Volcano Telephone History
Many of us today, cannot imagine life without our cell
phones, let alone any telephone service at all. But, in the late 1800’s
the telephone was quickly moving from a curiosity to a general means
of communication. In the early days, many phone companies were started
by farmers using barb wire fences to conduct the current. It is certain
that the sound carried in this way was not the clear sound that we experience
now.
At the turn of the century several of these small telephone
lines, in our local area, were consolidated under the ownership of Mr.
Lagarmarsino. A central switchboard was established in the Volcano area
in 1903 and the various lines hooked into this board.
In 1949, Jim and Janice Welch, together with Ted and Catherine
Houck, invested their life savings in The Volcano Telephone Company.
Sharon Lundgren, current President of Volcano Telephone Company (Jim
and Janice Welch’s daughter), recalls the newly acquired phone
company “It was primitive in it’s design. It was single
wire and fastened in trees in many places. All the phones were magneto.”
This single “open” wire construction was susceptible to
the weather and other interference. Sharon recalls “in the afternoon,
the thunder heads upcountry could be heard on the line, it was a loud
“roar”, you could hardly hear your call.” Reception
was not clear by any means. The “magneto” phone used a “crank”
to create an electric charge to work the ringer. All the lines were
party lines, with as many as 16 people to a line. Each person had specific
“ring”, it could be one long, one short, 2 longs and one
short, etc. The ring wasn’t always perfect and chances are, when
the phone rang, everyone on the party line answered! So, after it was
sorted out who the call was for, everyone else would hang up (hopefully),
except the operator. The operator would either listen to the call or
check back every so often to determine when the call was over. One would
imagine that you could not assume that any call was “private”.
It was safe to guess that the operator was the person “in the
know” in the community! To make a call you would first, crank
your phone, the operator would be signaled on her switchboard and she
would plug into your line and answer “Operator”, you would
request your party, she would connect you.
At the time the Welches took control of the Telephone
Company, they had plans to improve the lines and the service. But, before
any of that could take place, an unusually harsh winter storm came to
the area. Sharon recalls that they woke up one morning to find that
most of the telephone lines were on the ground! Sharon’s Father,
Jim Welch working with his lineman Ray Hale, laid cable on top of the
snow to get the phones ringing again.
In 1952, the company began to upgrade to “dial service”.
This meant that you could place a local call by dialing the number.
You could call out of the area by dialing “0”, and have
the operator connect you to another operator, who would connect you
to your party. By 1954, all of the lines were converted to “dial”
and the manual switchboard was “retired”. It was at this
time that the “Main Dial Switchboard” was moved to Pine
Grove. The business office moved to Pine Grove in 1968 with about 12
employees.
Taking advantage of the latest technology of the times,
a new computerized billing system was installed in 1965. In conjunction
this allowed for an automatic “ticketer” to record the length
of each call on a tape. This was quite an innovation.
By the 1970’s many of the mechanical switches were
being retired and the move to a hybrid of digital and analogue technology
took it’s place. Along with these improvements came better quality
of sound and service. By 1981, a new system that was completely digital
was installed in Volcano and West Point. This was brand new technology
for it’s time and represented noticeably clearer calls. By 1987,
the entire system was now digital. And the plan was in the works to
upgrade to fibre optics. The first fibre optics cables were started
in 1993 on the main line to Jackson. By 1995, fibre optics were installed
to the Volcano Telephone Company’s customer service area. This
was a bold move, with an eye on the future.
With an advanced fibre optic system in place, the company
was able to be the first to offer High Speed Internet Access to it’s
customers in the area. DSL was introduced in April 2001 to all it’s
customers. At this time neighboring communities still do not have this
service available.
Since the 1950’s the company has seen many changes.
Volcano Vision cable provider began in 1983, Volcano Telecommunications
began in 1984, Volcano Internet Provider began in 1995 and Volcano Long
Distance began in 2001.
The Volcano Telephone Company is a family oriented organization
with employees who have spent long careers with the company. Sharon
Lundgren has been with the company since 1956, George Splawn since 1966,
Ken Stahl since 1967, Jay Lucke since 1968, Jack Stone since 1970, Ron
Youmans since 1971, Dede Harder since 1972 and Richard Smith since 1972.;
And there are many others who follow.
When asked about the future of the company, John Lundgren
(Sharon Lundgrens son), Vice President of Volcano Telephone Company,
says that they will continue in the same way that they have in the past,
with a dedication to excellence and leading edge technology. Mr. Lundgren
believes that the future will hold faster internet connections along
with more integration of voice, data and video.
The Volcano Telephone Company remains dedicated to it’s
customers and the community. The company has been a great supporter
of local charities, employs 115 people, supports local businesses whenever
possible and provides a tremendous tax base for the community.
No matter what the weather, if your electricity is working
or not, you can pick up your phone and make a call. The Volcano Telephone
Company is here to serve your communications needs from telephone, to
internet, to business systems, to cable tv and even your long distance...all
provided with the best and friendliest customer service. We have a rich
history and incredible plans for the future.
