How can they make this claim?

[Greg G.]

"...our phones will work during a power blackout..." 
http://www.rotarydialphones.com/Black%20500%20New.htm

As I understand the old Bell System, it wasn't the phone, it was because Bell had backup generators to power the phone system in the event of a blackout.  When I had my cable company phone line, it didn't even take a power outage, all it took was for the internet to go down to kill my phone line.  But Ma Bell is dead.  Cable, Voip, MagicJack and the like will NOT power a phone just because it's a vintage one.  Am I wrong on this?

[AE_Collector]

Briny:

They mean the phone itself doesn't need a power adapter to work such as most cordless phones. Many people only have a cordless phone and no matter where it gets its dial tone from, in a power outage it is OOS.

Terry

[HarrySmith]

Correct, as I understand it with POTS the power comes from the Phone co it is usually in a different location than the local power or has thier own generators. During the last hurricane here in South Florida when power was out my 500 was the only working phone in the neighborhood. Even cell service was out as cell towers were damaged.

[Greg G.]

A little bit of both it sounds like.  The claim is addressed to people who never had the Bell System or knew old rotary phones, only the type that needed to be plugged into a power source to function.  OTOH, it's still misleading in that if it's not plugged into a POTS, it doesn't hold true.

[Dan/Panther]

Harry;
You could really cash in on a situation like that.
$5.00 a call to your worried love ones...of course that would be for the first 3 minutes, and long distance charges would apply.
D/P

[Russ Kirk]

A typical Bell System Central Office has a DC power plant that supplies power to the switch network elements and provides dial tone.   

Upon a commercial AC power failure, the DC power plant typically can support normal functions for 4-8 hours before the batteries drain. 

When commercial AC power is interrupted,  the emergency generators kick in to supply AC power for the  DC power plant rectifiers and inverters.   Typically there is enough fuel on site to keep the generators running for 8 hours or more. It is not uncommon to have enough fuel for 24 hours.

There may be contracts in place with fuel suppliers to re-fuel with 4 hours notice.

So,  the CO should last a long time unless it was destroyed or flooded; like what happened in Katrina.

Russ.....

[AE_Collector]

A little bit of both it sounds like.  OTOH, it's still misleading in that if it's not plugged into a POTS, it doesn't hold true.

Yes and No. The phone still functions but the dial tone supply packed up and died in that example. Bottom line is no dial tone but technically the phone is still able to work if connected to a dial tone source. They could put a disclaimer in there but the seller can't contol who or what you use for a dial tone provider.

Terry

[bwanna]

all true, russ. but i do want to explain about pair gain systems. this is analog dial tone that leaves the CO on a fiber to a remote terminal, where the digital signal is converted back to analog to the customer. these remote terminals require commercial power also. in the event of a power outage the telco employees set up generators at these locations. if the outage is widespread, there won't be enough generators to go around. sooo, there are cases when a power outage would cause the loss of POTS.

we just had this situation the last couple days here in SE Mich. my first trouble today was due to the generator at a remote running out of fuel. the whole neighborhood was out of service. Edison service had restored, tho, so we were able to switch back to commercial power.


btw, briny, "ma bell" is not dead, she just goes by a different name...POTS is still readily available. even tho many many folks are opting for the VoIP & cell service, i still make my living servicing those copper pairs.

[rp2813]

Well Donna, I'm not so sure I agree about Ma Bell still being alive and well while going by a lower-case alias.  

AT&T as we knew it before November 2006 (IIRC) is no longer.  It's nothing more than the old Texas-based SBC in Ma Bell drag.  For those who weren't directly impacted, SBC bought AT&T and assumed Ma Bell's identity.  Southwestern Bell was the most lame of all the "Baby Bells" that were formed after the break up of the original Bell System in 1984.  They had a swaggering chairman by the name of Ed Whitacre (he's "fixing" GM now) with a penchant for mergers and acquisitions, and proceeded to swallow up most of the Baby Bell telcos one by one over a period of just a few years and at enormous cost.  What AT&T amounts to now is a mishmash of formerly autonomous telcos with systems that don't talk to each other (although I'm sure their sloth-like attempts at standardization are ongoing) that is trying to present itself as a cohesive company.  It has also become a classic case of the tail wagging the dog.  The final purchase was Bell South, the home of the former Cingular Wireless.  Bell South was the most oddball of the amalgamation of telcos that SBC had assembled, but since wireless was king, their poorly designed systems and lack of a testing environment for system upgrades were the bane of anyone who had to deal with them.  Wireless being the new cash cow, Bell South's sub-par systems and employees won out.  Not much longer after that, I was laid off.  California workers cost too much, don't you know? I doubt highly that things have improved.

So the AT&T/Ma Bell that used to be one big family and where anyone hired had a job for life, where systems and equipment were tested and trialed to death before they were launched, that was all vaporized.  The company now is all about shareholder greed and sell, sell, sell, with crisp clear POTS transmission being replaced by staticky, choppy, marginal wireless service where calls are simply cut off mid-sentence.  They've regressed about 100 years in that regard. The higher standard Ma Bell was always known for has received the "Rear Window" treatment by SBC.  Picture Ed Whitacre sitting in the dark with only his cigar glowing and you'll have a good idea of what happened to Ma Bell.

[Kenny C]

we have a South western Bell office in jackson is that a part of the bell system

[rp2813]

Kenny, that's part of the old Bell System, but it's owned by the "new" AT&T now, formerly  Southwestern Bell, if that makes any sense.

[Kenny C]

I get it.

What I don't get is why they made Bell shut down because they had a monopoly going and it is the exact same with Verizon and mostly AT&T

[rp2813]

Kenny, this is an excellent example of history repeating itself, and a strong lobby presence in Washington, D.C.

[Greg G.]

I get it.

What I don't get is why they made Bell shut down because they had a monopoly going and it is the exact same with Verizon and mostly AT&T

It was a regulated monopoly, there's a difference.  Read "The Rape of Ma Bell" and you'll get a good understanding of what it was and what we lost.

[bwanna]

ralph, i did not say "alive & well". not by a long shot. i just wanted briny to know that POTS is still available. perhaps i should have said....her place has been taken by her sister...the wicked witch of the west.

i am sure you & i could trade shop stories that would curl the hair of alexander himself.

even tho SBC (aka AT$T) has bought up all the former BELL infrastructure (COs & lines) it is not a monoply. the telecom act of 1996 opened the door for combined local exchange carriers (CLEC).

http://tinyurl.com/fq5vq

part of this act  says the major player in the area has to lease lines & CO space to their competitors.

briny in response to your original comment.....in the case of VoIP...it is not the phone, that will not work in a power outage....it is the dial tone