Communication is integral to business. One of the greatest innovations in communication history has been the telephone.
Discover the history of telephone technology at Maitland Museum’s interactive Telephone Museum. Featuring working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches as well as outside plant displays complete with poles, cables and splicing equipment as well as hundreds of items related to telephone technology – this museum brings this technology alive!
In-Person Visits
Telephone Historical Centres are museums that provide in-person visits to learn more about communications technology’s history and the stories behind its artifacts. Visitors can experience working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central-office switches, antique telephones and switchboards, outside plant displays including poles, cables and splicing equipment and an impressive cataloged telecommunications reference library – not forgetting opportunities to volunteer as tour guides, gallery assistants or greeters! Timed entry tickets must be purchased prior to each visit online or over phone and include general admission for that day; see Ticket FAQs for further details!
The Edmonton Telephone Historical Centre was a museum dedicated to preserving telecommunications artifacts in Edmonton, Alberta. However, in April 2019, they decided to dissolve due to relevancy issues, financial challenges and succession planning considerations.
Video Visits
Telephone Historical Centres provide video visits with family and friends of inmates. To set up their visits through HomeWAV 24 hours in advance. Each visit lasts 20 minutes and costs $3.25; all visits are recorded and monitored; if inappropriate behavior is observed it will be terminated immediately. Visitors must always wear shoes, fully clothed including full footwear; no halter tops, tube tops, fish net shirts or see-through fabrics are allowed as clothing options.
Virtual visits play an integral role in providing care during a pandemic, enabling clinicians to meet routine patient services when in-person contact is not safe or advisable. Clinicians can ensure patient needs are met by orienting patients to this new visit modality and making interpreters available if required; also they should identify ways of overcoming barriers that prevent patients from accessing these modalities; expanding broadband access for all and creating policies to promote patients using these forms of contact.
Walk-In Visits
Visitors who prefer visiting centres directly and do not find video visits suitable may consult with staff in a number of ways. At the time of our visit, centre managers reported receiving many walk-in visitors who use walk-in services.
Nurses were responsible for most consultations at each center; some also employed health advisers for more specialized issues. Nurse employment ranged from six-14 whole-time equivalent positions per centre with vastly differing backgrounds, training levels and roles within these facilities.
The Connections Museum is the only museum in North America dedicated to telecommunication history. It showcases a functioning Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switch, antique telephones, outdoor plant displays showcasing poles, cables and splicing equipment as well as cataloged reference material related to telecom.
Special Visits
School field trips or group sightseeing tours at Telephone Historical Centre staff can arrange for a docent to guide visitors through its 4,500-square foot museum, which chronicles and celebrates over 100 years of communications technology in Roseville and nationally. Exhibits at this museum include working operator switchboards as well as outside plant displays of poles, wires, cables, splicing equipment and tools; in addition to antique telephones and memorabilia.
Docent volunteers at the museum are retired ED TEL employees with an avid interest in telephone history. Their knowledge, enthusiasm, and entertaining approach makes for an informative tour that is fun for students of all ages.
The Telephone Historical Centre of Edmonton was a telecommunications museum founded by retired employees of ED TEL and closed down due to relevancy, financial issues and succession planning issues in April 2019.
