telex machine

[sunflower68]

Call me dimwitted but what is (was?) one exactly and how did they work??  I heard it talked about twice this week, then Geldolf was reading one last night.  Come to think of it isn't it in the lyrics to ''I don't like Mondays?'

By the way, does anyone use faxes any more?

[acw]

The only answer about a telext I could offer would be found by googling and then providing a link to an online encyclopaedia. 

I can answer the second part though - yes!  Lots of people use faxes still!  It's quicker than scan, readjust, email, open, and reprint.  Especially if you don't have a scanner.  A lot of scanners these days print with laserjet or bubblejet quality, rather than like the scuddy old faxes like my parent shave at home.  :-)

[mystress]

Having used a Telex machine,for many years when I was young,I will try and give you a (simple) run down.Basically they were like a primitive E~Mail.You had a keyboard,laid out just like a PC one.You typed in your message,and a copy(for you) appeared,like a typewriter,at the top. When the message was complete,you "sent it" to the Telex address(much like email) and the other person received it.It worked in reverse for receiving messages.At the side of the machine was a "ticker tape" which recorded coded  incoming/ outgoing messages for later reference,as the actual messages obviously went to their respective recipients.What you could NOT do on a Telex is change fonts,insert pictures,or all the other wonderful things you CAN do in emails.

Some people(mainly Law firms) still use Telex,as a Telex machine receives a coded signal from the "distant"machine to say it has received the Telex at the correct machine,very important in Legal cases.You cannot really achieve this on email.As far as Fax machines go,some people still use them, but I cannot think why?

[acw]

Clearly my suggestion doesn't count as a reason for using fax machines.  What about faxing a receipt?  It's quicker to fax it than scan it etc.  As I said above. 

Why would law firms use telex (having worked in 5 major UK law firms, I've never once seen one being used, nor heard one mentioned) when emails can be tagged so that you know when they are opened and they are also time stamped?  Law firms use DX, but modern commercial firms rarely use telex. 

[Solarjunkie]

I believe they are used a lot in Africa, and by companies that do a lot of business with organisations over there.

[Ouisch]

Just to amplify Mystress' answer a bit, my very first job was as a Telex operator.  Telex was similar to a teletype machine.  There was no screen, as on a PC; everything you typed was printed on paper.  It was also simultaneously punched out on the "ticker tape."  On a traditional Telex machine, there were only three rows of keys, and if you wanted to type a number or a non-letter character, you had to first punch the "FIGS" (figures) key.  Then you had to punch "LTRS" (letters) to go back to regular typing of words.  Once your message was finished, you inserted the tape into the reader.  The Telex machine had a dial on it similar to a telephone dial.  You then had to dial the Telex number of the recipient.  (By the way, if it was an international message, you couldn't dial direct - you had to dial up a carrier, such as Western Union International, ITT, or RCA and they would transmit your message.)  Once you were connected with your remote party, they transmitted an "answerback", which was an abbreviated code of their company name.  This was to ensure you were connected to the right party.  Then you sent your message, and disconnected.  Each month you'd get a bill from both WUD (Western Union Domestic, who handled all US Telex calls), and any international carrier you'd used.  Telex calls were usually charged by the minute, and at the time I was using them (late 1970s/early 1908s) the average rate was approximately $3.50 US per minute.

Telex had a language all its own, not unlike email and Usenet today.  For example, if you transmitted five periods (.....) *or* five Ms (mmmmm), it was an automatic disconnect signal, and your connection would be cut off. 

.In the mid-1980s, Western Union discontinued their Telex service due to the influx of email and faxes.