"Tel. Code No." sticker

[AdamAnt316]

Hello, everyone. I recently picked up a 5304G (stamped on the bottom as having been "WIRED AS 5302G"), which has an odd sticker on the housing:

TEL. CODE NO.
9Z8 - 3286

I've never seen a sticker like this on a phone before. Like other 5300-series phones, the dial ring on this one lacks the 'Z' marking seen on some number plates. The '3286' part corresponds to the extension number listed on the dial center. What might the sticker refer to? Thanks in advance!
-Adam

[paul-f]

A sticker on the housing probably has nothing to do with a phone company.

Perhaps the phone was installed in a company and 9Z8 represents a physical location for the phone or is a reference to a wiring closet handling extension 3268.

Posting a photo of the label may help us speculate.

[AdamAnt316]

I kinda figured it wasn't an official telephone company sticker, but the fact that the last four digits on the tel. code sticker and the extension number listed on the dial center match makes me wonder. My guess is that the phone was used on a PBX or some other sort of phone system, but since it's a basic single-line phone (albeit one converted from party line duty), I'm not sure how that would've worked. Anyway, here's a photo of both the sticker, and the dial center.

[AdamAnt316]

Another update:

I Googled the phone number on the dial center, and it came up as being a fax number for International Data Group. According to the wiki article, they've been around since 1964, which would be a bit late in the brief production period of this phone, so it's hard to tell if it might've been used there. Also, the 617 area code has been split twice in the last 24 years, so who knows.
-Adam

[Doug Rose]

This is an old Boston number that is probably now reused by another company. 

As for the 9Z8 its a stumper. A riser pair would not be on the phone. As for a telephone code, was it do dial out. 9....Z8 as an access code for a certain ARS. But why Z instead of just a zero....It's just a guess, but being from Boston,  I sure like the dial card!!...Doug

[K1WI]

   I think I can help with this mystery sticker.  Back in the 1960s & 1970s large PBXs would use what was called IOD trunks  (identified outward dialing) on "long distance calls".The call would route to a CAMA (centalized automatic message accounting) operator , and SHE (no men at that time) would key in the number.  typical codes used Q or Z   such as 5Q2 5Z5 etc.    The CAMA operator would also do the same when the ANI (automatic number identification )  in step by step offices would fail , she would ask "your number please" and key it in manualy.
  I'd say it's rare that these stickers survived as most of these large PBXs had a dedicated "phone man" who would have removed the sticker when the set was moved or repaired.
  Nice find !

   ANDY   K1WI

[K1WI]

Hope I was able to attach this engineering bulletin on IOD    found it on the web

[paul-f]

When posting documents, it's always helpful to give the source and date, if known.

For those that want to know more about the document, check out the copy in the TCI Library...

http://www.telephonecollectors.info/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=4533&Itemid=2

[G-Man]

   I think I can help with this mystery sticker.  Back in the 1960s & 1970s large PBXs would use what was called IOD trunks  (identified outward dialing) on "long distance calls".The call would route to a CAMA (centalized automatic message accounting) operator , and SHE (no men at that time) would key in the number.  typical codes used Q or Z   such as 5Q2 5Z5 etc.    The CAMA operator would also do the same when the ANI (automatic number identification )  in step by step offices would fail , she would ask "your number please" and key it in manualy.
  I'd say it's rare that these stickers survived as most of these large PBXs had a dedicated "phone man" who would have removed the sticker when the set was moved or repaired.
  Nice find !

   ANDY   K1WI

Thanks for scanning the document and putting it in the TCI library! It solves the mystery!

[K1WI]

Paul F
   Just wanted to say thanks again for all you do helping the world of telephone collectors. I personally have garnered endless information from your web-page.
    I found the IOD engineering note on a European collectors blog , never thought of the TCI library , thanks I'll now look there first. I actually found a copy of the IOD notes in my own pile of "stuff".  My first reply was just based on recollection ,having spent 35 years in COs . The few years I spent as the "A-board " man (especially working on the CAMA positions) seemed to have stayed in my memory .
    Again , sincerely Thanks for all you do,
Andy   K1WI

[paul-f]

You're welcome, Andy.

And thanks for posting your recollections and the info.

I hope you didn't read more into my reply than I intended.  Reading it again, I see I was unusually brief, leaving a lot of room for interpretation.

The message should have been that having text extracted from a document can be useful, but it's much more helpful to know what publication it came from and the publication date.

As we all know, some sources are more reliable than others.  Things published when the topic was current often have a different perspective than those published decades after the fact.  Some product info was revised many times during a product's useful lifetime.

Unfortunately, when things hit the internet, they are often passed around and the source ID info gets lost.

We're looking at ways to code document source info in the documents we post to the Library, so they'll follow the documents when passed around.  Unfortunately it's a labor-intensive task and we don't have enough volunteer hours to pull it off.

[G-Man]

[/quote]

Thanks for scanning the document and putting it in the TCI library! It solves the mystery!
[/quote]

Opps - I just read the documents properties and found it was scanned by someone else.