Dial Tone Days

As a kid, the sound of a dial tone was a staple of modern life.

Invented in 1908 by a German engineer - August Kruckow - the dial tone came of age in the late 1910s, when the Bell System in the United States was automated, replacing switchboards operators with a mechanically-generated tone that advised the caller that the system was ready to accept dialing.

In the tech of the time, this automation allowed for greatly increased capacity and reliability.  It also eliminated to concern that switchboard operators were eaves-dropping on people’s calls.

The product life-cycle of the dial tone has incredibly lasted for over a century.  Now, in its waning days, I thought I would share three stories that speak to this life-cycle.

AT&T Future Leaders Program

In the mid-1990s, I joined AT&T and was selected to be a part of their Future Leaders Program.

On the first day of class, our instructor opened the program by putting up an image of a telephone. “ At AT&T, our customer is anyone who can hear a dial tone and use a telephone.  It does not matter what race, religion, or beliefs they hold.  If they can use a telephone, they are our customer and they deserve our respect.  If you have an issue with this, you are working for the wrong company and should leave this program.”

This lesson has stayed with me for a lifetime.  It was my first introduction to the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  It was also a reminder of how ubiquitous dial tone is.  It did not matter if you were a King or a servant, when you picked up a receiver, you heard the same tone.

First Contact Technologies

In 2000, I was working for a consulting firm that signed a new client, First Contact Technologies.

First Contact had a fascinating business model.  They would go into lesser-developed global locations and install cell phone services that were backhauled over satellite.  Over time, they would achieve a critical mass of customers in that region and “sell” those customers to a major carrier who would usually replace the satellite with fiber.

Their corporate presentation began with a slide that showed the silhouette of a cell tower and a satellite antenna in a desolate landscape at dusk.  Text then appeared on the slide, proclaiming “60% of humans have never heard a dial tone.”

This statistic blew my mind.  To me, everyone had heard a dial tone; yet, there are billions of people in the undeveloped worked who had never used a telephone.  I would soon learn that, even in the United States, there are people on Indian Reservations who have never heard dial tone.

This changed my world view for the better.

Coffee With Colleagues

Fast-forward twenty years and I am out for coffee with some recent college graduates I was mentoring.

Over the course of our conversation, dial tone was mentioned.  

“The only time I’ve ever heard a dial tone is in the movies or on television,” an early twenty-something announced.  

“I’ve heard a dial tone, but not since I was a kid,” another chimed in.

This was when the realization struck me that dial tone’s days are drawing to a close.  It made me a little sad.

I expect my mentees will feel the same, some day, when they hear their mother’s vintage ring tone in a movie.