Speaking clock - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A speaking clock service is a recorded or simulated human voice service, usually accessed by telephone, that gives the correct time

Time

Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....

. The first telephone speaking clock service was introduced in France, in association with the Paris Observatory

Paris Observatory

The Paris Observatory is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world...

on 14 February 1933.

The format of the service is somewhat similar to those in radio time signal

Time signal

A time signal is a visible, audible, mechanical, or electronic signal used as a reference to determine the time of day.-Audible and visible time signals:...

services. Every ten seconds, a voice announces "At the third stroke, the time from BT will be [for example] twelve forty-six and ten seconds...", with three beeps following. At the third beep, the time at that point is the time announced previously. Some countries have sponsored time announcements and include that in the message.

ASEAN

In 1995, The ASEAN has set up 9 speaking clocks in each countries speaking in each languages with different number...

Brunei
Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia 1051 (within Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

), 03-1051 (from other countries), +60-3-1051 (from other countries), 1052 (English)
Philippines
Singapore 171 (English) (1711 if call from other ASEAN countries, +65-171 from other countries), 172 (Chinese), 173 (Tamil)
Thailand 181 (1811 if call from other ASEAN countries, +66-181 from other countries), 182 for English
Vietnam

The voice is computer-generated in 10 languages: Chinese (Singapore), English (every country) Indonesian (Indonesia), Khmer (Cambodia), Lao (Laos), Malay (Malaysia, Brunei), Tagalog (Philippines), Tamil (Singapore), Thai (Thailand) and Vietnamese (Vietnam)

This service has replaced services in Malaysia (owned by F3), Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

and Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

(owned by navy), which has already had speaking clock service with different voice.

Australia

In Australia, the number 1194 gives the speaking clock in all areas and from all providers. It is always the current time from where the call originates. A male voice says "At the third stroke, it will be (hours) (minutes) and (seconds) seconds/precisely. (three beeps)" e.g. "At the third stroke, it will be three thirty three and forty seconds ... beep beep beep". These are done in 10 second increments and the beep is 1 kHz.

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

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

and Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. 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

Crystal oscillator

A crystal oscillator is an electronic oscillator circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a very precise frequency...

via a multi stage valve

Vacuum tube

In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...

divider. This was amplified

Amplifier

Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...

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 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

Daylight saving time

Daylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...

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.

As well as 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 in the optical pickups from the glass disk recordings. When Time & Frequency Standards moved from 59 Collins Street to Clayton, the control signals were duplicated and a second bank of Caesium Beam

Caesium standard

A caesium standard or caesium atomic clock is a primary frequency standard in which electronic transitions between the two hyperfine ground states of caesium-133 atoms are used to control the output frequency. They are one of the most accurate types of atomic clock...

Primary standards

Atomic clock

An atomic clock is a clock that uses an electronic transition frequency in the microwave, optical, or ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum of atoms as a frequency standard for its timekeeping element...

installed so the cutover was transparent with no loss of service.

This mechanical system was replaced with a digital

Digital

A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...

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 modem

Modem

A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...

s. The voice was provided by Richard Peach

Richard Peach

Richard Peach was a former Australian Broadcasting Corporation news anchor, and the voice of the Australian speaking clock.Peach died on Sunday, 30 November 2008 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.-References:...

, a former ABC broadcaster. The various components were sent for commercial production after a working prototype was built in the Telstra

Telstra

Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....

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.

Each state capital had a digital speaking clock for the local time of day with one access number Australia wide, 1194. In 2002 the Telstra 1194 service was migrated to Informatel (who use their own digital technology, in conjunction with the National Measurement Institute — but kept the original voice of Richard Peach

Richard Peach

), whilst the other time services (e.g. hourly pips to radio stations) was retained as a service by Telstra. In May 2006 the remaining Telstra services were withdrawn and the digital hardware was decommissioned. The 1194 service, though no longer provided by Telstra, is still operated by Informatel in partnership with Telstra as of January, 2010.

Austria

In Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, the speaking clock ("Zeitansage", which literally means "time announcement") can be reached at 0810 00 1503. A recorded female voice says (for instance): "Es wird mit dem Summerton 15 Uhr, 53 Minuten und 10 Sekunden", meaning "At the buzzing tone, the time will be 15 hours, 53 minutes and 10 seconds", followed by a short pause and a 1 kHz, 0.25 seconds long beep (even though the announcement "buzzing tone" suggests otherwise). The time is announced in 10 second intervals.

Belgium

In Belgium, the speaking clock can be reached on the numbers 1200 (Dutch language), 1300 (French language), and 1400 (German language).

Canada

In Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, the National Research Council (NRC) is the federal agency responsible for official time.

NRC time is referred to its primary cesium atomic clocks designed, built, and maintained at the NRC time standards laboratory in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

.

The NRC provides a Telephone Talking Clock service; voice announcements of Eastern Time are made every 10 seconds, followed by a tone indicating the exact time. This service is available to the general public by dialing (613) 745-1576 for English service and (613) 745-9426 for French service. Long-distance charges apply for those calling from outside the Ottawa/Gatineau area.

Denmark

The Danish telephone company KTAS introduced the automated time service Frøken Klokken in 1939, originally voiced by telephonist Anna Edith Sommer-Jensen (1918-2008). In 1970, a new system used the voice recordings of Marianne Germers. The service was digitized in 1993.

Finland

In Finland the speaking clock service is known as Neiti Aika in Finnish

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

or Fröken Tid in Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

, both of which literally translate as 'Miss Time'. The first Neiti Aika service was started in 1936 and was the first automated phone service in Finland. The service is provided by regional phone companies and can be reached by dialling 10061 in the whole country. The voice of the speaking clock can be male or female depending on whose phone company service you are using. Nowadays the use of the Neiti Aika service has decreased pretty much to null and the press officer of Auria

TeliaSonera

TeliaSonera AB is the dominant telephone company and mobile network operator in Sweden and Finland. The company has operations in other countries in Northern, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Spain, with a total of 150 million mobile customers...

, the regional phone company of Turku

Turku

Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...

, stated in an article of the Turun Sanomat newspaper that when the company started the service in 1938 it was used 352,310 times in its starting year compared to 1300 times in September 2006.

France

In France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, the speaking clock (horloge parlante) has been in service since 14 February 1933. It is available on 36.99 from within France, and was formerly available from overseas by dialing +33 8.36.99.xx.xx(where x could be anything). However, since September 2011 an out-of-country call to this number yields only a recording in French indicating that the number is no longer available.

Germany

In Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, a speaking clock (Zeitansage) in Berlin is available by dialing

030 - 2 555 555 7 (domestic calls)
+49 - 30 - 2 555 555 7 (from abroad)

A speaking clock in Hamburg is available by dialing

040 - 42 89 90 (domestic calls)
+49 - 40 - 42 89 90 (from abroad)

Just the normal fixed line phone rate applies.

Iceland

The Icelandic speaking clock service ("klukkan"), provided by Síminn

Síminn

Síminn, previously named Landssíminn, is an Icelandic telecommunications company. It was acquired by Exista in 2008.-History:Telecommunications play a vital role in Iceland. Although the country's population is relatively small , its penetration rates for network-related products and services are...

, can be reached by dialing (+354) 155.

Ireland

The Eircom

Eircom

Eircom Group LTD is a telecommunications company in the Republic of Ireland, and a former state-owned incumbent. It is currently the largest telecommunications operator in the Republic of Ireland and operates primarily on the island of Ireland, with a point of presence in Great Britain.As Bord...

speaking clock can be reached by dialing 1191 within Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

Japan

The Japanese telephone company NTT provides a non-free speaking clock on the nationally universal number 117.

Latvia

The non-free Lattelecom

Lattelecom

Lattelecom is a Latvian internet service provider and telecommunications company.The Lattelecom group provides IT, telecommunication and outsourced business process solutions that are provided by all of the companies of the group...

speaking clock is provided in both Latvian

Latvian language

Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...

and Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

languages and can be reached by dialing either (+371) 82154 or 82174, respectively. The precise time is given immediately upon connection, rather than after a certain signal.

The Netherlands

In 1934, electronic engineer and inventor F.H. Leeuwrik was requested to build a speaking clock for the municipal telephone service of The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

. His experience with sound film

Sound film

A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...

made him decide to use optically recorded speech, looping on a large drum. There were loops for the hours and for the minutes, each one read with a photodetector

Photodetector

Photosensors or photodetectors are sensors of light or other electromagnetic energy. There are several varieties:*Active pixel sensors are image sensors consisting of an integrated circuit that contains an array of pixel sensors, each pixel containing a both a light sensor and an active amplifier...

. Every minute the clock gave an electric pulse, causing the mechanism to shift to the next minute. Every hour, the minute mechanism was reset (and every day the hour mechanism), the clock was accurate within one minute only. The female voice was provided by the then 24-year-old school teacher Cor Hoogendam, hence the machine was nicknamed Tante Cor (Aunt Cor). The speaking clock came into service at November 9, 1934 and could be reached by dialing 393131. The service became so popular, that in 1935 a second machine was ordered and built. Even during the Nazi occupation in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the speaking clock was called over two million times a year. In total F.H. Leeuwrik built 19 machines, one for each telephone district. During World War II, 12 machines were destroyed and rebuilt after the War by the inventor himself.

In 1969 this system was decommissioned and replaced by a machine that looked like a record player

Phonograph

The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...

with three pick-up arms. The speaking clock was now nation-wide available through the number 002 and was much more accurate, telling the time in 10 second intervals followed by a beep, indicating the precise moment. The text was spoken by actress Willie Brill and had the following format: "Bij de volgende toon is het .. uur, .. minuten en .. seconden" (at the following tone, it is .. hour, .. minutes and .. seconds). The service was now called over 130 million times a year.

Finally, in April 1992, the whole machinery has been replaced by a digital machine with no moving parts. The (digitized) voice has been provided by actress Joke Driessen and the clock is being kept accurate by German longwave transmitter DCF77

DCF77

DCF77 is a longwave time signal and standard-frequency radio station. Its primary and backup transmitter are located in Mainflingen, about 25 km south-east of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is operated by Media Broadcast GmbH , on behalf of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Germany's...

. In accordance with international guidelines (the double-zero should be used as an international prefix), the number 002 has been replaced with 0900-8002. Though nowadays many people have digital wrist watches, mobile phones or computers telling the time accurately, the service is still being called approximately four million times a year, especially around New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...

and when the daylight saving time

Daylight saving time

changes.

Norway

The speaking clock in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

was in service between 1932 and 15 January 2007 14h00 local time. The service could be reached by dialling 09170 (1999–2007), and 170 (until 1999). Of women who contributed with their voices for the service were actress Randi Brennes (–1992) and Kristin Johnson (1992–2007). When the service ceased it still got about 2000–3000 calls per month.

Poland

The speaking clock in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

is known as Zegarynka. Zegar is English clock.

The service became first available in 1936 and it was using a device invented and patented in Poland. It was speaking with the recorded voice of actress Lidia Wysocka

Lidia Wysocka

Lidia Wysocka was a Polish stage, film and voice actress, singer, cabaret performer and creative director, theatre director and costume designer, editorialist.-Filmography:...

. The first cities to be equipped with this device were Katowice

Katowice

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...

, Warszawa (dialing number 05), Gdynia

Gdynia

Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...

, Toruń

Torun

Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....

and Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

(July 1936).

For many years the number was 926, but due to the EU

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

regulations reserving all 3-digit numbers for emergency services only, it was changed in the early 2000s. The connection is charged on a per-minute basis. As of the year 2009 the number was changed to 19226.

Since 1936, the voiced has been changed twice.

Russia

To hear the current time in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

you dial 100 or 060, 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-xxxx from other countries (where x can be anything).
At one time in Moscow there were advertisements before and after the announcement of the current time; this practice has since ceased.

South Africa

The speaking clock in South Africa is reached by dialling 1026 from fixed or mobile networks and consists of a female voice reading the time in 24-hour format, alternating between Afrikaans and English. All of South Africa is in the time zone GMT+2 without any daylight saving time so the speaking clock is the same all over the country.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Telecom provides a Speaking Clock service in three languages.

1292 - Sinhala
1293 - Tamil
1294 - English

More details can be found on SLT telephone directories.

Sweden

The speaking clock in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

has been in service since 6 October 1934, and can be reached by dialling 90510 (+46 33 90510 from outside Sweden). Four women have contributed with their voices for the service: Eva Ulvby (1934–1956), Berit Hofling (1956–1968), Ebba Beckman (1968–2000), Johanna Hermann Lundberg (née

NEE

NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...

Östlund) (2000-).
More details at http://www.sp.se/en/index/services/time_sync/froken_ur

Taiwan

In Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, the speaking clock can be reached by dialing 117.

Ukraine

To hear the local current time in Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, a person can reach a service of the exact time by dialing 060 from any city in that country.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the speaking clock can be reached by dialling 123 on a BT

BT Group

BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...

phone line; the number may vary on other networks. A voice announces:

"At the third stroke, the time from BT will be (hour) (minute) and (second) seconds"

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.

A speaking clock service was first introduced in Britain

United Kingdom

on July 24, 1936. The mechanism used was an of array of motors, glass discs, photocells and valves which took up the floorspace of a small room. The voice was that of London telephonist, Ethel Jane Cain

Jane Cain

Ethel Jane Cain was a British telephonist and the original voice of the speaking clock in the United Kingdom. She was appointed in 1936 following a "search for the girl with the golden voice". Her voice was used from 1936 until 1963, when it was replaced by Pat Simmons...

, who had won a prize of 10 guineas

Guinea (British coin)

The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...

(£10.50) in a competition to find the right 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 telephone systems of the cities of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

and Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

. Other areas initially dialled 952 but with the introduction of Subscriber Trunk Dialling

Subscriber trunk dialling

Subscriber trunk dialling is a term for a telephone system allowing subscribers to dial trunk calls without operator assistance.- Terminology :...

it was changed to 80 and later 8081 as more 'recorded services' were introduced and was standardised to 123 by the early 1990s.

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:

The way I recorded it was in jerks as it were. I said: "At the Third Stroke" (that does for all the times), and then I counted from One, Two, Three, Four, for the hours, we even went as far as twenty-four, in case the twenty-four hour clock should need to be used, and then I said "...and ten seconds, and twenty seconds, and thirty, forty, fifty seconds", and "o'clock" and "precisely". The famous "precisely". So what you hear is "At the Third Stroke it will be one, twenty-one and forty seconds".

In 1963, the original device was replaced by more modern recording technology using a magnetic drum. 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. This 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

Accurist

Accurist Watches Ltd is a traditional British watch manufacturer, with its headquarters in West Hampstead, London. The company has a reputation of providing high quality watches.-Establishment:...

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

British One Penny coin

The British decimal one penny coin, produced by the Royal Mint, was issued on 15 February 1971, the day the British currency was decimalised. In practice, it had been available from banks in bags of £1 for some weeks previously...

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

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, the British Telecom speaking clock network was designed to be used in case of nuclear attack to broadcast messages from Strike Command

RAF Strike Command

The Royal Air Force's Strike Command was the military formation which controlled the majority of the United Kingdom's bomber and fighter aircraft from 1968 until 2007: it was merged with Personnel and Training Command to form the single Air Command. It latterly consisted of two formations - No. 1...

at RAF High Wycombe

RAF High Wycombe

RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. Its purpose is to serve the needs of the RAF Air Command, situated on the site. It is also the headquarters of the European Air Group...

to HANDEL

HANDEL

HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....

units at regional police stations. From there, automatic warning sirens could be started and alerts sent to 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

War

War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...

. 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 the Houses of Parliament

Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...

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.

On the occasion of a leap second

Leap second

A leap second is a positive or negative one-second adjustment to the Coordinated Universal Time time scale that keeps it close to mean solar time. UTC, which is used as the basis for official time-of-day radio broadcasts for civil time, is maintained using extremely precise atomic clocks...

, such as at 23:59:60 on December 31, 2005, there is a one second pause before the beeps, thus keeping the speaking clock in sync with Coordinated Universal Time. The current source of UK time is provided, though not monitored, by the National Physical Laboratory, UK

National Physical Laboratory, UK

The National Physical Laboratory is the national measurement standards laboratory for the United Kingdom, based at Bushy Park in Teddington, London, England. It is the largest applied physics organisation in the UK.-Description:...

. Since 2003, the British speaking clock has changed voices four times. All changes have occurred on days when the clocks have switched from standard time to daylight saving time

Daylight saving time

or vice versa. This is due to the fact that 123 is most commonly dialled on these days.

The speaking clock service is not available on the Orange

Orange SA

Orange is the brand used by France Télécom for its mobile network operator and Internet service provider subsidiaries. It is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world, with 210 million customers . The brand was created in 1994 for Hutchison Telecom's UK mobile phone network, which was...

or 3 Mobile mobile telephone networks, as they use 123 as the number for their Answerphone services.

The BT Speaking Clock receives around 60 million calls a year.

Callers from outside the UK can listen to it by dialing +44 871 789 3642

List of voices heard on the British "BT Speaking Clock"

Ethel Jane Cain
Jane Cain
Ethel Jane Cain was a British telephonist and the original voice of the speaking clock in the United Kingdom. She was appointed in 1936 following a "search for the girl with the golden voice". Her voice was used from 1936 until 1963, when it was replaced by Pat Simmons...

, first permanent voice: from July 24, 1936 to 1963.
Pat Simmons, second permanent voice: from 1963 to April 2, 1985.
Brian Cobby
Brian Cobby
Brian Cobby , is a British actor and telephone exchange worker who in 1985 became the first male voice of the British speaking clock.In 2004, Cobby guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio drama The Creed of the Kromon....

, third permanent voice: from April 2, 1985 to April 2, 2007.
Lenny Henry
Lenny Henry
Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...

, comedian, temporary voice for Comic Relief: from March 10 to March 23, 2003.
Alicia Roland, 12-year-old schoolgirl, temporary voice for the children's charity ChildLine
ChildLine
ChildLine is a free 24 hour counselling service for children and young people up to 18 in the UK provided by the NSPCC. ChildLine deals with any issue which causes distress or concern, common issues dealt with include child abuse, bullying, parental separation or divorce, pregnancy and substance...

, from October 13 to October 20, 2003, having won a BBC TV Newsround
Newsround
Newsround is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children...

competition and stating, before announcing the time, "It's time to listen to young people".
Sara Mendes da Costa
Sara Mendes da Costa
Sara Mendes da Costa, born c. 1966, from Brighton & Hove became the fourth permanent holder of the iconic role of the voice of the UK Speaking Clock, first established in 1936, at 08:00 BST on 2 April 2007....

, fourth permanent voice: from April 2, 2007.
Mae Whitman
Mae Whitman
Mae Margaret Whitman is an American television, movie and voice actress. She is known for her role as Ann Veal in the TV series Arrested Development, her role as Amber on the TV series Parenthood, her role as Roxy Richter in Scott Pilgrim vs...

, temporary voice as part of a deal to promote the Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

production of Tinker Bell
Tinker Bell (film)
Tinker Bell is a 2008 computer animated film based on the Disney Fairies franchise produced by DisneyToon Studios. It revolves around Tinker Bell, a fairy character created by J. M. Barrie in his play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, and featured in the 1953 Disney animated film, Peter...

, for three months from 26 October 2008 until 2 February 2009.
UK celebrities Kimberley Walsh
Kimberley Walsh
Kimberley Jane Walsh is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, television presenter and actress. She is best known for being a member of girl group Girls Aloud, formed through ITV's reality television programme Popstars: The Rivals...

, Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Cole is an English pop and R&B recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as a member of the girl group, Girls...

, Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...

, Chris Moyles
Chris Moyles
Christopher David Moyles is an English radio and television presenter and author, who currently presents The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 and Chris Moyles' Quiz Night on Channel 4....

, and Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton is an English television and radio presenter who is known for presenting a number of popular TV programmes such as Top of the Pops and the Red Nose Day telethon. In 2007, she became the first regular female presenter of BBC Radio 1's Chart Show...

for Comic Relief charity: from 3 February to 23 March 2009.

United States

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, this service was typically known as the "Time of Day" service, with the term "speaking clock" never used. Occasionally it would be called "Time and Temperature." However, the service had been phased out in all but two states (California and Nevada) when AT&T

AT&T

AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...

discontinued its California service in September 2007, citing the widespread availability of sources such as mobile phone

Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

s and computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

s.

For all area codes in Northern California

Northern California

Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...

, the reserved exchange was 767, and was often indicated by its phoneword

Phoneword

Phonewords are alphanumeric equivalents of a telephone number. In many countries, there exist letters corresponding to each digit on a telephone keypad...

, POPCORN. In other locations, different telephone exchanges are or were used for the speaking clock service. In these areas, the numbers were usually quoted with the -xxxx, -2525, -1212, or -1234 ending. For example,

853 was the reserved exchange in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

.
622 was the reserved exchange in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.
637 (MEridian
Telephone exchange names
During the early years of telephone service, communities that required more than 10,000 telephone numbers, whether dial service was available or not, utilized exchange names to distinguish identical numerics for different customers....

7) is the reserved exchange in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.
846 is the reserved exchange in Philadelphia.
844 (TIm e
Telephone exchange names
During the early years of telephone service, communities that required more than 10,000 telephone numbers, whether dial service was available or not, utilized exchange names to distinguish identical numerics for different customers....

4) was the reserved exchange in Washington D.C., with the officially published number of TIme 4-2525. This clock was usually the most accurate of the clocks operated by the local telephone companies.
936 (WEather
Telephone exchange names
During the early years of telephone service, communities that required more than 10,000 telephone numbers, whether dial service was available or not, utilized exchange names to distinguish identical numerics for different customers....

6) was used in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Washington D.C., and Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

for weather information. In Washington, the officially published number was WEather 6-1212.

Various other numbers were used in other localities. In Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, the former Wisconsin Bell

Wisconsin Bell

Wisconsin Bell, Inc. is the name of the Bell Operating Company serving Wisconsin. They were a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc.....

reserved the ending numbers -0123 in the dominant exchange for a city for time and temperature information.

Here is the list of active numbers (the 'xxxx' could be either -0123, -1234, -1212 or -2525):

for Washington DC - +1 202 844 xxxx or +1 202 936 1212 (time and local forecast courtesy of Verizon; an announcement says that effective June 1, 2011, Verizon will discontinue voice time service, but the time was still provided after the announcement as of September 30, 2011), but is now disconnected.
for DC Metro (Northern Virginia) - +1 703 844 xxxx (an announcement says that effective June 1, 2011 Verizon will discontinue voice time service), now disconnected.
for DC Metro (Maryland) - +1 301 844 xxxx, now disconnected.
for Dalton, GA - 1 706 278 1213 (commercial, BBNT Bank, provided by USNO).
for Columbus, OH - +1 614 281 8211 (commercial, time & temperature, weather forecast courtesy of WCMH-TV
WCMH-TV
WCMH-TV, channel 4, is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, affiliated with the NBC television network and owned by Media General. The station's studios and transmitter are located in Columbus. NBC-4 broadcasts from its studio and office complex near the Ohio State University on Olentangy River...

); +1 614 469 1010 (operated by WBNS-TV
WBNS-TV
WBNS-TV, channel 10, is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, USA. The station is an affiliate of the CBS Television Network and is owned by the Dispatch Broadcast Group, a subsidiary of the Columbus Dispatch, along with WBNS radio...

; TV news promo, time & temperature [also relative humidity in summer], weather forecast)
for Baltimore - +1 410 844 xxxx
for Hartford, CT - +1 860 524 8123
for New Haven, CT - +1 203 777 4647 (+1 203 SPRINGS) (time and current temperature)
for Boston, MA - +1 617 637 xxxx or +1 617 637 8687 (+1 617 NERVOUS) (time and current temperature). Was horribly inaccurate, and was disconnected in 2011.
Maine (entire state) +1 207 775 4321 (hours and minutes only, current temperature in Portland, ME)
for Chattanooga, TN +1 423 265 1411 (Starts with Date, goes to commercial, hours and minutes, and weather)
for Oklahoma City, OK +1 405 599 1234 (starts with commercial, provides time (no seconds) and weather forecast)
for Las Vegas, NV +1 702 852 1212 (starts with a Telepacific commercial, provides date, current time in hours, minutes, and seconds -- but inaccurate: was off 30 seconds on 22 Nov 2011, and temperature)
for Miami, FL +1 305 324 8811 (starts with commercial, provides current temperature and time in hours and minutes)
for Dallas, TX - +1 214 844 xxxx or +1 972 844 xxxx
for Helena, MT +1 406 442 1730 (starts with commercial, provides time (no seconds) and current temperature)
for San Antonio, TX +1 210 226 3232 (Operated by Frost Bank; starts with commercial, provides day & date, time (no seconds) and current Downtown temperature)
for Pembroke, VA +1 540 626 3100 (Operated by Pembroke Telephone Cooperative, provides time, temperature, wind chill, humidity, wind speed/direction, and barometric pressure)
for Des Moines, IA +1 515 244 5611 (starts with a commercial, provides time (no seconds) and current temperature)
for Omaha, NE +1 402 342 8463 (time and temperature, sponsored by First National Bank)
for Erie, PA +1 814 452 6311 (restarted October 16, 2010 by a private individual)

Every ten seconds, a voice announced the time of day according to this formula: "Good (morning / afternoon / evening). At the tone, (time zone) (standard / daylight) time will be (hour):(o'clock / minute) (exactly / and (n) seconds)," followed by a one-second tone. There was a brief, albeit noticeable pause between the minutes and the seconds announcement, as the seconds portion was a separate recording. The seconds portion was always given in multiples of ten, or was omitted for the word "exactly". For example, such a message could be:

"Good morning. At the tone, Pacific Standard Time will be 9:52 and ten seconds. tone"

or "Good morning. At the tone, the time will be 9:52 and ten seconds. tone"

Before the Bell System divestiture

Bell System divestiture

The Bell System divestiture, or the breakup of AT&T, was initiated by the filing in 1974 by the U.S. Department of Justice of an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T. The case, United States v...

, the caller would first hear a brief promotional or informative phrase, and then a brief weather forecast. For example:

"A long-distance call is a smiling, happy way to visit. Ohio Bell
Ohio Bell
The Ohio Bell Telephone Company is the Bell Operating Company serving most of Ohio. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.Its headquarters is the Ohio Bell Building at 750 Huron Road, Cleveland, Ohio...

time (n)..."
"Give people a chance to answer; let the phone ring ten times..."
"A long-distance call is the next best thing to being there..."

... and so on.

The samples were often read by Jane Barbe

Jane Barbe

Jane Barbe was an American voice actress known as the "Time Lady" for the recordings she made for the Bell System and other phone companies. The ubiquity of her recordings eventually made her a pop-culture figure whose death drew national attention....

, John Doyle

John Doyle (announcer)

John Doyle is a professional announcer whose voice was most notably used by the National Institute of Standards and Technology on their radio clock WWV, a "time and temperature" voice for the Audichron Company.and others....

, Pat Fleet

Pat Fleet

Pat Fleet is a working American voice actress known as the registered voice of AT&T.Widely recognized for the tens of thousands of recordings she has made for US telephone companies such as AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, the former Bell System companies, and others since 1981, she is still most recognized...

or Joanne Daniels

Joanne Daniels

Joanne Daniels is an American voice actress. Most associated with the Weatherchron company of Atlanta, Georgia , she is best known as an announcer of telephone company time and temperature announcements, including Los Angeles, California.She also provided the voice for a significant number of...

.

Many shortwave

Shortwave

Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...

radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

time signal

Time signal

A time signal is a visible, audible, mechanical, or electronic signal used as a reference to determine the time of day.-Audible and visible time signals:...

services provide speaking clock services, such as WWV (voiced by John Doyle

John Doyle (announcer)

) and WWVH

WWVH

WWVH is the callsign of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology's shortwave radio time signal station in Kekaha, on the island of Kauai in the state of Hawaii....

(voiced by Jane Barbe

Jane Barbe

), operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology

National Institute of Standards and Technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...

from the United States of America. To avoid disruption with devices who rely on the accurate timings and placement of the service tones from the radio, the voice recording may be "notched" clear of some of the tones.

The time as provided by WWV is also available by telephone, by calling +1 303 499 7111. WWVH (an auxiliary location in Hawaii) is available at +1 808 335 4363.

In addition, the United States Naval Observatory

United States Naval Observatory

The United States Naval Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, with a primary mission to produce Positioning, Navigation, and Timing for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense...

operates two speaking clocks: in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

at +1 202 762 1401 or +1 202 762 1069, and in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...

at +1 719 567 6742.

The time as provided by TellMe voice portal is available by dialing toll-free 1-800-555-TELL (1-800-555-8355, say time when prompted).

Electronic speaking clocks and wristwatches are available, many marketed to the visually impaired.

Many telephone answering machines and similar devices include a speaking clock capability so they can announce the time when a message was received.

Services similar to speaking clock

News headlines was the service before the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

technology.

Music

The intro to the song "Blowin' Hot Air" by The Click
The Click
The Click is a hip hop group consisting of 4 members from Vallejo, California. The groups members are E-40 , his cousin B-Legit , his brother D-Shot , and his sister Suga-T...

features a sample taken from the speaking clock.
Midway through the song "Wild" by Meat Beat Manifesto
Meat Beat Manifesto
Meat Beat Manifesto, often shortened to Meat Beat or MBM, is an electronic music group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens formed in 1987 in Swindon, UK...

there is an altered, inaccurate time sample taken from the speaking clock.
The intro to the song "4-2-0" by Kottonmouth Kings
Kottonmouth Kings
Kottonmouth Kings is an American rap rock group from Placentia, Orange County, California. Kottonmouth Kings officially formed in 1994, and describe themselves as "psychedelic hip-hop punk rock"...

features a sample taken from the speaking clock, announcing that the time is 4:20
420 (cannabis culture)
420, 4:20 or 4/20 refers to consumption of cannabis and, by extension, a way to identify oneself with cannabis subculture. The notable day for these is April 20.- Origins of terms :...

.
The first song on the album Albedo 0.39
Albedo 0.39
Albedo 0.39 is an album by the artist Vangelis, released in 1976. It is a concept album around space and space physics.Albedo 0.39 was the second album produced by Vangelis in Nemo Studios, London, which was his creative base until the late 1980s...

by Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...

, "Pulstar", ends with the voice of the speaking clock, announcing that the time is 10:03 and 40 seconds, then 10:03 and 50 seconds, and--190.161.46.224 (talk) 00:43, 25 October 2011 (UTC) finally 10:04 "precisely".
At the end of the song "Clock" by Coal Chamber
Coal Chamber
Coal Chamber is an American alternative metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1993. Prior to Coal Chamber, Dez Fafara and Meegs Rascón formed the band She's In Pain in 1992. The two decided to create Coal Chamber. They disbanded in 2003 after ten years together, but announced a reunion in...

, the clock is quoted for 2:37:00 PDT.
The industrial music band Battery 9
Battery 9
Battery 9 , an industrial music project from Johannesburg, South Africa, is the brainchild of Paul Riekert, who writes, plays and records the music in a mixture of English and Afrikaans...

featured the Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

version of the speaking clock's Wanneer u die sein hoor... ("when you hear the signal...") in a song called "Tempo Hewig".
The track "Time Zones
Dazzle Ships (album)
The "Manor Version" of "Telegraph" was recorded at the same time as Architecture & Morality. "Swiss Radio International" was dropped from the album at the last minute...

" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England...

consists of speaking clocks in English, French, German and Japanese synchronised so that the number of announcements increases as the track progresses and the time signals coincide.
In the Old 97's
Old 97's
The Old 97's are an alternative country band from Dallas, Texas. Formed in 1993, they have since released nine studio albums, two full extended plays, shared split duty on another, and have one live album. Their most recent release is The Grand Theatre, Volume Two...

song "Big Brown Eyes", Rhett Miller
Rhett Miller
Stewart Ransom Miller II , better-known as Rhett Miller is the lead singer of the alternative country band Old 97's and a successful solo musician. He graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas, a private boys' school in Dallas in 1989 and briefly attended Sarah Lawrence College on a creative...

sings that he is "calling time-and-temperature, just for some company".
The Scott Walker song "Time Operator" uses the sound of the British Telecom speaking clock
Anticon
Anticon
Anticon is an Oakland based independent record label founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six founding artists and one manager...

artist Sole
Sole (artist)
Tim Holland, known as Sole, is an alternative hip hop artist and a co-founder of the Anticon collective/label. Sole is known for his dense and often dark stream-of-consciousness style of rapping. His verses are often filled with abstraction, metaphor and sarcasm while avoiding or deconstructing...

(Tim Holland) in the song "T.I.M." says, "My name is Tim, I'm a speaking clock, 1 2 3 is the code..."
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

mentions calling a clock operator in "Talkin' World War III Blues", from 1963's The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in May 1963 by Columbia Records. Whereas his debut album Bob Dylan had contained only two original songs, Freewheelin initiated the process of writing contemporary words to traditional melodies....

.

Television

The opening sequence of Real Time with Bill Maher
Real Time with Bill Maher
Real Time with Bill Maher is a talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous show, Politically Incorrect on ABC , Real Time features a panel of guests that discuss current events in politics and the media...

begins with a spoken phrase from the (now defunct) Los Angeles speaking clock, featuring an uncredited Joanne Daniels
Joanne Daniels
Joanne Daniels is an American voice actress. Most associated with the Weatherchron company of Atlanta, Georgia , she is best known as an announcer of telephone company time and temperature announcements, including Los Angeles, California.She also provided the voice for a significant number of...

as the time lady
Time lady
Time lady may refer to:*Female Time Lord in the UK television series Doctor Who*Female voice heard on speaking clock...

saying "Good Afternoon."
On the pilot for the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

television series 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...

, George Mason dialed the number for the speaking clock (presumably 853-1212, as the show takes place in Southern California) instead of placing a call to another government official, not knowing Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer is the main protagonist of the American television series 24. His character has worked in various capacities on the show, often as a member of the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit based in Los Angeles, and working with the FBI in Washington, D.C...

was listening in to his "phone call" and knew he was deceiving him.
At the end of the Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...

episode "The Second Time Around
The Second Time Around (Only Fools and Horses)
"The Second Time Around" is an episode of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was the fourth episode of series 1, and was first screened on 29 September, 1981.-Synopsis:...

", the Trotters discover a jilted fiancée has left the phone connected to an American speaking clock for 4 days.
In the UK version of "The Office
The Office (UK TV series)
The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...

", David Brent places a call to the Speaking Clock instead of sales rep Chris Finch, when pressured to call and fire Finch.
In the episode of Doctor Who titled Doomsday, Mickey Smith commented about the Cybermen and the Daleks saying "It's like Stephen Hawking versus the Speaking clock." Remarking that the voices of the Cybermen and Daleks are very robotic sounding.
In the BBC Program "Faster than the speed of light? CERN." US Naval Observatory master clock recording. Used before GPS Feature.

Film

In the film Bringing Up Baby
Bringing up Baby
Bringing Up Baby is an American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, and released by RKO Radio Pictures....

, Susan Vance interrupts David Huxley's phone call to his fiancee by pretending to be a speaking clock, thus forcing him to end the call.

Literature and radio plays

The radio drama MEridian 7-1212 by Irving Reis
Irving Reis
Irving Reis, born May 7, 1906, in New York City – died July 3, 1953, in Woodland Hills, California, was a radio program producer & director, and a film director.Reis was the creator of the experimental anthology program on the radio, Columbia Workshop...

, produced by the Columbia Workshop
Columbia Workshop
Columbia Workshop was a radio series that aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from 1936 to 1943, returning in 1946-47.-Irving Reis:...

August 24, 1939, (available from the Internet Archive
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...

here), dealt with the New York Telephone time service at a time when the announcements were still read live.
In Douglas Adams's So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy" written by Douglas Adams. Its title is the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, as described in The...

, character Ford Prefect leaves a ship hooked up to the speaking clock. In the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

Radio 4 adaptation, the voice of the clock is that of the aforementioned Brian Cobby.
Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...

wrote a radio play, If You're Glad I'll Be Frank, where a bus driver thought his wife was the speaking clock. During the play we find that his wife really is the speaking clock — but reading the time live, 24 hours a day, instead of having it done by a machine.
In Little Miss Chatterbox by Roger Hargreaves, the title character has many jobs but is fired from each one of them due to talking all the time. At the end of the story, Little Miss Chatterbox finds the perfect job as the Speaking Clock.

External links

Photograph of the Speaking clock announcer module (ZBA4264) built in 1955
Website about the history of speaking clocks
http://www.audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/88786/ & http://www.audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/88783/ - Polish speaking clock device from 1936

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