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A speaking clock or talking clock is a live or recorded human voice service, usually accessed by telephone, that gives the correct time. The first telephone speaking clock service was introduced in France, in association with the Paris Observatory, on 14 February 1933.
The format of the service is similar to that of radio time signal services. At set intervals ( e.g. ten seconds) a voice announces (for example) "At the third stroke, the time will be twelve forty-six and ten seconds……", with three beeps following. Some countries have sponsored time announcements and include the sponsor's name in the message.
Prior to automatic systems, the subscriber rang an operator who would quote the time from a central clock in the exchange with a phrase such as "The time by the exchange clock is ……". This was not precise and the operator could not always answer when the subscriber wanted. In 1954, British-made systems were installed in Melbourne (1st floor, City West Exchange) and Sydney. The mechanical speaking clock used rotating glass discs where different parts of the time were recorded on the disc. A synchronous motor drove the disc with the driving source derived from a 5 MHz quartz oscillator via a multi stage Vacuum tube divider. This was Amplifier to give sufficient impetus to drive the motor. Because of the low torque available, a hand wheel was used to spin the motor on start up. The voice for the original Australian speaking clock was provided by Gordon Gow. The units were designed for continuous operation. Both units in Melbourne and Sydney were run in tandem (primary and backup). For daylight saving time changes, one would be on line while the second was advanced or delayed by one hour and at the 02:00:00 Australian Eastern Standard time, would be switched over to the standby unit.
In addition to the speaking clocks, there was ancillary equipment to provide timing signals, 1 pulse per second, 8 pulses per minute and 8 pulses per hour. The Time and Frequency Standards Section in the PMG Research Laboratories at 59 Little Collins Street, Melbourne maintained the frequency checks to ensure that the system was "on time". From a maintenance point of view, the most important part of the mechanical clocks was to ensure that they were well oiled to minimise wear on the cams and to replace blown bulbs that shine through a lens arrangement and the glass recording disk, and finally into the optical pickups that convert the interrupted beam intensity into an electrical signal, and ultimately an audible voice. When Time & Frequency Standards moved from 59 Collins Street to Clayton Research Labs (3rd Flr. Building M5), the control signals were duplicated and a second bank of Caesium standard Atomic clock installed so the cutover was transparent with no loss of service. This mechanical system was replaced with a Digital data system in 1990. Each speaking clock ensemble consisted of two announcing units (Zag 500), a supervisory unit (CCU 500), two phase-locked oscillators, two pulse distribution units, a Civil Time Receiver (plus a spare), and two or four Computime 1200 baud . The voice was provided by Richard Peach, a former ABC broadcaster. The various components were sent for commercial production after a working prototype was built in the Telstra Research Laboratory (TRL). Assmann Australia used a German announcing unit and built a supervisory unit to TRL specifications. Design 2000 incorporated TRL oscillators in the phase locked oscillator units designed at TRL and controlled by two tone from the Telstra Caesium beam frequency standards. Ged Company built civil time receivers. The civil time code generators and two tone generators were designed and built within TRL. The changeover occurred at 12 noon, September 12, 1990.
Each state capital had a digital speaking clock for the local time of day with one access number for all Australia, 1194. In 2002 the Telstra 1194 service was migrated to Informatel (which uses its own digital technology, in conjunction with the National Measurement Institute — but kept the original voice of Richard Peach), whilst the other time services (e.g. hourly pips to radio stations) were retained as a service by Telstra. In May 2006 the remaining Telstra services were withdrawn and the digital hardware was decommissioned. Telstra Research Laboratory Internal web page Telstra ended the 1194 service on the midnight of October 1, 2019 and Australians no longer have access to this service. A web-based simulation of the 1194 service was created by musician Ryan Monro on the day of the original service's shutdown.
In 2024, the National Communication Museum opened in Melbourne. There is a restored 1954 speaking clock on display, featuring the original voice of Gordon Gow. There is also an Assman Speaking Clock from 1990 on display.
Before 2009, the speaking clock was available at local call rates by dialing 1503. Until then, the voice was generated by an Assmann ZAG500 time announcement device. The announcements were voiced by former switchboard operator Renate Fuczik.
Telephone time signals first became available in Vienna in 1929, with an automatic voice announcement being added in 1941.
In 1934, electronic engineer and inventor F.H. Leeuwrik built a speaking clock for the municipal telephone service of The Hague using photodetector speech, looping on a large drum. The female voice was provided by the then 24-year-old school teacher Cor Hoogendam, hence the machine was nicknamed Tante Cor (Aunt Cor). Ik zal u doorverbinden, C.J. Wulffraat et al., in Honderd jaar telefoon, ed. J.H. Schuilenga et al., Staatsbedrijf der Posterijen, Telegrafie en Telefonie, 's-Gravenhage, 1981, p. 215
In 1969, this system was replaced by a magnetic disk machine resembling a phonograph with three pick-up arms, telling the time at 10 second intervals followed by a beep. The text was spoken by actress Willie Brill. The service was now called over 130 million times a year.
In April 1992, the machinery was replaced by a digital device with no moving parts. The voice was provided by actress Joke Driessen and the clock's accuracy is maintained by linking it to the German longwave radio transmitter DCF77. To comply with international guidelines limiting double-zero to use as an international prefix, the 002 number was changed on 3 December 1990 06 straks ook voor tijd en weerbericht, Het Vrije Volk, 16 November 1990 to 06–8002, and later to 0900–8002. The service still receives approximately four million calls a year.
In 1969, the first Soviet "Speaking Clock" was replaced in Moscow City Telephone Network by a magnetic tape machine. Old ones were transferred to the Polytechnic Museum.
To hear the current time in Russia, either 100 or 060 can be dialed, depending on the city where this service is available. These calls are free if made from non-mobile phones. In Moscow, the Speaking Clock number is 100 if dialed from within the city, or +7-495-100-. . . . from other countries (where . . . . can be any number). At one time in Moscow, there were advertisementsЛебедев А.Н., Боковиков А.К. "Экспериментальная психология в российской рекламе" // М.: Академия, 1995, . pp.49-50 before and after the announcement of the current time; this practice has since ceased.[9] Anniversary review, and reflection about the use of female and male voices, Vechernyaya Moskva
The service was started in 1936 by the General Post Office (which handled telephones at that time) and was continued by BT after its formation in 1980 and privatisation in 1984. Between 1986 and 2008, the message included the phrase "sponsored by Accurist"; Accurist withdrew their sponsorship in 2008. The "from BT" part was added, then removed at some point, then reinstated.
For times that are an exact minute, "precisely" is substituted for the seconds portion of the announcement. Similarly, announcements for times between the hour and one minute past the hour substitute "o'clock" for the (zero) minutes. Other operators run their own speaking clocks, with broadly similar formats, or redirect to BT's service. Virgin Media have their own service available by dialling 123 from a Virgin Media line. Sky also have their own service accessible by dialling 123 from a Sky telephone line. Dialling 123 from a few mobile services, such as O2, also obtains a speaking clock service. The Giffgaff network uses the same service as O2. The service is not available on the 3 mobile telephone network, as they use 123 as the number for their voicemail services. It was also unavailable on the Orange network for the same reason.
On the occasion of a leap second, such as at 23:59:60 on December 31, 2005, there is an extra second pause between the second and third beeps, to keep the speaking clock synchronised with UTC: "At the third stroke, the time from BT will be, twelve o'clock precisely. Beep, Beep,
In 2011, the BBC reported that the service still receives 30 million calls each year. Speaking Clock: Why are people still dialling for the time?
The time announcements were made by playing short, recorded phrases or words in the correct sequence. In an interview with Manchester Radio in 1957 Miss Cain said:
In 1963, the original device was replaced by more modern recording technology using a magnetic drum, similar to the Audichron technology used in the United States. The company that manufactured the rotating magnetic drum part of the Speaking Clock was Roberts & Armstrong (Engineers) Ltd of North Wembley. They took on the licence from the British Post Office to manufacture complete clocks for the telecommunications authorities of Denmark, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland, and a third (spare) clock for the British Post Office. The latter was installed in Bow Street, London. The European clocks were modified for the 24-hour system by lengthening the drum and adding extra heads. Roberts & Armstrong subcontracted the electronic aspects to the Synchronome Company of Westbury. The clocks were designed to run non-stop for 20 years. This system gave way to the present digital system in 1984, which uses a built-in crystal oscillator and microprocessor logic control. The complete apparatus comprises solid-state microchips, occupies no more shelf space than a small suitcase and has no moving parts at all. The BT service is assured to be accurate to five-thousandths of a second.
In 1986, BT allowed Accurist to sponsor its franchise, the first time a sponsor had been used for the service. In the latter years of this sponsorship, it cost 30 pence to call the speaking clock. Accurist announced its withdrawal from the deal and the launch of an online "British Real Time" website on 24 August 2008.
During the Cold War, the British Telecom speaking clock network was designed to be used in case of nuclear attack to broadcast messages from Strike Command at RAF High Wycombe to HANDEL units at regional police stations. UKWMO early warning system Retrieved on 20 October 2008 From there, automatic warning sirens could be started and alerts sent to Royal Observer Corps monitoring posts and other civil defence volunteers equipped with manual warning devices. The rationale for using an existing rather than a dedicated system was that it was effectively under test at all times, rather than being activated (and possibly found to be faulty) only in the event of war. The signals to automatic sirens were sent down the wires of individual (unaware) subscribers for the same reason—a customer would report any fault as soon as it occurred, whereas a problem with a dedicated line would not be noticed until it was needed.
A version of the speaking clock was also used on recordings of proceedings at the Houses of Parliament made by the BBC Parliament Unit, partly as a time reference and partly to prevent editing. On a stereo recording, one track was used for the sound and the other for an endless recording of the speaking clock—without the pips, as these were found to cause interference.
Permanent voices
Temporary voices
The service became typically known as the "Time of Day" service, with the term "speaking clock" never being used. Occasionally it would be called "Time and Temperature" or simply "Time". However, the service has been phased out in most states (Nevada and Connecticut still maintain service). AT&T discontinued its California service in September 2007, citing the widespread availability of sources such as and . , calling (202) 762-1401 from anywhere in the US will give a correct time from EST or UTC time.
For all in Northern California, and on the West Coast generally, the reserved exchange was 767 which was often indicated by its phoneword, POPCORN; the service was discontinued in 2007. In other locations, different telephone exchanges are or were used for the speaking clock service.
Many shortwave radio time signal services provide speaking clock services, such as WWV (voiced by John Doyle) and WWVH (voiced by Jane Barbe), operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology from the United States of America. To avoid disruption with devices that rely on the accurate timings and placement of the service tones from the radio, the voice recording is "notched" clear of some of the tones.
The website Telephone World has recordings of past and present "Time of Day" services that also include temperature and weather announcements.
History
A speaking clock service was first introduced in the United Kingdom on July 24, 1936. The mechanism used was an array of motors, glass discs, photocells and valves which took up the floorspace of a small room. The voice was that of London telephonist Jane Cain, who had won a prize of 10 guineas () in a competition to find the "Golden Voice". Cain's voice was recorded optically onto the glass disks in a similar way to a film soundtrack. The service was obtained by dialling the letters TIM (846) on a dial telephone, and hence the service was often colloquially referred to as "Tim". However this code was only used in the Director telephone system of the cities of London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. Other areas initially dialled 952, but with the introduction of subscriber trunk dialling it was changed to 80 and later 8081 as more 'recorded services' were introduced. It was standardised to 123 by the early 1990s.
BT "Speaking Clock" voices
There have been five permanent voices for the speaking clock. Temporary voices have been used on special occasions, usually with BT donating the call fees collected to charity.
United States
The first automated time service in the United States began in Atlanta, Georgia in 1934 as a promotion for Tick Tock Ginger Ale. Company owner John Franklin modified Western Electric technology to create the machine that would become known as the Audichron. The Audichron Company became the chief supplier of talking clocks in the US, maintained by local businesses and, later, the regional Bell System companies.
See also
External links
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