Ticketed Calls

Ticketed calls were the means of bringing calls made (via the operator) to account. The resulting tickets followed a development path as improvements in ticket processing machines evolved through the years...

Scan of a 'Learner's Ticket L.T. Ex 131 from Barbara Ball © LSA 2011

MATS - Mechanical Accounting for Telephone Service

For (nearly) all effective operator connected calls, a ticket was prepared so that the charge could later be billed to the subscriber. During the Sixties, Telephone Tickets No 223 (TT223) were used to record the details. Several variations were produced over the years; TT251 being the post-decimal version and TT253 an amendment ticket used in the GMOs (General Managers' Offices). A revised layout of the 'TO' field was found on ticket TT255.

The following notice is reproduced from the 'Post Office Circulars' (POC 16.2.66)

DF 762 MATS TYPE CARDS (INCLUDING INDEX CARDS)

DF 762 MATS Type Cards TT 231 (Mauve), TT 232 (Brown), PF 200 (Mauve) and PF 200 (Brown) are being replaced by TT 231 (Pink), TT 232 (Buff with deep Brown top edge), PF 200 (Orange) and PF 200 (White). Existing stocks of the old cards should be used up. The necessary amendments to the relative instructions will be made in due course.

ISOCC - Input System for Operator Controlled Calls

In November 1973 a larger Telephone Ticket No 270 (TT270) superseded earlier issues as the new ISOCC 'Input System for Operator Controlled Calls' was introduced. The main change in the ticket was the addition of the calling number field, to allow more extensive machine processing.

The Optician said it was a severe case of ISOCCitis!

ISOCC Tickets

There were 5 versions:- Inland, International, Phonogram, Shore/Ship and TT274 was the new amendment ticket. The early runs of TT270 were marked 30-1322. To reduce eye-strain, the size of the numbers was increased, while the marking fields were unchanged. These later tickets were 30-1392. Trial versions of the ISOCC ticket had red text printed on a pale blue background which was suitable for scanning by the OMR (Optical Mark Reading) and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) machines.

Cartoon by Arthur Wallis (night telst): 'Sore eye-sockets? The Optician said it was a severe case of ISOCCitis!' © LSA

Example Tickets

	A brief look at some example tickets, old and new... Photo: Janice batches ISOCC tickets, in Wren House clerical section, ready for despatch © LSA.

TRC - Ticket Reading Centres

In the 1980s, completed tickets were forwarded in batches to a Ticket Reading Centre in either Bristol or Derby. The details were loaded onto magnetic tape for further despatch and download to a billing centre.

ACRE - Automatic Call Recording Equipment

Automatic Call Recording Equipment was an electronic method of collecting charging details, without the use of tickets, originally developed for use with cordless switchboards, but later adapted for use with sleeve control boards.

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