How Pacific Bell Prepared for West Coast Earthquakes - AT&T Archives
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- See more from the AT&T Archives at techchannel.att...
Any Day Without Warning gives an inside look at the preparations that Pacific Bell had made and continued to make for a major disaster.
The film gives in-depth details about how the phone company would recover from a major earthquake, including the resources the company would draw on for restoration of any service taken out by a disaster. It's meant to reassure the film's viewers that the phone company was as prepared as it could be, with extensive contingency plans, ability to mobilize phone workers from across the entire country, and squadrons of mobile phone centers on call.
Another major part of disaster recovery, is how a NOC (network operations center) monitors the phone grid to see which areas are out, and where to reroute calls. The film looks at a regional west coast NOC, including the huge switching centers that are the hubs of the telephone grid, which have been seismically reinforced repeatedly (using new technologies) over the years to anticipate terrible quakes.
Since this film was made in 1979, there have been only two earthquakes in California considered "major": the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, and the 1994 Northridge quake. As reported in a number of sources, the damage to the phone company facilities and equipment was limited during Loma Prieta, and any failures of the phone system were the result of backup power systems failing, or insufficient backup power. The call volume to the 415 and 408 area codes on the day after the quake as enormous-more than 27 million calls, when the usual daily volume was around 3.5 million. And 9.5 million of those calls reached their destination; basically the system was stretched to its limit at the time, and the company found out what that limit was. For the Northridge quake a few years later, the damage to the telephone network in the area was relatively minimal-less than 1% of facilities in the immediate area was impaired, and the network never went down. At the time of that quake, Pacific Bell performed regular earthquake drills for employees. Today, AT&T maintains an extensive disaster recovery team, that perform scheduled recovery exercises around the world a number of times per year.
Writer and Director: Dan Weisburd Producer: Elaine Simone for the ElDan Company
Footage Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ
My favorite parts of the video are of the test board and plant service center. These were the days before it all went automated. It was a very personable company back in the late 70’s. The work was hard. Maybe harder than today. Still good memories when I was a residence installer in the late 70’s. I’m still employed now by what Pacific Telephone became. I now work at AT&T Labs.
I love At&T Archives
I don't know how fast it would have been in the bell days but our exchange wound up under 13ft of water in a freak flood a few years ago. It was a week closer to 2 before we got dial tone and a month for DSL but they did bring out an exchange on a truck and patched it in then built new framework on the roof and lifted everything up there.
I very much enjoy ATT Archive films. I would like to see some of them uploaded at a higher quality.
A higher quality than what? The 16mm film they were shot on?
You do realize this was recorded in 1979 on film don't you? This is the quality there was in 1979.
@@YAZZYUTUBE Film is not standard def video tape capped at 480i, it can be scanned and transcribed to many levels of quality including 4k.
Here is a good video on it: ruclips.net/video/rVpABCxiDaU/видео.html
Are u blind
@@Unirule I don't even think they have it on film anymore.. This was highly possibly recorded from VHS to digital. Otherwise I'm sure they would have copied it at a higher quality with the same audio.
Have loved your historic Tech Channel to bits and pieces for years and I've watched several of them more than once. But this one, an excellent film strip, has slipped under my tracking radar somehow.
Can't help but to admire and respect the American workforce for their skills and plain in sight determination. Absolutely marvelous.
That is my favorite part of these films too!
Love it how she says the problem appears to be in " your equipment " but we are having a major outage. They still blame the customers equipment even when the problem in on their end.
I had a UHF 2 way radio in my dodge phone truck in 1979. We had a touch tone pad connected to the transmitter and could make radiotelephone calls with it.
@Fritz Donnerschlag keep listening. Your bell is about to ring ;)
Very timely video in the Summer of 2019 too! I first saw this video on a Betamax tape in my local garage at Pacific Bell. It was the summer of 1980. My phone truck was a gutless green dodge van with a 3 speed manual transmission on the steering wheel. It was some of the best times of my life!
as a native San Francisco & telco person (hired as a SSPSC TDT and later to CO)
I enjoyed the film.....memories
See 9:30. When adding a fuse and throwing a large knife switch, do YOU leave YOUR hand touching that fuse?
A man can handle 600 amps
600 amps, but only for short term! 💥
Being telco gear, that fuse likely only sees 48 volts DC....
2:24 you can see the old Embarcadero Freeway.
Great. This would have saved many lives till today.
I wish they would have just explained, line load control, and how it works. Major emergency, Class C customers, or denied service temporarily Class B, I believe our police and medical, and Class A would be top priority government, and possible president broadcast. I forget all the details too many years I was employed with 36 years, or some electric then switch names to AT&T engineering, I started in February 1963, retired after 36 years. Today's date is August 27th 2022. In my opinion, the breakup of the Bell System in 1984, by judge green, was a major mistake for our country and communication services. Even though we were considered a monopoly, the communication between the Bell System was outstanding and services. Just an example Miracle On Second Avenue in 1975, if we were dealing with seven mini bell systems it would have been almost impossible to do what they did and accomplished. My memory not quite what it once was. Today's date is August 27th 2022
15:55 we still use these terms for plant facilities today! And it's probably still the same PIC cable that was there when this video was made! 🙄
And they need the " cable stretcher" send the new guy to get it
@@aCraig-s3s Yeah, or a fresh bucket of dialtone! COEM ,Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, 1962 to 1972
In the Pacific Bell Days Corporate Television made a lot of video's. Will any of those be made available in the future?
Check out Brian Hackney’s Earthquake docs of Calif. They are excellent too! Made at Channel 5 and Channel 4 in San Francisco.
They were shot at Channel 4 in San francisco, KRON television. Studios were on Venice Avenue.
A lot of the footage, was shot originally using the channel 4 helicopter. The cameraman on board's name was art. And you'll see him in the credits of several different documentaries produced by Channel 4 about the Bay Area and earthquakes.
Funny part was when the 89 earthquake kit, they lost all power to the studio and the backup generator with an operable. They had to break a window and use a generator in a microwave truck. Had a broken camera for the engineering department, that's why all the video from Channel 4 mostly comes from a news truck that was down in the marina district. As it had a straight microwave link to Sutro Tower
The beginning of this video shows how people USED to Love California ----how the times have changed.........
David Hayward right all the stories about why too many people moved to California
Incorrect people still majorly love it here and would never leave. You do realize the state has a massive population even with the people that love to complain leave
I love looking at people use those old computer systems. It's like watching NASA's Mission Control get astronauts to the moon.
The good ole days of the test board and the LAC and the local Plant Service Center :)
They played this video to us installers with pacific telephone in the 1970s it’s relevant today in 2023 like it was then. It’s good to be prepared. Keep flashlights, a generator. Food for 2 to 4 weeks. Just in case. You never know. This video was way before the 1989 quake in loma prieta ca. please be prepared.
strange editing,seems like the last parts should go first
12:23 guy looks like a familiar actor.
Why would people want to watch this because it is Educational
Was Pacific Telephone the predecessor to Pac Bell?
Very late, but yes. The name change happened during the breakup.
Yes in 1984 at divestiture. Was an employee at that time and experienced divestiture. I’m still working at now at&t. Over 40 years of service. It’s still a great company. I have very fond memories of my time during the days of the Bell System. I now work as a 9-1-1 engineer testing the latest 9-1-1 systems that go into the police and fire stations across the US.
I remember watching this video at my garage when I was a residence installer for Pacific Telephone in Mountain View, Calif. we watched it on a Sony betamax video tape player ;)
Phone company box in front of parent's house says Pacific Telrphone.
Was installed early 60s.
@@steve94044 Very cool. I still see those ground/manhole covers that say 'Bell System' here in San Diego.
AT&T has lines, if you have coin. :p
All you get for nothin' is a rubber biscuit.
Why is this so not fashionable
I don’t understand AT&T.
California was amazing till the liberals let immigrant invasion destroy it.
@Lance, you’re a dick!
If AT&T were affected by a natural disaster, would they be under the administration of FEMA? 🚒
The first three painfully apologetic minutes make me suspect that when the AT&T guys went to make this, the governor's & mayor's offices said, "okay, we'll cooperate, but ONLY if you de-emphasize earthquakes and play up how awesome our state is... people associate us with earthquakes too much, and we don't want your film about earthquakes in California to make that any worse". Because the San Fernando earthquake had just killed maybe 50 people and injured a bunch more in February 1971.
Nah people just really enjoy living in California, even today with all the people that whine there’s so many more who still absolutely love living here and don’t miss the ones complaining that leave
Where are those people now, traveled the world and discovered California, Paradise. If only they could see California today, as Californians are being asked why are you fleeing California. It's War, and people have become accustomed.
I never been to California.
California when it was the balm. Now it is a third world country.
I like to make earthquakes.
I was born in the wrong era!
This is so old school and The quality is bad
Who uses land lines ? LOL Desk jockeys ?