Basics on the ROLM CBX

This film made c 1980 shows how the ROLM CBX works. The CBX stood for the Computerized Branch Exchange and it differed from other phone systems that signaled the devices and machines differently. ROLM didn’t care about “dumbing down” the content to make it easier to understand. Despite the cute character, the intent in these engineering focused companies was to keep it highly technical.

For whatever reason the company did very well until the suits from New York decided to go into phone systems and then destroy it within several years, just like what AT&T did to NCR in the early 1990s. IBM (yes that same IBM that believed people needed to be “computer literate” to use a large mainframe) really lacked the telephony and innovative literacy to help pull them out into their misery in the early 1990s.

Siemens would later buy them out and use ROLM’s brains and talent to replace their existing offerings and inherited many of ROLM’s designs, and other tangible assets that made ROLM what they were for a period of time.

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Video: Ericsson Computer/Telephone Terminal

 

This is pretty rad for the 1980s. Just you need to have a supporting PBX or ESS service. The comments on the Instagram post from at-neontalk was amusing if you do not know what a “terminal” is…

The first digital like carphone can be seen near the end of the byte.

Glad to be a phone dude!

My Collection: (Kellogg) ITT/Cortelco 564 Multiline Rotary Telephone

This latest find – was on Etsy of all places (and not eBay!) In this video I produced, I unbox, open up, add-stations to the Avaya PBX, and then tried to do test calls and dials to the system. The only line that has a lamp is the Line 1 position and typically that requires a power adjunct to provide additional power for lamp status. However near the end of this video, I redid the entire analog board (the extension numbers and set type through the system access terminal) and set them all to 500 (with no MW lamp settings) and wola the Line 1 was lit. However it never went out. And it still hasn’t ring. And the Hold button has a function like the Release key as calls just drop like a Nortel set!

I’ve watched this video before taking this to air, and my gawd, I am the worst on camera talent, the more I am on camera, the more I want to be behind it at all times!

Found this on AmadolynCozyCottage on Etsy again thanks for this great find!