that was70's music encroaching into the 80's

[@jkanclark]

Yeah totally 70s youngster

[@brianrivera]

Found it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/larMk3puqNOJg8U

[@adambrown3918]

@@brianrivera Thank you, Mr. Rivera!! You are awesome!

[@TheFragDawg]

@@brianrivera any idea on the genre tho? sorry for this sudden pop-up in your inbox m8 hahaha

[@dw7444]

This is the sort of stuff my grandfather used to do, I remember him talking about this stuff when I was a kid but never imagined I'd get to see anything like it... very cool.

[@kcook8119]

I was part of cutting over the last 1A2 cross bar switch to the 5ESS at Southwestern Bell Ft. Worth in 1997. Took eight 18 wheeler trucks to haul it to the scrap yard. Gained about 20,000 sq ft of building space.

[@CODMarioWarfare]

"Are there any emergency calls in progress?" ... "Good enough." What does that mean? Only one emergency call in progress, and they were already dead anyway? Lol.

[@gpwgpw555]

I had the job of calling the 911 PSAP like the woman at 02:51. After the cut I made test calls to 911 to be sure the calls would go thru.

[@dalezapple2493]

I worked on 5ess in Naperville Illinois for a number of years. Did a bunch of testing and support roles. 911 calls were treated very seriously. There were times in the field where switches would be dropping 40 percent of the calls and there were screaming matches on conference calls trying to decide to boot the switch

[@macestillmace2514]

"yeah but they're already gunna die so"

[@tonyc.4392]

"Hey, Mary Ellen, yah we've got a few on the line but they're all poor, so you should be fine to proceed."

[@danielrose1392]

I guess the response was something like "Calls in progress, but no emergency". There are always some calls like car accidents without injuries, you can absolutely interrupt in such a situation.

[@someonedifferent6374]

AT&T Service in a nutshell: "GoOd EnOuGh"

[@ruslannabioullin3664]

It was actually of quite-high quality...

[@kevingray8616]

I work in IT. They don’t want it good. They want it good enough.

[@onradioactivewaves]

Not to be confused with John B. Goodenough...

[@TesserId]

Having worked on making lines clear and clean, I can say that phone service quality was at it's peak in the 80's and 90's. And, then peoples' expectations lowered when they got cell phones. Now it's all about whether your phone is getting a strong, uninterrupted signal or not.

[@kevingray8616]

@@TesserId I remember busting out laughing in the 2000’s when my land line call messed up and I got some automated notification. That NEVER happened before.

[@ryansims105]

Love the little post-it near the switches saying "DON'T TOUCH THIS OFFICE IS IN PRECUT! PER GARY CARTER"

[@Two99Point80]

Former SXS traffic engineer at Southern New England Telephone here. I still remember the advice I was given: "Group them out high, then cut them back." Now if only I could remember what that actually meant...

[@Questchaun]

I can't believe my grandfather Rick is in this. How awesome can't wait to show him!!

[@jasoneverett]

How did he react?

[@hansoak3664]

Let us know his reaction, please. :)

[@CaptDicker]

Your Grandfather is a badass, tell him thank you for his hard work!

[@BlaDeKke]

Can someone like my comment when he reacted, as a reminder, thanks in advance. Edit: How I didn't see this one failing is beyond me.

[@lolbots]

ask him why that punk was hollerin like someone cut off his little toe

[@gpwgpw555]

At 03:58 look at the note under the cut switches. " DONT TOUCH THIS, OFFICE IS IN PRECUT PER GARY CARTER." This film does not tell you what happens after the Tech typed in the cut message and operated the cutover switch. the CC started sending commands to all the Line Switch Frames (LSF) to close the cutoff remreed switches. This took one to two minuets and sounded like raw rice being thrown on a plastic plate.

[@macestillmace2514]

I saw that too and immediately laughed! No protection from accidental switching. Also I would have loved to hear what that sounded like in person! As well as what a datacenter's modem room sounded like, but maybe only for a few moments.

[@jfbeam]

@@macestillmace2514 Racked modems had no speakers, so they were dead silent. (other than the roar of a room full of fans.) If they were very old analog systems -- POTS fed, they'd have a relay to go on/off hook, but you'd never hear it over the fans. I've spent many hours sitting next to a 5ESS (and DMS100); I don't recall ever hearing the click of relays. (reed relays are really quiet)

[@Hyperlooper]

Why did the old cables require physical cuts in order to initiate the cut to the new system?

[@jfbeam]

To minimize downtime (an entire CO being OOS for more than a few seconds can rack up some serious fines) the new switch is connected in parallel with the old gear. When it's time to switch over, the old gear is physically cut away from the lines and the new switch starts handing the lines. As you can imagine, physically rewiring thousands of pairs would take days.

[@Hyperlooper]

@@jfbeam thanks for the reply. I guess I'm just confused why the old line needs cut before the new system is able to take over?

[@jplaw2508]

I was involved with one back in the day where a four floor building of crossbar equipment was replaced by an ESS that only took one quarter of one floor. Got a set of 6 monster 2.2v cells out of the deal, 13.2v for the test bench in my shop. :)

[@Tinkercatnh]

I had the sad privilege of writing the cutover/off program and turning off my beloved Academy 2 office in the early 90's. Went from a 1A ESS to a 5E. I will always miss working there.

[@MrShadowpanther3]

My dad worked for Bell in Pittsburgh for 41 years. As a kid, he took me down there early one morning when they did the ESS cutover. He showed me a little of the behind the scenes then we sat in the cafeteria for a few hours. He looked at his watch and went "Well, that's it, lets go." He saw my look and said, if anything had gone wrong, you would have seen some controlled chaos erupt, but some operator somewhere typed "ESS CUT" on a screen and ... it all worked. I always figured it was simply a switch to route all calls through the new digital switchgear. Possibly all that "cut" part represented was the symbolic "cutting of the wire" and was not really NECESSARY to the new system functioning.

[@TesserId]

ESS switches have just enough computing power to do a kind of virtual cut. The real work would have been wiring up the new switch in preparation for that moment.

[@MartinoProd]

This was soooo much more entertaining than I thought it would be

[@diegoochoa572]

when youre on the verge of death but she hits you with that *G O O D E N O U G H*

[@peehandshihtzu]

That's when you say back to her, "that'll do pig, that'll do". :)

[@JDtheEE]

"Do we have any emergency calls at this time? Good enough" ..."CUT!"

[@aaronj08ar]

I feel like this should have been a scene in one of the earlier "Die Hard" movies.

[@mikecamz]

One night my wife & I went out. When we came back from dinner, we had been cut from Crossbar to 5ESS. You could tell by the dial tone in those days. Crossbars were legendary! LOUD & meant BUSINESS!

[@common_c3nts]

That is what happens when you leave the house.

[@haweater1555]

Next job for the technicians: Remove hundreds of tons of switching equipment to the scrapyard.

[@Dawgator]

Psyche! “Abandon in place”

[@haweater1555]

A lot of copper to recover. Need to make room for thenext generation of switch in the future. Even if it takes up 3% of the room of the old.

[@michaelzindel2382]

@@haweater1555 It's crazy going into old colos and seeing tons of empty space that was clearly once occupied. Technology is nuts.

[@mel816]

@@michaelzindel2382 all that empty space would be perfect for data centers/server farms.

[@CondoreComputing]

I have about 3 tons of this equipment to salvage parts from / recycle. A good family friend that worked for Pacific northwest bell saved loads of this stuff, the stuff he built with it is really cool, but there really isn't any use for it now unfortunately. Lots of spares still brand new sealed in the antistatic envelopes too. Kinda sad to throw away so much brand new stuff.

[@ernestgary6812]

OMG, the comments on these old videos like this are priceless

[@Engineer9736]

They annoy me. It’s quite hard to find an intelligent comment with some interesting information.

[@jw33]

I worked with this German guy in California named Karl who did a cutover during the Christmas holidays with a chainsaw. It took him about 10 seconds. Karl was later shot and killed on that same night by LAPD for reasons unknown.

[@DennisMartinezCalifornia]

Fucking cops 😢

[@MrWhateva10]

LOL, missed the joke fellas. Die Hard... kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6mvcp6Xl76KaZY

[@hansoak3664]

Nein! Nein!

[@nasonguy]

I heard it was a really trick pneumatically powered chainsaw.

[@clearsmashdrop5829]

Ho! Ho! Ho!

[@TheMelbournelad]

I did a stint as a line tech apprentice for Telstra in the early 2000s not long after name change and public float. Was hanging out in the Dandenong telephone exchange and had two floor I could access of the old step system shown here. I think there was 4 floors in total. Anyways the system that came after the ESS shown here(can’t remember its name) for in the corner of the bottom floor lol. Was amazing to see. Then the rest of the area was split up to house all the new ADSL equipment being rolled out at the time. Was odd seeing all this 1940s and 50s stuff next to new tech at the time. Also the Panasonic tough books have barely changed on outside in 15 years lol

[@sqwooker7535]

KZbin: Well this is from 1984, that relevant right, let’s recommend it.

[@solath]

Apparently they have slipped from 1984. I've had a high-availability ATT MPLS down for days now.

[@efini_fc4276]

Do you know how you would've found it otherwise?

[@DJSubAir]

Oh yes just useful

[@RealWorldPolice]

KZbin doesn’t care about relevance. They care about recommending videos that will keep you watching KZbin (aka content you will click through to and enjoy). All the talk about “the algorithm” is a distraction from what really matters: high-quality compelling content. You can’t trick people into enjoying something. (Also, this was a great video.)

[@efini_fc4276]

@@RealWorldPolice yes!

[@jasonluong3862]

When they say if I don’t pay, they will cut off my service, I thought it was a metaphor.

[@w.w.2restorations.vehicles698]

I was 19 and a resident of Glendale. Everyone in town knew this was going to happen and it was the talk of the town for about 3 days. Then time moved forward and it was old news really fast...

[@olo-burrows]

I was present at the cutover of the Bradley c.o. in Bethesda, Maryland in the late 1980s or so. There the cutover team had what looked like power drills, but where the chuck would normally be the drill was fitted with cutter blades similar to those seen in this video. So one guy could go down the entire frame slicing through cables at breakneck speed without all that arm action. It was over before I knew it while the old #5XBar chimed for attention.

[@lolbots]

nice hashtag game, grampa

[@TesserId]

First C.O. I'd seen was on Wisconsin in Bethesda. It was a step-by-step.

[@jgrysiak6566]

My aunt lived in Bethesda! She sold her house in the 2000's for almost a million dollars. She always had a pushbutton phone during the crossbar days! I always thought it was so neat!

[@x_x_w_]

​@@lolbots Number 5 cross bar you idiot.

[@sickphukka384]

The guy and the end: alright all i need to do is flick this switch, dont mess this up. Sweating

[@kevingray8616]

I’ve been in IT for 20 years. A lot of it was networking. Even for an office building there is a fair amount of “pucker factor” when making network changes. For massive changes like this, there should be an assload of preparation because there is no way to back out a change like this.

[@nlo114]

Slightly different in UK. I did a few Strowger, X-bar, TXE 2 & 4 to system X and system Y in the 80's&90's. Rather than cut cables, every circuit in the old MDF blocks was fitted with dis-wedges, the same with the new blocks. The wedges were strung together in verts. "Everybody ready?" - "Out with the old". "All out?" - "In with the new". dozens of workers steadily pulled the strings to remove the wedges. The old mechanical equipment fell silent. The new then sat there quietly doing it's job. In the old there was sometimes a lone relay magnet forlornly clicking away, waiting for investigation and final disconnection. Then there were the faults. Defective wedges that failed to disconnect meant having to spend a frantic hour at the grading-banks wrapping all the P-wires to ground, and missing the transfer breakfast. Happy days, It bought me food and drink and paid my mortgage off. Sometimes I visit museums, and the smell of the varnish takes me back to those days.

[@KarlHamilton]

Would love to hear a room full of Strowger switches going full pelt. By all accounts it was quite impressive! Isn't there still some System X live?

[@grabasandwich]

@@KarlHamilton here's a neat one with some insane noise! kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZy7q5-giJxnhNk

[@nlo114]

@@KarlHamilton In some of the trunk exchanges (offices) ear defenders were mandatory. In the repeater stations you just didn't enter the room at peak traffic! Small village exchanges were pleasant, warm, comforting places, with the exchange clock's regular 'clicks' every few seconds. Warm lacquer on the relay magnets smelled homely; summer lunchtime BBQ's in the exchange garden made it all a pleasure getting paid!

[@KarlHamilton]

@@nlo114 Haha! That sounds incredible. My time with BT was far less romantic. Still love it though.

[@CaptApple]

As late as ten years ago there was STILL an SXS switching system working in the ATT building in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego. Haven't been back there since so for all I know it's still there working.

[@phatman808]

Came for the cutting, stayed for the sweetass music!

[@carlwitt3934]

What a time to be alive.

[@morebaileyskim]

I spent many years in software implementations doing “cutovers” never once imagining it used to actually involve physical cutting!!

[@kctyphoon]

What most people dont realize, is that in 2021 - your standard copper line telephone service is probably still using the same things.. central office basements filled with giant batteries to keep lines working even if the power went out.. today if you have a fiber optic service to your home - you get a small battery in your house that will last a few hours if your lucky. All the old stuff in Central Offices meticulously ran and organized. Its amazing to see in person. The amount of time and effort (and space) that went into it all is mind blowing, and today one single fiber optic line can service an entire office building.

[@bsadewitz]

There is no copper phone service anymore. It's done.

[@bsadewitz]

If people order phone service, it is delivered either by cable or DSL.

[@bsadewitz]

I know it's difficult to believe, but it really happened.

[@kctyphoon]

@@bsadewitz there is, depending on areas. But it's being phased out where it can be.

[@bsadewitz]

@@kctyphoon Is it still? I have been unable to find a firm answer on this online.

[@calbob750]

Let’s have a shout out for the other 1920s technology serving Big Cities...Panel. Cleveland Main and some suburban offices didn’t cutover until 1974. The Cleveland45 office had 45 central office technicians and apparatus techs for 24 hour coverage. This went down to five after all switches were cutover.

[@rbspider]

I worked at NE T&T on ESS #1 back in the 70's It was a nice job . There was two machines 3rd and 7th floor . We also had Panel and I believe #5 crossbar.

[@ChannelOne-1]

Impressive! Now we know where the term "cutover" comes from!

[@smcic]

Is this true? I use the term “cutover” in my job when we cut over networks to new wan circuits. I guess it had to come from somewhere!

[@grabasandwich]

And I believe "rats nest" also stemmed from telephony. There are old enclosures that old school techs call Ready Access Terminals (RAT) and the hundreds or even thousands of wires inside are often just a huge mess. The industry is responsible for most modern inventions, since giant companies like Bell Labs spent so much time and money developing technologies.

[@og_tokyo]

old telecom switching was so fascinating. I've been lucky enough to have been told some amazing old school MCI stories by some old telecom OG.

[@stevenbennett3805]

Trunk lines and carbon blocks and tooth picks for tracing. Interrupters with dial tone and busy signal pacing. ATB tone for letting you know these are a few of my favorite things.

[@timothykearns2232]

Steven Bennett, remember "60-IPM" and "120-IPM"? 120 was really, really busy, and 60 was busy, but you got closer that time. LOL

[@stevenbennett3805]

@@timothykearns2232 I don't miss wearing the big flight line / shooting range ear protectors to muffle the constant klakety klak of the linefinders. Made my ears sweat like a whore in church.

[@wizardoffrobozz]

I was there for that cutover.

[@edmondsjc]

The next time I do a cutover from SXS to ESS, I know what music I'll play. Thanks!

[@velox__]

look at those fellas cutting cables like it aint no thang

[@jblyon2]

My Aunt was present for one of these cutovers and said that the noise difference was incredible when the SXS system was shut down.

[@stereodreamer23]

My dad was an Central Office manager for Bell Atlantic for 30 years and they cut over to ESS sometime near the end of his career. The constant sound of the old switches has pretty much ruined his hearing. Now that he's in his late 70s and retired, he has lost pretty much all his high-frequency hearing--he can barely hear female or child voices at all, and can't hear any sort of high frequency sounds.

[@jblyon2]

@@stereodreamer23 I believe it. I've been told that many that spent extensive time with that equipment had significant hearing loss. I remember going into the building with my Mom once (whole side of the family worked there) to get to some office she needed to go to and passing by the door to the massive room with the ESS equipment. Even that seemed loud. I can't imagine what it was like full of mechanical stepping switches. Single door off a common stairwell with a combination lock and a huge window. I can't imagine it still being that accessible now.

[@1928zxcv]

3:22 guy showed up in his best disco boots for the cut 🕺🏻

[@obviouslytwo4u]

I can't imagine the briefing being too long, until the health and safety man walked in

[@ArcolaBridge]

Utility locating you see some cables still in use from 1920s. Crazy old stuff here and there.

[@momusnick]

How the he'll did l get here....lol

[@whyomgwhywtf]

A literal cutover. Also I do not miss working on telephone punch blocks or the DMS100.

[@Kylefassbinderful]

I wish I was born 30 years earlier and I could've been on that team of technicians.

[@whickervision742]

For like $5 and a powder blue tshirt? They probably grabbed them from a local college for a day.

[@thomasbonse]

​@@whickervision742 They would've just borrowed engineers from other nearby Central Offices for the night of the hot-cut. One night of shift-diff and/or OT, or just comp time... problem solved.

[@fueymanchoo1291]

Speedy Cutover Service. Now that's a company you can get behind!

[@twotone3070]

In the UK every line was jumpered in parallel on the MDF with dis wedges in one half and make wedges in the other, then on c/o all of the wedges, which were connected by cord were pulled out together by multiple techs, changing over in 2 or 3 seconds. There were weeks of setup time jumpering and the old parallel jumper had to be pulled out after the event. Very quick c/o, no chance of any shorts, but a lot of prep and clean up time.

[@windowsxseven]

internet companies when they see your search history 3:03

[@allantinker6838]

Lol nah, I just null route or MAC lock your modem. The newest Gpons we have even have a "disable" button for each ONU, and API access. So with about 10 lines of code, the system does it when someone is past 90 days. It would be fun to physically cut something though. But fixing it would be a pain in the arse.

[@Norweeg]

Allan Tinker You must be fun at parties. 🙄

[@ForeverMan]

@@allantinker6838 I like that you actually took the time to reply that, noice

[@michael-gary-scott]

Can I be in the reddit screenshot

[@DJSubAir]

@@allantinker6838 thank you for the insight :)

[@NewAgeServerAlarm]

Zoidberg would love this. lol.

[@CODMarioWarfare]

Wasn't expecting to see you here... How about an alertek SxS PBX? Lol

[@NewAgeServerAlarm]

+CODMarioWarfare I was thinking more like 5XB. I've seen both 5XB and SxS in person and working before, btw

[@CODMarioWarfare]

+NewAgeServerAlarm That's awesome. Was it the New Hampshire museum or something?

[@NewAgeServerAlarm]

+CODMarioWarfare Nope, Ellsworth, ME

[@CODMarioWarfare]

+NewAgeServerAlarm I will have to visit that museum next time I head North. Surprised there's nothing down here near New Haven, what with the whole "first switchboard" thing and SNET being rather unique in the Bell System.

[@spikester]

Its like time traveling back into my childhood, love it.

[@Evolutional]

You didn't even have to show me a date for me to know this was the 80's, what a vibe lmao

[@LS1Cobra]

This brings back memories. I worked on exchange cutovers for Telecom New Zealand back in the 1980's. Cutting over old step by step and cross bar exchanges to new NEC NEAX61 SPC exchanges.

[@kcook8119]

Man even the NEAX brings back memories for me. I only remember two offices in the States that installed them and I was on one turning it up.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

Last electromechanical Exchange in NZ was in 2003 I think! Don't know whether it was sxs or crossbar

[@paxwo13]

Those cable cutters have the Jordache look

[@mememaster147]

Thy guy with the radio shouting "Cut the cables!" looks like he's out of Scanners.

[@dreinidaho]

This is my type of cutover. I love it!

[@TesserId]

Were you rooting for them to mess up? 😉

[@sheldonb2022]

man that seams fun! cutting all 20 wires in 47 sec not bad!

[@mp5cartman]

For some reason I now have a mustache after this video.

[@hornet6969]

Ha ha, prior to watching this film, thought "cutover" was a generic term used throughout telecomm industry. But, this is a literal "cut-over" ! 🤣🤣🤣

[@wizardoffrobozz]

We eliminated the El Segundo office completely ran cables to the new C.O. a-cut the entire city to new cable with banks of transfer switches in several manholes. at midnight the cut went perfectly and thousands of customers were cut to the new equipment in about 4 seconds.

[@jimbo9305]

I'm going to remember this the next time I have a network cutover.

[@MrQuijibo]

Ah the good old days when internet was mined with nothing more than an old shovel, a mustache and can do attitude.

[@almilhouse9059]

Hello...... Is there anybody out there..... It's 2019 and I'm still stuck in the cutting video....

[@georgegriffin6114]

Wait till you get too 2020, whooo boy...

[@scucci]

Seems like these days AT&T would use 3 people, give them nail clippers, and just have them work at their own pace. That seems to be their schedule for putting in fiber in non-rich neighborhoods and when it comes to fixing an outage, even more so. :) Still a neat video. My dad used to work as SBS in the 80's and he took me in to work with him a couple of times; once when they were installing a satellite receiver on to roof of a building in Atlanta, and again for... I think it was New Years... ... ANYWHO, got to see one of the switching centers. Was neat... at little more advanced that what's in this video, but still very neat.

[@llVIU]

wow, a video for such an insanely obscure and rare thing that people would need

[@frankthespank]

God I miss the 80’s!!!! I WANNA GO BACK, I HATE IT HERE!!!

[@matyev-hcuabg]

You don't miss 80s if you live in Soviet Russia.

[@frankthespank]

@@matyev-hcuabg eh... yeah I bet. Sorry you had a rough 80’s, hope you’re having a good 20’s friend! 😎

[@skeets6060]

I worked for Western and we installed the first ESS system in Pittsburgh in 1971 was pretty neat, now this is all stone age stuff

[@futureshock7425]

Can you explain the reasoning behind this video? What are they switching?

[@RarestAce]

@@futureshock7425 they are going from an analog step by step mechanical phone switch to a all Digital ESS computer controlled phone switch.

[@boboften9952]

I used to watch data board hot swaps . Live at point . Nothing was turned off . As the unit was pushed inwards it powered off , removed , and the updated unit installed ( slotted in ) it powered up on push in , cycled through start up 2 to 3 seconds and away it went . Hot shoe connections .

[@iwantmyvanback]

The shot of the cat from inside the chicken sandwich is absolutely fantastic. I didn't know I needed that in my life

[@nicodemus369]

The foreman with the glasses and radio looked sooooo-stressed! Now I’m wondering what the protocol would have been if something went wrong!🥴👍

[@jimbo9305]

"Glendale 911, what is your emergency?" "Any emergency calls?" "This is a 911 line. What is your emergency?" "Good enough." *dead air*

[@Rmby2]

Here in Brazil, my father also worked for TELESP in the Telebras system and when it was sold in 1998 to Telefonica VIVO, the same thing happened. I have been in this telecom field for the last 20 years and have done a lot of equipment decommissioning in the last 10 years.

[@RyanLynch1]

why did they need to physically cut the wires before switching over? I must not understand

[@cashe18]

I LOVE these Videos!! I would not doubt this was done like around 3 or 4 am. Plan well executed!

[@thebigmacd]

They said "11 o'clock" in the video.

[@gpwgpw555]

Making the cut early in the night gave time to fix things that might go wrong before morning.

[@dalezapple2493]

Always did stuff during low traffic periods

[@linagee]

What you didn't see was the industrial sized coffee maker used to keep everyone awake. In fact, in a situation this critical, better have two coffee makers, just in case!

[@em0_tion]

Gotta love progress. 🍻

[@TheRussellStover]

That is some HOT music. I think I saw it on an adult channel somewhere... in a vintage video.

[@brianrivera]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/larMk3puqNOJg8U

[@jamesdavis5096]

It's strange that KZbin knows but I think that is interesting

[@frac]

Next up - "The Life of a Telephone Operator in 1969".

[@uropig]

Does anyone know what the background music is called? It's jammin'!

[@djscrizzle]

Name-dropper by Network Music Ensemble.

[@westwasbest]

Simply amazing

[@sirdeakia]

You gotta love the energy from the 70's 80's

[@alanrogs3990]

cocaine

[@Janotes]

Unlike today's zombies.

[@jonnda]

“...And not cause any shorts.” Following a short rehearsal... LOL, English is funny.