Planning Automatic Telephone Answering Systems

摘要

Information was developed from mathematical and experimental analyses to help ascertain the performance of automatic phone answering systems. Government agencies, such as the Weather Bureau, who pass on useful information to local communities as a continuing public service, should benefit most from this presentation. The report was prepared primarily to help Weather Bureau Central and Regional Headquarters and Field Station personnel in planning for the installation of small automatic phone answering systems. Two sets of charts are included which relate the four major variables considered in planning automatic answering systems. Two of these within the direct control of the Weather Bureau are (1) the Number of (telephone) Lines in the system, and (2) the Service Time (which is related to the length of the recorded message.) A third factor is the Demand, the calling rate measured in incoming calls per minute. The last variable, Probability of Busy Signal, may be viewed as a measure of system performance or as a planning criterion. Several examples illustrate the practical use of these charts. The charts include ranges of the variables which will satisfy the requirements normally encountered in providing services through automatic phone answering systems. (Author)