These phones were made to be used with a human operator in the loop. The button sends an alert signal to the operator so they know you want to be connected to another person.
A long time ago you picked up the phone and then told the operator who you wanted to talk to. That person then connected a physical cable from your jack on their panel to the other person you wanted to call’s jack. The Soviet Union likely kept that system for longer than most because it created jobs for people to do and also made tapping phone conversations trivial.
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Sorry, but this comment has been removed since it appears to be about the situation developing in Ukraine. With Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine, we've been flooded with a lot of submissions about this, but in addition to our politics rule, there is nothing oddly terrifying about the situation. It is a plainly terrifying situation that will affect the lives of many people.
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Yes, so glad to be in the land of the free where all of my telecommunications are entirely secure and private and there is no national surveillance agency with the power to listen in for any or no reason at all....
Oh bummer. That happens to me sometimes too but it always redirects to a page that says "this content is not available to viewers in Canada" 😒 ugh territories and borders in the digital world feel so dickensian.
The simpler explanation is that it's a phone for incoming calls only (when outgoing calls aren't needed or permitted).
Phones without dial pads or rotatary dials were pretty common back on the days. Parents would often put these in their kids' rooms, giving the kids a softer restriction on phone usage.
Sorry, but this comment has been removed since it appears to be about the situation developing in Ukraine. With Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine, we've been flooded with a lot of submissions about this, but in addition to our politics rule, there is nothing oddly terrifying about the situation. It is a plainly terrifying situation that will affect the lives of many people.
If your comment is not related to the situation in Ukraine, please report this comment and we will review it. Thank you for your understanding!
Sorry, but this comment has been removed since it appears to be about the situation developing in Ukraine. With Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine, we've been flooded with a lot of submissions about this, but in addition to our politics rule, there is nothing oddly terrifying about the situation. It is a plainly terrifying situation that will affect the lives of many people.
If your comment is not related to the situation in Ukraine, please report this comment and we will review it. Thank you for your understanding!
Sorry, but this comment has been removed since it appears to be about the situation developing in Ukraine. With Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine, we've been flooded with a lot of submissions about this, but in addition to our politics rule, there is nothing oddly terrifying about the situation. It is a plainly terrifying situation that will affect the lives of many people.
If your comment is not related to the situation in Ukraine, please report this comment and we will review it. Thank you for your understanding!
It also was used for factories, where you dont need an automatic line, they had a human operator and a director, or someone else could just pick up a phone and ask an operator to connect him with some hangar/facility of the factory or such.
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u/byteminer 5d ago
These phones were made to be used with a human operator in the loop. The button sends an alert signal to the operator so they know you want to be connected to another person.
A long time ago you picked up the phone and then told the operator who you wanted to talk to. That person then connected a physical cable from your jack on their panel to the other person you wanted to call’s jack. The Soviet Union likely kept that system for longer than most because it created jobs for people to do and also made tapping phone conversations trivial.