Telstra pulls the plug on Australia’s ‘talking clock’ which has given ‘millisecond precise’ time

‘On the third stroke’: Telstra pulls the plug on Australia’s ‘talking clock’ which has given ‘millisecond precise’ time for the past 66 years

  • We will no longer be able to dial 1194 and get the exact time after September 30
  • The service has been around for the last 66 years as a way to provide the time
  • It gets about two million calls, mostly from people who don’t have smartphones 
  • The amount of calls for daylight saving this year was even more than last year

The speaking clock function that gives people the precise time down to the second will be a thing of the past come October. 

For the last 66 years, Australians have been able to dial 1194 to hear the old-fashioned voice of a man telling them the exact time. 

‘At the third stroke it will be 1.10 and 40 seconds,’ before a beeping sound plays and the the new time is repeated.  

The service still receives about two million calls a year – a lot considering today’s technology.  

The speaking clock function that gives people the precise time down to the second will be a thing of the past come October

Dennis Benjamin, executive chairman of Informatel, the Melbourne-based company that runs the number told The Age there’s still great demand for it. 

He said the amount of calls for daylight saving time this year was even more than last year.   

But Telstra, which provides the service’s network and billing, is pulling the plug on October 1 – saying it’s not compatible with their new network technology.  

‘It’s like any time you upgrade to radically new technology, sometimes older services wouldn’t work,’ a Telstra spokesman told The Age.

The spokesman compared it to an older model iPhone being able to work with the latest iPhone software due to incompatibility.   

The service was meant to be cut off on June 30 – but has been given a three month extension ‘to give users more time to find an alternative solution.’  

For the last 66 years, Australians have been able to dial 1194 to hear the old-fashioned voice of a man telling them the exact time

For the last 66 years, Australians have been able to dial 1194 to hear the old-fashioned voice of a man telling them the exact time 

Mr Benjamin hopes Telstra won’t follow through on their decision to can the long running service, saying Australians who don’t have smartphones rely on it.

He also says there could be an alternative to keep the service around, by using Session Initiation Reciprocal that sends all forms of media, such as voice and data, to multiple parties.

This could replace the current network, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) that carries voice and data services over the switched telephone network. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk